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2019 Women's World Cup in France ... June/July

England are good. Deep, balanced, arrogant ... a typical English side.

The Netherlands are guaranteed a spot in the knockouts after taking down the Cameroon 3-1 this morning. Looking forward to seeing how Canada handles New Zealand's defense this afternoon. Hopefully it will frustrate them. Did I mention that I don't much care for this Canadian side?
 
Did I mention that I don't much care for this Canadian side?

Me either. My daughter loves Sinclair (because she plays for the Thorns) and can’t wait for her to pass Wambach for most goals. My dislike of Canada goes back years, when NC State grad Charmaine Hooper was 5 of the dirtiest players in the world, male or female., and Silvana Burtini wasn’t far behind. And let’s not forget Tancredi’s stomp on Carli Lloyd’s face in the 2012 Olympics.
 
Even my Wolfpack tinted glasses didn’t hide Hooper’s level of dirt. She was clearly an inspiration to Marchand

The US beat Chile 3-0 today. It was comprehensive and Ellis played everyone other than the backup keepers and she rotated ... everybody possible. It could have been 8-0 and probably should have been 5-0, but Chile’s keeper is bananas good. Lloyd with a brace, Ertz with the other, Press absolutely robbed twice ... complete dominance for the US.

Sweden beat Thailand 5-1 and joined the US in clinching a spot in the knockouts. They face each other to determine the group winner on Thursday at 3:00.
 
Lloyd shoulda finished her hat trick but dragged a penalty wide left. It may have been academic had it been on frame though, Endler guessed right and had the post covered.
 
The groups start wrapping up today so both games in the group are at the same time.

Group A
Nigeria v. France 3:00
South Korea v. Norway 3:00

France leads the group and has already advanced. Norway leads Nigeria in goal difference and should beat winless and goalless Siuth Korea to grab the runner up spot.

Group B
China v. Spain 12:00
South Africa v. Germany 12:00

Germany has already advanced, Spain advances with a win or draw. China advances with a win.


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FWIW ... the US would get the 2nd place finisher in Group B should they wrap up their Group. So ... Spain or China. Just noting that if anybody wants to scout a little.
 
Lloyd shoulda finished her hat trick but dragged a penalty wide left. It may have been academic had it been on frame though, Endler guessed right and had the post covered.

Yeah ... I think she just barely had room to tuck it inside the post, but like everything else that came her way yesterday, Endler at least had a shot at it. The only keeper in the women's game I've seen play at that level was Solo. She's not just the best in the World right now, she's the best by a fairly huge distance.

Some press chatter today about how "unfair" it is that Carli Lloyd can't start on this US team ... as if it's somehow fair to have somebody of Carli's stature and abilities be basically the third best striker on your team. What? She's going to start over Morgan or Press? Not in a sane world, no. Or are you supposed to sit Rose Levell or Lindsey Horan in midfield? Those are your two creative drivers as well as two of the best passers in the women's game, so no. Some people just have a hard time considering that it's a team game I guess.
 
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Lloyd is basically a center forward at this stage of her career; she can’t play wing in a 4-3-3. In that formation, Ellis has a choice of Lloyd or Morgan. Who would you rather have? Morgan is also capable of being a hold up striker and finding teammates. Even when Lloyd was the de facto 10 in the old formation, she averaged 1 assist per calendar year.


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Yup. In order to make Lloyd a starter, you'd have to change everything about the approach. She can't play the isolated striker role that the other forwards excel at, and she can't play wing ... unlike every other forward on the roster. It would be stupid to the point of insane to start her in the middle over Morgan and thus push Rapinoe or Heath out of the lineup. In midfield she would have to play an attacking role, but the rest of the unit isn't set up for that either. You could fit here into a 4-2-3-1 scheme easily enough, but we don't have the defensive pivots to make that work, and that setup robs them of the creativity that Lavelle, Horan and Mewis offer. And to answer your question, there isn't a coach drawing a paycheck who would choose to sit Morgan. She's the best striker in the world, AND she's versatile ... able to play multiple styles and multiple positions. She's also dead in the middle of the prime of her career and on the kind of form that people write books about. Taking her out at this stage would be the kind of thing that gets you fired ... mid-tournament.

Bottom line ... Carli is the best super-sub in the Tournament, bar none. People should stop diminishing that and appreciate it for the weapon that it actually is.
 
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Jeffbear,others, any thoughts on the Nigeria - France game today... (If that's the VAR standard I think Lloyd needs a redo for yesterday...)
 
I just hate how VAR has been used... It seems much like in hockey (video replay) not to target the egregious but the petty.
 
Group C is on the docket for today:

Italy v. Brazil
Jamaica v. Australia

Italy has already clinched a knockout round spot. Brazil leads Australia on goal difference but the Matildas can overtake Brazil with a win combined with a Brazil loss or draw. If both win, Australia needs to win by 3 goals more than Brazil does.
 
Jeffbear,others, any thoughts on the Nigeria - France game today... (If that's the VAR standard I think Lloyd needs a redo for yesterday...)

I think it sucked for Nigeria, but was technically applied correctly. This is why luddites like me bang on about slippery slopes when people want to "fix everything" by "reviewing everything." THIS is the BS you end up with. And the favored nation group/teams still somehow ends up screwing the little countries/teams.
 
Brazil beat Italy, 1-0. Australia beat Jamaica 4-1. Australia snags 2nd in the group on the 3rd tie-breaker, total goals. Brazil is 3rd and qualify for the knockout round. The Matildas will play Norway, Brazil play France in the next round.

Group C finishes on Wednesday

Japan v. England
Scotland v. Argentina

The winner of Japan/England wins the group. England has already qualified regardless of the result. An England win sends them through as the group winner and puts Japan in jeopardy of a 3rd place finish if Argentina beats Scotland. A Japan/England draw puts Argentina 3rd regardless regardless of their result. An Argentina win sends them through to the knockout round, even if they finish 3rd.
 
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Japan 0-2 England. England win the group, Japan is 2nd.

Scotland 3-3 Argentina. VAR raises its ugly head again, granting Argentina a penalty kick re-do in 2nd half stoppage time after the Scotland keeper moved off her line. The 2nd was converted and Argentina tied it up.

Argentina finish with 2 points. In groups E and F on Thursday, the 3rd and 4th place teams in each group play each other. A win by either, including Thailand, would advance them to the knockout round.

Group E:
Cameroon v. New Zealand
Netherlands v. Canada. The winner finishes 1st in the group. A draw will give Netherlands the group based on total goals.

Group F:
Sweden v. US. The winner finishes 1st in the group. A draw gives the US the group based on goal difference.
Thailand v. Chile
 
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As you may be aware, VAR is coming to the Premier League for the 2019-20 season. According to Martyn Ziegler of the London Times, they will not use it to determine the keeper’s position on penalties. Grant Wahl asked FIFA representatives if they’ll consider adopting that rule in the knockout rounds, since you face the prospect of a field player in goal for penalty shootouts if the keeper comes off her line twice and picks up 2 yellows. No answer.
 
As you are aware, I support Scotland.

Therefore I an NOT neutral in this conversation. Suffice to say I'm not happy with any of this. Also, maybe don't give up the first two goals to let them back in the game. Also, maybe play your other quality goal scorer who sat on the bench for the entire tournament aside from 20 minutes.

Nope. Not getting started.
 
Cameroon 2-1 New Zealand
Netherlands 2-1 Canada

Netherlands wins the group, Canada is 2nd. Netherlands gets Japan in the next round, Canada gets the loser of US v. Sweden. Keep in mind that a draw gives the group to the US. Julie Ertz is out with a minor injury, Sam Mewis starts in her spot.

Cameroon punches their ticket to the knockout round. That also pretty well eliminates Thailand from advancing, even with a win. There would be 3 teams on 3 points but Thailand’s goal difference will keep them out. A 3 goal win by Chile puts them in and knocks Nigeria out on goal difference.
 
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