Calos Vela Out, NWSL Goes On

WALKING THE BEACH IN SANTA BARBARA  -- Losing a team in the tournament hasn't stopped the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from continuing their Challenge Cup in Utah with 8 of their 9 teams.  The Orlando Pride withdrew June 22 due to 6 positive COVID-19 player cases and the tournament still kicked off June 27 with 8 teams.  The NWSL was the first major team sports league to get started back up in the USA.  Though you never hear about it.

So the MLS, with five teams still left to travel to Florida, may still be able to start July 8th as planned with 25 of the 26 teams after FC Dallas withdrew.  It could be Group B will just have 2 games per team with just the top 2 of the now 3 team group advancing.  As for the regular season, FC Dallas will be 3 games short and Seattle, Vancouver, and San Jose will be one game short (knockout matches do not count towards regular season records).

Meanwhile the reigning MLS MVP, LAFC's Carlos Vela will skip the tournament with a newborn on the way.  Considering players have to be quarantined for 30 or more days with no contact with family is tough and Vela being across the country from his wife made this a respectable decision in these pandemic times.  So we've lost one team and one superstart... who's next?

FC Dallas Pulls Out!

GOLETA, CA -- With FC Dallas registering 10 player positive COVID-19 tests, the team has withdrawn from the MLS is Back Tournament.  What MLS will do with the slot is still unknown but this is one of the challenges of trying to restart in a pandemic world.

So how does this affect the pool?  Nothing for now.  You will get a chance to change your DAL is champion pick, even after the tournament starts.  But if other teams withdraw after the tournament starts, that would just be bad luck.

Remember to download (Word | PDF) and send page 3 or a picture to the email address on the form.  Deadline is Wednesday 5 pm PDT!

MLS is Back!

HILTON BEACHFRONT RESORT, SANTA BARBARA, CA -- Okay, those aren't my words but what the new Major League Soccer tournament is actually called.  "MLS is Back" is a World Cup-style tournament where all the group stage matches will count in the official regular season standings.  The hope is, that if this tournament goes off without too many surprises, the rest of the MLS regular season can proceed afterwards, likely without fans, but in hometowns.  This tournament will all take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Florida.  Due to hot and humid weather expected, matches will start at 9 am, 8 pm, and 10:30 pm local time (EDT).

So with the 26th HWCI NCAA Tournament Pool and 3rd HWCI EURO Pool both cancelled due to COVID-19, this MLS tournament, an official one as group matches will count towards regular season play, presented an interesting opportunity to get ONE pool done in 2020.  Of course, the problem is, there is so much uncertainty (the DAL-VAN match has already been postponed due to 8 FC Dallas players testing positive), there is no way for me to handle payments/refund headaches if the tournament gets shortened, postponed, or re-designed mid-tournament.

Thus, for the first time, the HWCI pool is FREE.  You will be limited to two entries instead of three but hopefully this will present a distraction from the chaos of everyday quarantine and life.  As for prizes, I have some old MLS/Galaxy/Chivas USA swag that if shipping is decent enough, I can send to the top 3 finishers.

This runs like the regular World Cup/EURO pools and more in line with the 2019 Women's World Cup where you have to pick 3rd place finishers.  There are key differences to note:

• Group A has 6 teams instead of 4 (like Groups B/C/D/E/F)
• Thus, the top THREE teams in Group A make the Knockout Stage (Round of 16)
• The top TWO teams in Groups B/C/D/E/F make the Round of 16
• The next THREE best teams make the Round of 16 -- that could be the 4th place team in Group A or the 3rd place teams in Groups B/C/D/E/F
• The seeded teams in each group are the 2019 MLS Playoff Semifinalists (Atlanta, LAFC, Seattle, Toronto), the next best 2019 point earner in the Western Conference (Real Salt Lake), and host Orlando
• Group A teams will play 3 games like everyone else, but because there are 6 teams in the group, there are 9 games in Group A
• Thus, there are 39 (instead of the usual 36) matches to pick in Group play
• In the Knockout Stage, there is no Extra Time so if a match ends in a tie in regulation, they go straight to Penalty Kicks
• There is no 3rd place match, so like EURO, the Total Goals Tiebreaker is 3 matches (2 Semis and Final) - as always, in 1/2 goal increments and only in regulation (no Extra Time)

So download the form (Word | PDF), fill it out the 3rd page and send it to worldcup@hwci.com.  The deadline to enter is 5 pm PDT Wednesday, July 8th.  Hopefully, following this we will have EURO 2021, World Cup 2022, and Women's World Cup 2023.  Good luck and stay safe!

Final Rankings

FIFA has finally published their quarterly rankings (7/12) for the women (the men's are done bi-monthly) and no surprise, the USA built on their lead to the largest margin between 1st and 2nd.  The Netherlands, which had not even qualified for a WWC before 2015, are now #3, moving up 5 spots while Germany held to #2 (fellow WWC participant Cameroon also jumped 5 spots (to #41)).  The best team to not make the WWC, North Korea (Korea DPR) actually moved up two spots to #9.  Their southern neighbor South Korea (Korea Rep) had the biggest fall of the WWC teams, dropping 6 spots to #20. 

The USA team was honored in the first NYC ticker-tape parade since... they last were honored for winning the 2015 WWC.  I guess NY sports teams have been that bad.  It'll be interesting how to keep this momentum, especially heading towards the 2022 Olympics which will see a lot of these same players (no restriction on U-23 players like the men's).  There is the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in which ESPN's first match was a 4-3 thriller in front of 18,809 fans in Portland which featured goals by superstars Marta (BRA) and Christine Sinclair (CAN) and the Victory Tour where the first stop will be where most fell in love with the team in '99, the Rose Bowl August 3rd vs the Republic of Ireland.  There will four additional matches in this Victory Tour.  Of course, playing in the Victory Tour means most of the NWSL teams will be without their USWNT players.  Sigh.  And there is no NWSL team within 650 miles of Los Angeles, though co-owner Mia Hamm wants one sponsored by LAFC.  We'll see.  I did stats for the LA Sol in 2009 and that was fun with Marta and Shannon Boxx, but it still irks me that the Women's Profession Soccer (WPS) was still a second-class citizen as French star Camille Abily, one of my favs, decided to play in the UEFA Women's EURO instead of the WPS Championship, which LA lost 1-0 to Sky FC.  Ugh.

VAR Revisited

I have to hand it to FIFA, they have been very forthcoming on the VAR details throughout the tournament (well, after the Round of 16 at least).  Their final refereeing report notes there were 33 official VAR reviews, of which 29 overturned a decision on the field (in fairness, the refs are calling the game conservatively and allowing VAR to intervene if necessary).  The average VAR review was 1:33 but most felt longer, and with three doubles (PK review and then GK off line review) which lasted more than 5 minutes in duration (possible foul to goal).  They do note there were 53 "serious checks" which aren't VAR reviews and thus adds to the confusion, especially since the average delay was a long 37 seconds.  I've captured 11 of these "serious checks" which everyone thought was a VAR review since it took so long and with the ref in the infamous pose of the two fingers to the earpiece.  The only one I missed was the 9' Italy PK against Jamaica.

One detail they didn't elaborate on was the technical team reviewed 535 incidents and determined 8 were wrong even with VAR (98.50%).  But they don't list the 8 "wrong" decisions (29 of 37 "wrong" decisions were overturned using VAR so none of the VAR reviews were "incorrect").  I wonder if the no-call handball on USA was one of those and penalized France for it in the Round of 16.

Other interesting tidbits were half the 26 PKs awarded were due to VAR and they split up the VAR reviews into "on field" and "VAR only" categories.  Also, there were only four seminars on VAR training and reinforces that the refs were not fully prepared on how to handle matches with VAR at their disposal.  All in all, VAR is a positive but more communication with the audience is needed so that people aren't frustrated why there is a delay in action.  Except for that USA-France match (which also featured a USA goal that seemed like the offsides call was wrong), the vast majority of the VAR calls were consistent, even if we disagree with using the letter of the law to ruin the spirit of the law.

VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 44 (Official: 33) [1-FRA xOff+{g-} 27', 4-ESP xPK= 66', 4-ESP xPK+ 79', 5-ITA Off={xg} 9', 5-ITA xPK= 67', 5-ITA Off={xg} 81', 6-BRA PK= 37', 7-ENG xPK+ 12', 13-FRA xPK+ 68', 14-NGA xHB={g} 29', 17-AUS xPK={F+} 20', 17-AUS Off-{g+} 66', 1-ITA xPK+ 9', 18-JAM xGK+{retake PK} 11', 19-ENG xPK+ 27', 23-USA xPK+ 78', 24-SWE xPK+ 90'+3, 25-FRA xPK+ 73', 25-NGA xGK+{retake PK} 76', 32-ARG xPK+ 86', 32-SCO xGK+{retake PK} 90'+2, 33-CAN PK- 1', 35-USA xOff={g} 50', 36-CHI xPK+ 83' | 37-AUS PK- 42', 37-AUS xPK= 88', 37-AUS RC= 104', 38-GER xOff={g} 20', 38-GER xPK+ 24', 39-ENG Off-{g+} 45'+4, 39-CMR xOff+{g-} 49', 39-ENG xPK= 76', 39-CMR RC-{Y} 90'+8, 40-FRA xF+{g-} 23', 40-BRA Off-{g+} 63', 40-BRA Off={xg} 87', 41-USA PK= 71', 42-CAN xPK+ 66', 42-SWE xOff+{PK-} 81', 48-GER Off={xPK=} 82', 49-ENG xOff-{g-} 67', 49-ENG xPK+ 79', 51-ENG xHB+{g-} 33', 52-USA xPK+ 58']

New Concacaf 2022 Qualifying

Interesting.  Concacaf announced the new 2022 World Cup qualifying format.  So instead of qualifying to be in the Hex (top 6 teams), the top 6 teams will automatically be selected based on the FIFA ranking in June 2020.  So there's less stress there for USA and Mexico.  Also, there will be two groups qualifying simultaneously, with the Hex in one and the other 29 (divided into 8 subgroups) in another.  The first group (Hex) will see the top 3 teams qualify for the World Cup.  In the other group, each of the 8 subgroup winners will play in a knockout stage with the winner playing the 4th place team in the Hex.  Then the winner of this will play in the Inter-Confederation playoff, which would either be the 5th place AFC, the 5th place CONMEBOL, or the 1st place OFC team.

So if you are the 7th ranked Concacaf team, you have to win your subgroup (4-6 matches), then win three knockout matches, then win a two-leg playoff against the 4th place Concacaf team, and then win a two-leg playoff against another confederation.  Whew.  So who's currently #7 (June 14 - before Gold Cup so Curacao (#9) and Haiti (#11) could move up)?  Panama, who actually qualified for the 2018 World Cup (while the USA didn't).  Canada is #8.  Both would need to somehow leapfrog Honduras or El Salvador, who are #5 and #6.  So in 11 months, we'll see if these four teams mix up.

Issue 12.2.7 "4-Time Champions!" (After Final)

Archive

Sunday, July 7, 2019

2019 Women's World Cup Champion

USA - United States | (The Stars & Stripes) U.S. Soccer Federation | (USSF) | [Concacaf]

#1 | F1 | F Winner | 7-0-0 4th Championship ('91, '99, '15) F1: Beat Thailand 13-0, F3: Beat Chile 3-0, F5: Beat Sweden 2-0, R16: Beat Spain 2-1, QF: Beat France 2-1, SF: Beat England 2-1, F: Beat Netherlands 2-0

USA WINS 4TH TITLE SHUTTING OUT NEWBIE NETHERLANDS
From the Pubs! wins the pool as Futbol Fabone Dix takes 3rd for second time

SANTA CLARA, CA (smt) [MATCHDAY 25] -- 1E-Netherlands had a successful first half, not allowing 1F-USA to score (much less in the first 12 minutes as in their previous six matches) and had a couple of promising counters.  But the USA came out roaring in the second half but couldn't capitalize (thanks to NED GK Sari van Veenendaal who had 8 saves) until a reckless high kick to Alex Morgan was reviewed by VAR and a PK was awarded.  Megan Rapinoe put away the PK for her 6th goal and then 8 minutes later Rose Lavelle scored her 3rd goal of the tourney as USA cruised to a 2-0 win in front of a sellout crowd of 57,900 in Lyon.  Rapinoe's goal actually gave her the Golden Boot as she played less minutes than Morgan (6 goals and 3 assists each).  USA wins back-to-back titles (matching GER's '03/'07) and their 4th title (two more than GER) as well as their 4th straight major tournament win ('14 Concacaf Women's Championship/'15 WWC/'18 CWC). 

Coach Jill Ellis is the first to win two WWC titles and she actually did a good job, making adjustments when necessary and managing a star-studded roster.  Her defensive play after scoring against FRA was a good move IMHO, dealing with the heat and humidity and pro-FRA crowd, not a cowardly one.  In every match, the USA was the strongest and fittest in that last 5-10 minutes of a match sealing three one-goal wins.  I still don't think we know how good GK Alyssa Naeher is yet but that's for another day.  USA relied on the vets so much that before Lavelle's goal, the previous 7 were by "old-timers" Rapinoe (5), Morgan, and Press.  Ignoring the 13-0 opening win, 10 of the last 12 were by veterans (Lavelle and Lindsey Horan the lone exceptions) plus one own goal that was created by another 3-time vet, Tobin Heath.  As the mantle is handed down to the new class who will have more pressure on getting the three-peat, I will savor the dominance the USA women had in this tournament.

Live! USA vs NED (7/7)

1F-United States (6-0-0) "The Stars and Stripes" vs
1E-Netherlands (6-0-0) "Orajeleeuwinnen"

Start: USA is going for their 4th WWC title and are heavy favorites (as high as 5 to 1) and hold the CONCACAF Women's Championship '18 as well.  NED is in the Final in just their 2nd year in the WWC and hold the UEFA EURO Women's Championship '17.  Both go for the Double.  USA has scored in the first 12 minutes in all 6 matches while NED has scored 6 goals (including 4 game-winners) in the 75' or later.  Alex Morgan leads the Golden Boot with 6 goals (3 assists) with Megan Rapinoe behind at 5 goals (3 assists).  USA has 24 goals (record is 25 by '91 USA and '03 GER).  USA has won a record 11 straight WWC matches while NED has won 9 straight overall (6 this WWC) and 12 straight tourney matches ('17 EURO, '19 WWC).  While UEFA dominance and getting 7 of 8 QF teams in, NED is the first UEFA team in the final since '07 (GER).  USA 6-1-0 vs NED ('91).

Current total goals tiebreaker is 3 (SWE 2, ENG 1).  If NED pulls off the biggest upset in WWC history, then UncleChimps needs the total goals in this match to be 3 goals or less while Tom J wants 4 or more (for battle for 3rd/4th).  The goals count only in regulation or Extra Time, not the Penalty Shootout.  From the Pubs! wins the pool if USA wins and THE GAMBLER 1 wins the pool if NED wins.  UncleChimps, Futbol Fabone Dix and Pazzo Americano win 2nd/3rd/4th if USA wins and From the Pubs! gets 2nd if NED wins.

1':  Funny that the start the match with PA doing a countdown for the fans.  USA Rapinoe starts so it's the deadly combo of Heath-Morgan-Rapinoe.

10':  Early yellow for NED who's been a little sloppy.

13': NED survives the first 13 minutes, first time USA has not scored this early.  NED also playing with one less day's rest and played 30 extra minutes in the SF.  No shots for either side yet.

17':  Neat CK play by USA but results in no shot.  Temps in the high 80s.  USA has had several drives into the box but the crosses haven't connected.  The NED forward line has not had the explosive spark expected though they have scored six goals.  NED has just scored twice in the first half.

Issue 11.2.6 "The Double" (Final Preview)

Archive

Saturday, July 6, 2019

2019 Women's World Cup Final - Stade de Lyon - Lyon
	vs
USA - United States (The Stars & Stripes)U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) [Concacaf]		NED - Netherlands (Orajeleeuwinnen) Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KVNB) [UEFA]
#1 | F1 | F Winner | 6-0-0 5th Final ('91, '99, '11, '15) F1: Beat Thailand 13-0 F3: Beat Chile 3-0 F5: Beat Sweden 2-0 R16: Beat Spain 2-1 QF: Beat France 2-1 SF: Beat England 2-1		#8 | E4 | E Winner | 6-0-0 1st Final E2: Beat New Zealand 1-0 E4: Beat Cameroon 3-1 E6: Beat Canada 2-1 R16: Beat Japan 2-1 QF: Beat Italy 2-0 SF: Beat Sweden 1-0 (aet)

THE USA VYING FOR FOURTH TITLE, NEWBIE ORANGE LIONESSES IN THE WAY
Final is 8 am Sunday PDT; Sweden takes 3rd Place

PALO ALTO, CA (smt) -- Both finalists are a perfect 6-0-0 but there is one clear favorite, and that is the 1F-United States.  On paper, both teams have won their groups, both have only allowed 3 goals, and both have at least 8 different scorers (USA with 9).  But the USA is anywhere from a 2:1 to 5:1 favorite in the final led by a pair of 5+ goal scorers, Alex Morgan (6) and Megan Rapinoe (both have even missed a match) and on a roll where they have just lost once in their past 44 matches.  NED are the defending EURO champions and have won 12 straight major tourney matches but were outplayed by JPN in the R16 and disappeared in big patches vSWE in the SF and are only making their first Final in just their second try.

Live! ENG vs SWE (7/6)

1D-ENGLAND "The Lionesses" 5-1-0 vs
2F-SWEDEN "Blågult" 4-2-0 

Start: ENG has scored in the first 20 minutes 5 of 6 matches. ENG is going for 2nd Third Place finish ('15) and SWE is going for their 3rd ('91, '11).  SWE is 14-3-8 vs ENG (1st matchup in WWC).  For the pool tiebreaker, if NED wins the final, then UncleChimps needs the total goals in this match and the Final match to be 6 goals or less while Tom J wants 7 or more (for battle for 3rd/4th).  The goals count only in regulation or Extra Time, not the Penalty Shootout.  Ellen White (ENG) has scored in 5 straight matches.

11':  All SWE thus far and a poor ENG clearance is pounced upon by Aslanni, who came off the field in the last match in a scary potential neck injury.  So she starts and scores!  SWE 1:0.  ENG has allowed a goal in the first 12 minutes two games in a row.

22':  A great curling strike in the box by Jakobsson and now SWE leads 2:0.  But two SWE players are injured so ENG playing up for now.   Tom J is happy as goals are pouring in.

45':  An unusually high 5' of stoppage due to VAR and SWE injuries.  Now an ENG player is down.  SWE 2:1.

33':  Back to back ENG goals but no, the second won't count as VAR shows an unintentional handball calls yet another White goal back (she'd have 8 if not for VAR) and is back stuck on 6 goals.  But Kriby's goal in 31' was a great effort.  ENG 1:2.  Total time 51:00.

75':  Game has slowed down, SWE out of subs.  Retiring Karen Carney enters the match for ENG.  SWE 2:1.

88':  If White is kept off the board, then USA's Alex Morgan would retain the Golden Boot (more assists).  White's 6 goals is impressive considering she didn't take any of ENG's 4 PKs.

89':  Goal mouth block by SWE's Fischer head!  SWE 2:1.  4 min stoppage.

Finish:  94:23.  SWE wins their 3rd Bronze medal (tying USA)!  Total goals for tiebreaker is 3.  So if NED wins tomorrow, Tom J is going to need at least 4 goals scored between USA and NED.  FOX calling ENG a failure which is funny.  SWE didn't have many opportunities but made the most of them with 8 of their 9 shots on goal.

Issue 10.2.5 "Master and Padawan" (After Semis)

Archive

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

USA SURVIVES ENGLAND, NETHERLANDS SCORE IN EXTRA TIME
Either From the Pubs! or THE GAMBLER 1 will win the pool

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) [DAY 23] -- 1F-USA didn't have Megan Rapinoe due to a hamstring injury but her replacement and vet Christien Press scored in the 10' and battered vet Alex Morgan broke a 1-1 tie with a birthday goal in the 31' and that held up sending the Americans past 1D-England, 2-1, into their 5th WWC final.  ENG had more possession and played well but ENG had a brutal stretch from the 68' to 86' where Ellen White's game-tying goal was overturned by VAR (hairline offsides), an open tap in that was whiffed by White but then overturned by VAR into a PK as a foul (hairline contact to her leg), ENG continuing a tradition by missing a penalty kick (their 3rd straight miss), and then going down to 10 women after a second yellow to Millie Bright.  I guess ENG is just a semifinal team after all losing their 3rd straight semifinal ('15 WWC, '17 EURO). 

In a foul-marred match, at one time 2F-Sweden led in fouls 17 to 2 before it ended 24 to 14, the highlights were some world-class finger tip saves by both GKs.  For just the third time, a matched ended scoreless after regulation but in Extra Time, Jackie Groenen took a rocket of a strike from way outside that just got past the GK into the left corner in the 99' and match's only goal leading 1E-Netherlands to their first final.  Maybe SWE is a semifinal team as well losing their 3rd WWC semifinal (only won in '03).

Extra Time! (7/3)

For the first time, a WWC semifinal went into Extra Time.  Each GK had some amazing finger tip saves and 2F-Sweden were at one time pounding 1E-Netherlands on fouls 17 to 2 in the first 62 minutes.  But in ET, a seemingly typical play saw Jackie Groenen with some daylight and she hit a rocket of strike from way outside the box into the left corner in the 99' and NED held on to win 1-0, their first trip to the Finals in just their 2nd WWC appearance.  They will face 1F-USA, who is making their 5th final on Sunday.

SWE's Kosovare Asllani committed 8 fouls (no cautions) and was fouled 7 times (2 drawing cautions) as SWE ended up outfouling NED 24 to 14.  She was also carted off on a stretcher after being hit in the face with the ball in the 120'+1 delaying the match for more than 5 minutes.  SWE lost for the 3rd time in the SF.

Tea Time (7/2)

1F-USA's Alex Morgan celebrated her birthday by scoring in what turned out to be the game-winner with a sipping British tea salute in helping USA to their third straight 2-1 victory, this time over the jolly good women of 1D-England.  ENG had a brutal stretch from the 68' to 86' where Ellen White's game-tying goal was overturned by VAR (hairline offsides), an open tap in that was whiffed by White but then overturned by VAR into a PK as a foul (hairline contact to her leg), ENG continuing a tradition by missing a penalty kick (their 3rd straight miss), and then going down to 10 women after a second yellow to Millie Bright.  I guess ENG is just a semifinal team after all losing their 3rd straight semifinal ('15 WWC, '17 EURO).  Meanwhile, USA makes its 3rd straight final and 5th overall by winning their 11th straight WWC match (16th without a defeat).

Issue 9.2.4 "End of the Saga" (Semifinal Preview)

Archive

Monday, July 1, 2019

First Semifinal - Stade de Lyon - Lyon			Second Semifinal - Stade de Lyon - Lyon
ENG - England (The Lionesses) The Football Association (The FA) [UEFA]	USA - United States (The Stars & Stripes U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) [Concacaf]		NED - Netherlands (Orajeleeuwinnen) Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KVNB) [UEFA]	SWE - Sweden (Blågult) Svenska Fotbollförbundet (SvFF) [UEFA]
#3 | D1 | Winner | 5-0-0 2nd Semifinal ('15) D1: Beat Scotland 2-1 D3: Beat Argentina 1-0 D5: Beat Japan 2-0 R16: Beat Cameroon 3-0 QF: Beat Norway 3-0	#1 | F1 | Winner | 5-0-0 8th Semifinal ('91, '95, '99, '03, '07, '11, '15) F1: Beat Thailand 13-0 F3: Beat Chile 3-0 F5: Beat Sweden 2-0 R16: Beat Spain 2-1 QF: Beat France 2-1		#8 | E4 | Winner | 5-0-01st Semifinal E2: Beat New Zealand 1-0 E4: Beat Cameroon 3-1 E6: Beat Canada 2-1 R16: Beat Japan 2-1 QF: Beat Italy 2-0	#9 | F4 | Runner-Up | 4-1-04th Semifinal ('91, '03, '11) F2: Beat Chile 2-0 F4: Beat Thailand 5-1 F6: Lost to USA 2-0 R16: Beat Canada 1-0 QF: Beat Germany 2-1

THE RISE OF WOMEN'S SOCCER
Semifinals begin Tuesday; A women of Star Wars-themed look at the tourney

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) -- As I lament the end of the Skywalker saga in Star Wars but satisfied to have witnessed this great space fantasy, I start to wonder if this is also the end of the era of USA dominance in women's soccer.  Not that they don't win the tourney, but that the number of teams that can beat the USA will vastly expand more than Germany, Sweden, England, and France.  No Japan?  JPN technically tied the USA in the WWC11 Final and only won in the penalty shootout and has only beaten the USA once, in 2012.  The last time the USA lost in a meaningful match not named those four teams?  November 5, 2010 vMEX in a WWC11 qualifying match.  That's more than 8 1/2 years ago.  In any friendly?  July 27, 2017 vAUS and AUS is ranked #6 in the world.  Before that?  Dec 16, 2015 vCHN (#16).  Ridiculous success.  But with a lot more countries finally trying to develop women's soccer properly, the National Women's Soccer League still struggling, and the USA transitioning from the veterans to the newcomers (the last 9 USA goals were scored by vets Rapinoe (4), Lloyd (2), and Heath (but officially an own goal) with only Ertz and Horan appearing on the scoresheet) this could be the last year where we expect the USA to make the semifinals (though that FRA match was admittedly a major roadblock) without a sweat.

Issue 8.2.3 "The Heat is On" (After QF)

Archive

Saturday, June 29, 2019

HEATWAVE ACROSS EUROPE AS USA MAKES 8TH SEMIFINAL
Tom J and UncleChimps are first and among 8 still alive in pool

HOME, CA (smt) [DAY 21] -- Temperatures reached 90 F across France for the quarterfinals but only the Saturday matches saw the utilization of water breaks in the 30' and 75' as those matches were played earlier in the day.  The "real final" saw host 1A-France and 1F-USA battle in sold-out Paris with temps in the high 80s despite being played at night.  No water breaks were needed and USA once again scored in the first 13 minutes netting a direct free kick that went though lots of players without being touched into the back of the net in the 5'.  USA's Megan Rapinoe added another, the first woman to score 2 or more goals in back-to-back matches as USA held off FRA, 2-1 for their 10th straight WWC win.  After the first goal, USA relented and let FRA have possession but they couldn't do anything with it and of their 20 shots, just five were on goal.  Meanwhile, 1D-England scored for the fourth time in the first 15 minutes and beat 2A-Norway 3-0 to meet the USA in the semifinal.