Category — World Cup

Full Time

United States 2-0 Netherlands

This is the first match that the US has played in the tournament without scoring in the first 12 minutes.

The worse mistake Netherlands made was Stefanie van der Gragt high kicking Alex Morgan in the penalty area at 60 minutes. Van der Gragt drew a yellow card and the US was awarded a penalty kick. Enter Megan Rapinoe and the US is up by 1. The Oranj goalie, Sari van Veenendaal, had been a brick wall in the first half, but Rapinoe finds a way. This was only the second penalty kick in a WWC final and the only one that found the net. Rapinoe is now tied with Alex Morgan with 6 goals for the tournaments, and the US has set a new record of 26 goals for the tournament.

At 69 minutes Rose Lavelle’s goal was one of the finest single efforts of the tournament. She dribbled through the Oranj defense and found the hole Megan punched through van Veenendaal’s ‘brick wall’.

Update: Megan Rapinoe was awarded the Gold Boot for the most scoring in the least amount of time and the Gold Ball as the best player in the tournament. Rose Lavelle won the Bronze Ball as the third best player.

Full Time

England 1-2 Sweden

The First Half was the game. At 11 minutes Sweden’s Kosavare Asllani scores and 10 minutes later her teammate Sofia Jakobsson finds the net as England’s defense wobbles.

Fran Kirby brings England back into the game with a great shot at 31 minutes, but two minutes later Ellen White has her second goal of the tournament voided by the VAR (video-assisted referee) and that’s the way things ended.

England wasn’t ready initially and Sweden found openings. England got back in the game, but melted after White’s goal was disallowed. Sweden was the better team on the pitch.

Full Time

Netherlands 1-0 Sweden

The action starts at 2 PM CDT.

Defense is king in this battle that may end with a penalty shootout.

The game has gone full time with a tie, and they will now play two 15 minute periods of “Extra Time”.

At the 99 minute mark, Jackie Groenen of the Oranj put one into the lower corner out of reach of Sweden’s goalie, Hedvig Lindahl.

The US and the Netherlands will meet in the Final on July 7th, and England will face Sweden to decide third place on July 6th.

Full Time

England 1-2 US

The US scored the first goal at 10 minutes with a Christen Press header. Ellen White equalized for England 9 minutes later with her 6th goal. Alex Morgan regained the lead for the US with a header at the 31-minute mark. That was Morgan’s 6th goal and her present to herself on her 30th birthday.

Megan Rapinoe is reported to have a hamstring injury and is ruled out of the game. It has to be frustrating because she was tied with Ellen, Alex, and Sam Kerr with 5 goals for the tournament.

US Goalee Alyssa Naeher’s saves were the difference for the win. In the second half, the US shifted to a five-player defense and protected their goal. Another US final. Ellen White of England was barely offsides for what would have been the equalizer, but the VAR caught it and her second goal was called back.

It’s a doubleheader to finish the quarterfinals round.

Italy 0-2 Netherlands

All of the scoring was the result of Sherida Spitse’s free-kicks in the second half that were converted by headers from Vivianne Miedema and then Stefani van der Gragt. After an even first half, the Oranje Leeuwinnen (Orange Lionesses) took control of the pitch from Le Azzurre (The Blues). It is the middle of a heat wave in Europe which slowed things down. The Italian defense was pounded by 21 attempts, so they held up their end allowing only 2 goals in set pieces by the current European champion Oranje.

Germany 1-2 Sweden

The DFB Frauen struck first and led in possession 60-40, but the Blågult (Blue & Gold) did a better job of penetrating the German defense. It was hot and there were cooling breaks during the match, but the play was not nearly as spirited as it would have in the Fall in Berlin or Stockholm. Germany was missing Dzsenifer Marozsán, their star midfielder who is not 100% after an injury in an earlier game. She came in later in the game but the Frauen didn’t adjust to change in their game.

France 1 – 2 US

Les Bleues controlled the ball 60% of the time and looked great, but they couldn’t get the ball in the goal. The US had speed, reaction, and Megan Rapinoe. The US shifted to a five women defense at the end to maintain their lead and it worked.

This is the eighth consecutive Women’s World Cup in which the US reached the semi-finals.

Update: BBC Sports selected Crystal Dunn, US fullback, ‘Player of the match’ for shutting down the French offense.

Norway 0-3 England

Apparently stunned by a quick Lioness goal (2 minutes 7 seconds), the Grasshoppers couldn’t get their game together. They had opportunities but were thwarted by the England defenders. Norway is a better team than this game would lead you to believe.

England looked very confident and ready to go the distance.

Italy 2-0 China China just couldn’t convert. The stats were pretty much identical, but China was unable to take advantage of their opportunities. Italy executed when they saw an opportunity.

Netherlands 2-1 Japan The Netherlands are through to the quarterfinals due to a Japanese mistake that led to a penalty shot. Japan was the better team for most of the match, but at this level of play, it only takes one mistake.

Sweden 1-0 Canada Canada dominated the first half but couldn’t score. The Swedes drew blood in the second half and that was enough with Hedvig Lindahl protecting their goal. Lindahl won Player of the Match for an amazing stop on a Canadian penalty shot that would have tied the match.

Spain 1-2 USA The Roja’s Hermoso scored the first goal against the US in this World Cup. US scoring was two penalty shots by Megan Rapinoe. Spain is ready to play at this level. It wasn’t an elegant win by the US, but it was enough to move on to the quarterfinals.

France 2-1 Brazil. This was great football between two of the best in the world. After tying in regulation, the French scored the winner in the second half of overtime. The French appeared to be in better condition for the end of the match.

England 3-0 Cameroon. This was another example of people upset with calls being reversed by the use of VAR (video-assisted referee). When you learn to play under one set of rules and conditions, and then have to adjust to a different system for the most important games you play, mistakes are made and people get angry.

FYI: the little ball indicates the player scored. A green triangle indicates a substitute. The yellow rectangle is a yellow card and the red rectangle is a red card.

The final sixteen started playing today for positions in the quarterfinals.

Germany sent Nigeria home – final score 3-0. Nigeria came back in the second half, but the experience of the German team was too much on this day.

The second match today, Norway – Australia, ended in a 1-1 tie after full time and extra time. Norway won on penalty shots 4-1. Sam Kerr’s play will be missed.

England-Cameroon and France-Brazil are scheduled for tomorrow.

I have been spending my time working on an irrigation system. The time has been split between actual plumbing and locating parts. The basic problem was figuring out why the pump wouldn’t hold its prime. I’m dealing with people who think it’s an imposition to go to the pump house to turn it on. Priming the pump was totally beyond their skill set.

While I have noticed that the current Resident of 1600 PA Ave. continues to violate norms and laws, there’s not much point in commenting if the House refuses to begin impeachment proceedings.

In sports news Chris Froome:

Britain’s four-time Tour de France champion, 34, suffered a fractured right femur, a broken hip, a fractured elbow and fractured ribs and lost consciousness following the crash.

They discovered later that he also had a neck fracture, so he won’t be attempting to win his fifth Yellow Jersey next month.

We are also in the middle of FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. The US is the defending champion. The “usual suspects” are playing well and advancing. The US, Canada, England, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden are already through to the knock-out round of 16.

The women play a better game than the men – more skill and less muscle.

Women’s World Cup final: USA 5-2 Japan.

The US scored 6 of the 7 goals [one was a US own goal] which makes it the highest scoring WWC final. US captain Carli Lloyd scored a hat-trick in 13 minutes, the third goal from the half-way line. The US is the first women’s team to have won three World Cups.

A lot of very happy players who feel they have overcome their disappointment with the 2011 loss.

It was Germany 0-1 England as Fara Williams put a penalty kick passed Germany’s goalkeeper, Nadine Angerer in the second overtime period of the match. This marked the first time that England has beaten Germany in 20 matches, and made England the top European side.