This is good kinja.

Odds are this guy is not going to the “wilderness”. He’s going to the house he owns on an island in the lake my grandmother lives on. Small town, sure... but not the wilderness.

What part of Senegal goal was a “boner” on Hassen’s part? That’s the most dangerous part of the box to whip a free kick (affectionately called the “corridor of uncertainty” for those who enjoy Premier League broadcasts). Unlucky he didn’t get a punch on it, but that’s not a bad gamble to make. And the defender is…

Plus, this is still a Sweden team that hasn’t put a full 90 minutes together. Asllani was terrible against Germany (couldn’t pull off a pass, runs were mis-timed and always away from where the pass went), yet had a decent game against the USA. Jakobsson meanwhile has been pretty bland this tournament, but finally woke…

Billy Haisley: continuing his trend of head-scratching takes on the World Cup...

That was legitimately one of the most entertaining women’s international soccer games of all time. For me, it rivaled USA vs. Brazil in the gold medal game of the 2004 Olympics in terms of pure drama and scoring chances. Let’s hope the rest of the knockout round lives up to this standard.

Part of me is starting to wonder if there isn’t a knock again Subban in the locker room? How else do you explain two teams trading this guy, and pretty obviously coming off worse in the exchange? All of which seems too bad. Hope P.K. kills it with the Devils.

For me (also a ref), I’ve always been taught and understood the example of “interfering with an opponent” to cover the type of situation in this game. It’s slide 21 in the link you posted. If the offside player is essentially forcing the defender to make a desperation clearance attempt or to mis-hit the ball, which…

Jakobsson especially seemed to wilt under the spotlight. Didn’t show that one-on-one spark I think most people expected from her. She needed to be able to beat someone on the dribble to add a layer of danger to Sweden, for more than just the counterattack.

Yeah, that was an offside play.

Loved this! I’ve started teaching my crop of goalkeepers certain techniques I’ve developed over the last 5 years as I switched away from playing a lot of 11v11 outdoor soccer (just not that many leagues/teams in my area) to the American indoor version of the game, where you have boards and a “field-hockey” sized goal.

It’s an interesting point. It’s odd for FIFA to enforce the rule this way in a major tournament, but I could see it leading to goalkeepers making that step forward (to give them momentum on their dive) from well behind the line. And that’s probably how it should be executed.

Agree that the only way this situation seems to work out is if they’re planning on cutting ties with Pavelski. Not necessarily the wrong move, but that could be a tough one for the fan base when you’re saying goodbye to your captain and fan-favorite.

Thank you for wording this point so well. It’s an important part of the whole discussion, since the World Cup is a chance to grow the women’s game at the club level in the U.S. If they just end up upsetting some potential fans of the game state-side rather than bringing them on board... well, it won’t matter if they…

Man, you really like hyperbolic adjectives don’t ya?

Nobody is arguing that the U.S. broke any rules or laws of the game in choosing to celebrate their goals the way they did. The public outcry has to do with things like “respect” and if it was “right”. A wholly moral and ethical discussion. Which it is okay for you to…

The whole conversation around the right or wrong of excessively celebrating a goal against an already beaten opponent ONLY exists in an environment of ethics and morals...

I’m not sure what you’re trying to accomplish throwing around a term like “moral imbecile” that you probably picked up from a Psych 101 course, but…

Correct. But it was still an example of sportsmanship issues with the USWNT, and in a team that has had PLENTY over the last two decades, it still stands as the most blatant and easiest one to point to for those who haven’t closely followed women’s soccer going back 1999.

I wouldn’t even put much responsibility on this on Ellis. While I tend to agree with Solo’s opinion that Ellis isn’t the right coach for this team, the USWNT has seemingly always been led by its veteran stars, going back to the ‘90s.

This was solely on them. And Rapinoe, as much as I love her, was the worst of the…

Yep. Even the argument about goal differential is a stretch. In that scenario, Sweden would have to score more goals than the U.S. and earn a draw with the U.S. in the final group game. Keep in mind this is a Sweden team whose BEST attacking player retired before this tournament, and without her, hasn’t scored more…

Wow. Looking at how burned up the remains of the car are, I can’t believe anyone got out alive. Terrible.