2023 Women's World Cup

[candrew]

The comparison between soccer and hockey players is quite telling. Half dozen missing teeth? 30 stitches across the face? Back in time for the next period.

If we're going to compare soccer and hockey let's at least acknowledge the fact that the NHL has its share of players that are masters of the dark arts as well. This is especially true when it comes to embellishment - aka "diving". Tim Stutzle and Sidney Crosby come immediately to mind though there are others who are not quite as skilled as those two at "drawing" penalties.

Unlike FIFA the NHL does deserve some credit for pretending to care about embellishment by sanctioning players (sort of) through issuing fines for "diving". Professional soccer should at least attempt to do the same.

 

[Alan]

It’s a funny old game. Japan crushed Spain 4-0 in the group stages, but then lost 2-1 to Sweden in the quarter final who then lost 2-1 to Spain in the semis. England beat Spain last year in the Euros quarter final but lost today.

This is why many of us love soccer.

 

[Alan]

If things go like the game I saw this weekend it might not be that way...


It was Tottenham vs Man United... ref called a foul and was running away... Man U guy captain comes running to him complaining and the ref just turned around and showed a yellow...


The announcers said that they were supposed to not allow dissent like we have seen all the time...



I have always been yelling at the TV to give these guys yellow that surround the ref and it would stop.. give 5 guys yellow at the same time and see how much it happens..

They have tried this before but it never seems to last more than the first few games of the season, but I hope they stick with it this season and cut out all the dissent. They have been good so far in handing out yellow cards when a player or manager waves a pretend card to demand punishment, and on the first weekend of the Premier League a player was sent off because he waved a pretend card and then received his 2nd yellow of the game leaving his team short a player.

Time wasting is also meant to be stamped down on this season but it can be very subjective - how can you be sure when a player is really injured? However they did say that obvious time wasting like kicking a ball away to delay the start of play will be an automatic yellow card and they seemed to stick with this in the tournament except today when a Spanish player kicked the ball away to delay a quick throw in by England but wasn’t given a yellow card, because she already had a yellow card and would then be sent off. I don’t know that if Spain had played the last 15 minutes with only 10 players that it would have made a difference but I would like to see consistency.

 

[Chuckanut]

It’s a funny old game. Japan crushed Spain 4-0 in the group stages, but then lost 2-1 to Sweden in the quarter final who then lost 2-1 to Spain in the semis. England beat Spain last year in the Euros quarter final but lost today.

This is why many of us love soccer.

Perhaps it’s also a function of the fact that the playoffs are just one game. That’s one thing I like about baseball and basketball, the playoffs are 3, 5 or 7 games, so one lucky break or one bad call in one game can’t overly influence the entire outcome.

But, rules are rules, and Spain played by the same rules as England and won, so I congratulate them.

 

[Alan]

Perhaps it’s also a function of the fact that the playoffs are just one game. That’s one thing I like about baseball and basketball, the playoffs are 3, 5 or 7 games, so one lucky break or one bad call in one game can’t overly influence the entire outcome.

But, rules are rules, and Spain played by the same rules as England and won, so I congratulate them.

I’m really pleased for Spain, their first ever win, and also very happy that England made it to the final. They have been great to watch over the past 10 years.

Domestic tournaments can afford to have individual teams play 3, 5 or 7 games but when you bring the teams from 32 countries together from around the world into one place you really need to have the tournament completed in a timely manner. Remember that it takes 2 or 3 years of group games and playoffs to narrow the field down to just 32 teams.

This is the first time the women’s World Cup final has been expanded to 32 teams and there was concern that some teams would get embarrassingly blown away by the better teams but that just didn’t happen, showing that the skill levels of most teams have really improved over the years.

 

[Texas Proud]

One thing I found interesting is the 19 YO girl from Spain...


She was on the U17 team that won their world cup...


She was on the U20 team that won their world cup..


And now on the regular team and won the real world cup...


I think someone said that Spain currently holds all 3 titles... not sure how often the others are played...

 

[Alan]

One thing I found interesting is the 19 YO girl from Spain...


She was on the U17 team that won their world cup...


She was on the U20 team that won their world cup..


And now on the regular team and won the real world cup...


I think someone said that Spain currently holds all 3 titles... not sure how often the others are played...

The U17 finals were played in 2022 (Spain retained their title from 2018)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_U-17_Women's_World_Cup

The U20 finals were also played in 2022 (Spain won, Japan were the holders from 2018)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_U-20_Women's_World_Cup

Spain currently holds those titles along with the full title. Pretty impressive. Before this tournament they were ranked 6th in the world. (England ranked 4th)

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women?dateId=ranking_20230609

 

[Out of Steam]

Unlike FIFA the NHL does deserve some credit for pretending to care about embellishment by sanctioning players (sort of) through issuing fines for "diving". Professional soccer should at least attempt to do the same.

True, it is possible to be penalized for diving in the NHL. It does not appear to happen in a FIFA match.

 

[Alan]

True, it is possible to be penalized for diving in the NHL. It does not appear to happen in a FIFA match.

Diving, known as simulation, is a yellow card offence in soccer as well and is penalized with a yellow card. I saw one given out today in the Championship (the division below The Premier league)

 

[candrew]

Diving, known as simulation, is a yellow card offence in soccer as well and is penalized with a yellow card. I saw one given out today in the Championship (the division below The Premier league)

Apart from the booking Alan, Premier League players are fined a laughable £20-£50 per red card and £20 for every 5 yellow cards received. The club is fined £25000 if their side are issued 6 or more cautions in a match.

NHL player fines for simulation (diving) are tiered based on accumulation and range from $1000-$8000.

 

[Alan]

Apart from the booking Alan, Premier League players are fined a laughable £20-£50 per red card and £20 for every 5 yellow cards received. The club is fined £25000 if their side are issued 6 or more cautions in a match.

NHL player fines for simulation (diving) are tiered based on accumulation and range from $1000-$8000.

For sure it is not the fines that hurt but the games they miss, attendance fees, playing bonuses etc. A Fulham player last season, their top striker Mitrovic, got red carded and banned for 8 Premier games last season. Even dropping a couple of league positions in the division costs the club millions as every league place is worth £2.2m, so a drop of 3 places costs the club £6.6m.

And relegation costs the club an enormous amount of money. The bottom 3 teams are relegated every season.

 

[Alan]

Another consequence of a red card is that a player may lose their place in the team if their replacement plays well.

This was the case in these finals when England's bright young star, Lauren James, stupidly got herself sent off in the round of 16 against Nigeria. England had to play for 45 minutes with 10 players and were very lucky to get through on penalties.

Lauren James was not even in the squad for the Euros last year but England have a lot of injuries and she had not only secured her place but had become England's top scorer of the tournament. Her replacement during her 2 match ban scored in both the quarter and semi finals and Lauren was dropped to the bench for the final. (She did come on in the second half but failed to make an impact)

 

[target2019]

Spain proved themselves to be the world's best. Player development and tactics are beyond what other top teams have in place. Just having physical athletes will work against lower levels, but you see in the World Cup the need for total soccer, with top coach, goalkeeping, and speed of play.

And some team problems in the right amount don't seem to hurt if the system has additional players ready. #18 Salma Paralluelo for Spain was a standout. Probably the best example I can think of as to why Spain will stay at the top for a while.

Endorsements and causes in U.S. Soccer has contributed to rock-bottom results. A perfume commercial? How about finding another performance level on the world stage? To me it looked like a summer all-star team. Some players annointed early in the process, but not capable of running up and down the field in the tournament?