Matildas The Matildas and the 2019 Women's World Cup Thread

[Pres]

Australia has been shaky at the back for months. Even in the Cup of Nations the defence was clearly the weak point, but the opponents Australia played weren't good enough to take advantage. In the two friendlies before the World Cup, Australia conceded eight goals. Not going to win too many games with that sort of shoddy defending.

Milicic was trying to get the players to adapt to his style of play and the FFA responded by giving him two friendlies after the Cup of Nations (which was scheduled while Stajcic was still coach) and a two week pre-World Cup training camp to give him the opportunity to work with the players.

By contrast, the USWNT played five friendlies between the end of the SheBelieves Cup and the start of the World Cup in April and May. And that is with a coach who has been in the job for five years.

The early exit falls on the shoulders of Gallop and the FFA board. They simply didn't give Milicic the tools he needed to get the squad ready for the World Cup.

Great post. Pretty much how I saw it. Norway would have been a tragedy beaten had they lost. Could have easily put another couple past us but for bad luck and some superb Williams saves.

Matildas very disappointing in both the Italy and Norway games. They leak goals, struggle to maintain control of the ball and are quite one dimensional up front for a side ranked #6.

 

[Frank Bunn]

England 3 v 0 Cameroon. England looked shaky at times but were not punished. But today we saw the women's world cup descent into farce.

Refereeing and VAR (again).

England's 2nd goal was clearly onside but the assistant flagged it as off. VAR review awarded a goal. IMO they should not be reversing that scenario because you can't know if players have changed their behavior due to the flag going up.​

Cameroon scored what look like a good goal but VAR ruled a player had a toe offside. There needs to some margin of error allowed in order to reverse a decision.​

Then late in the game VAR was used to judge a bad tackle. Should VAR be used for this? The ref got the decision wrong twice. Didn't even give a yellow card at first then VAR clearly showed the Cameroon player going past the ball to rake her studs down the England player's shin and stamp her foot - which should have been a red.​

Excessive use of VAR is taking the game too far from what the rest of us play at the weekends. FIFA urgently needs to review its use after so many bad decisions.​

The behaviour of the Cameroon players, coach and other coterie.

After England's 2nd goal was awarded by VAR the Cameroon players gathered in a huddle and refused to restart the game. The ref should have yellow carded the captain, then if play didn't start immediately should have abandoned the game.​

After the Cameroon goal was cancelled by VAR for offside their players went to the bench for several minutes with the coach talking to and hugging them rather than sending them back on the field. The ref should have allowed England to take the free and score an unopposed goal.​

Apparently at half time the Cameroon coach told his players the ref wanted England to win. There were reports of claims of racism but that was later denied.​

Phil Neville spoke after the game and referred to the poor behaviour by the Cameroonians including fights in the hotel and fights in the VIP area.​

​

 

[peternorth]

England 3 v 0 Cameroon. England looked shaky at times but were not punished. But today we saw the women's world cup descent into farce.

Refereeing and VAR (again).

England's 2nd goal was clearly onside but the assistant flagged it as off. VAR review awarded a goal. IMO they should not be reversing that scenario because you can't know if players have changed their behavior due to the flag going up.​

Cameroon scored what look like a good goal but VAR ruled a player had a toe offside. There needs to some margin of error allowed in order to reverse a decision.​

Then late in the game VAR was used to judge a bad tackle. Should VAR be used for this? The ref got the decision wrong twice. Didn't even give a yellow card at first then VAR clearly showed the Cameroon player going past the ball to rake her studs down the England player's shin and stamp her foot - which should have been a red.​

Excessive use of VAR is taking the game too far from what the rest of us play at the weekends. FIFA urgently needs to review its use after so many bad decisions.​

The behaviour of the Cameroon players, coach and other coterie.

After England's 2nd goal was awarded by VAR the Cameroon players gathered in a huddle and refused to restart the game. The ref should have yellow carded the captain, then if play didn't start immediately should have abandoned the game.​

After the Cameroon goal was cancelled by VAR for offside their players went to the bench for several minutes with the coach talking to and hugging them rather than sending them back on the field. The ref should have allowed England to take the free and score an unopposed goal.​

Apparently at half time the Cameroon coach told his players the ref wanted England to win. There were reports of claims of racism but that was later denied.​

Phil Neville spoke after the game and referred to the poor behaviour by the Cameroonians including fights in the hotel and fights in the VIP area.​

​

That was interesting viewing!

phil was quite upset at their behaviour and standard of the game. he says he had the bigger picture in mind

 

[peternorth]

I remember pre norway match foxsports were stating that the matildas could face the poms in the 1/4s. damn.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Gallop stands by sacking Stajcic.

FFA's Gallop stands by Stajcic sacking in wake of Matildas' early exit

As inquests start after the Matildas crashed out of the Women's World Cup, FFA chief David Gallop says the organisation made the right call in swapping coach.

www.smh.com.au

 

[raven echo]

Gallop stands by sacking Stajcic.

FFA's Gallop stands by Stajcic sacking in wake of Matildas' early exit

As inquests start after the Matildas crashed out of the Women's World Cup, FFA chief David Gallop says the organisation made the right call in swapping coach.

www.smh.com.au

Gallop is a piece of s**t.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Interesting comments from Milicic at the end of the article:

Emotional Milicic choked up after loss, says he takes responsibility

An emotional Ante Milicic was too disappointed to put into words his feelings after Australia's World Cup elimination, but said team will grow.

www.smh.com.au

"We couldn't dominate the games like we wanted to for longer periods of the match and in the end, I look at this opposition for tonight and how often their 11 has played together and they have a good understanding. And that comes from time together and a lot of tournaments."

As I noted yesterday, Milicic had the Cup of Nations (three matches) and two friendlies to work with the players prior to the World Cup, plus a two-week training camp. The USWNT had the SheBelieves Cup and five friendlies to prepare for the World Cup. Milicic was referring to Norway with his comments. The Norwegians played seven games in 2019, but only two friendlies in April and June (including a 1-0 loss to New Zealand in April) prior to the World Cup. Including the Cup of Nations, Australia played six games in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Interestingly, the Matildas' Wikipedia page now has the Matildas losing 3-1 to the Dutch in a closed-doors friendly two days after they lost 3-0 to the Dutch. The Wikipedia page refers to an article written by Ben McKay (who was with the Matildas during the World Cup and the buildup to the tournament), who wrote that both teams played second string sides for the second game.

Matildas on defence after Dutch disaster

The Matildas concede they're in a race against time to waterproof a leaky defence, but they're up for the challenge ahead of their World Cup campaign starting on Sunday against Italy.

thewomensgame.com

 

[GreyBudgie]

Gallop stands by sacking Stajcic.

FFA's Gallop stands by Stajcic sacking in wake of Matildas' early exit

As inquests start after the Matildas crashed out of the Women's World Cup, FFA chief David Gallop says the organisation made the right call in swapping coach.

www.smh.com.au

Of course he would, Spin,Spin,Spin

 

[Bradesmaen]

England 3 v 0 Cameroon. England looked shaky at times but were not punished. But today we saw the women's world cup descent into farce.

Refereeing and VAR (again).

England's 2nd goal was clearly onside but the assistant flagged it as off. VAR review awarded a goal. IMO they should not be reversing that scenario because you can't know if players have changed their behavior due to the flag going up.​

Cameroon scored what look like a good goal but VAR ruled a player had a toe offside. There needs to some margin of error allowed in order to reverse a decision.​

Then late in the game VAR was used to judge a bad tackle. Should VAR be used for this? The ref got the decision wrong twice. Didn't even give a yellow card at first then VAR clearly showed the Cameroon player going past the ball to rake her studs down the England player's shin and stamp her foot - which should have been a red.​

Excessive use of VAR is taking the game too far from what the rest of us play at the weekends. FIFA urgently needs to review its use after so many bad decisions.​

The behaviour of the Cameroon players, coach and other coterie.

After England's 2nd goal was awarded by VAR the Cameroon players gathered in a huddle and refused to restart the game. The ref should have yellow carded the captain, then if play didn't start immediately should have abandoned the game.​

After the Cameroon goal was cancelled by VAR for offside their players went to the bench for several minutes with the coach talking to and hugging them rather than sending them back on the field. The ref should have allowed England to take the free and score an unopposed goal.​

Apparently at half time the Cameroon coach told his players the ref wanted England to win. There were reports of claims of racism but that was later denied.​

Phil Neville spoke after the game and referred to the poor behaviour by the Cameroonians including fights in the hotel and fights in the VIP area.​

​

Someone doesn't understand the rule RE the flag going up... not surprising given who it is. Surprised he didn't complain about Cameroon players being together as a violent gang.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Talk on the radio this morning that Chelsea is set to offer Kerr a massive contract to leave the Glory. Kerr has denied the move.

Sam Kerr plays down links to a move to Chelsea

‘That’s just speculation’: Kerr responds to Chelsea links

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Dixie Flatline]

England 3 v 0 Cameroon. England looked shaky at times but were not punished. But today we saw the women's world cup descent into farce.

Refereeing and VAR (again).

England's 2nd goal was clearly onside but the assistant flagged it as off. VAR review awarded a goal. IMO they should not be reversing that scenario because you can't know if players have changed their behavior due to the flag going up.​

Cameroon scored what look like a good goal but VAR ruled a player had a toe offside. There needs to some margin of error allowed in order to reverse a decision.​

Then late in the game VAR was used to judge a bad tackle. Should VAR be used for this? The ref got the decision wrong twice. Didn't even give a yellow card at first then VAR clearly showed the Cameroon player going past the ball to rake her studs down the England player's shin and stamp her foot - which should have been a red.​

Excessive use of VAR is taking the game too far from what the rest of us play at the weekends. FIFA urgently needs to review its use after so many bad decisions.​

The behaviour of the Cameroon players, coach and other coterie.

After England's 2nd goal was awarded by VAR the Cameroon players gathered in a huddle and refused to restart the game. The ref should have yellow carded the captain, then if play didn't start immediately should have abandoned the game.​

After the Cameroon goal was cancelled by VAR for offside their players went to the bench for several minutes with the coach talking to and hugging them rather than sending them back on the field. The ref should have allowed England to take the free and score an unopposed goal.​

Apparently at half time the Cameroon coach told his players the ref wanted England to win. There were reports of claims of racism but that was later denied.​

Phil Neville spoke after the game and referred to the poor behaviour by the Cameroonians including fights in the hotel and fights in the VIP area.​

​

England claims that that Toni Duggan was spat on in the first half and claim that Steph Houghton was stamped on the ankle by a Cameroonian player. Neville also claimed that there had been Cameroonian people fighting in the hotel and that the ref was intimidated (for fear of her physical safety) in not giving a penalty in the second half and from sending off Cameroon players for fouls that would ordinarily merit a red card.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

France needed extra time to see off Brazil. The French opened the scoring through Valerie Gauvin in the 52nd minute but Brazil found an equaliser eight minutes later (courtesy of VAR, who overturned an off-side call against Debinha in the buildup) when Thaisa jumped on a poor clearance from Wendie Renard to score. Brazil had a shot on target cleared off the line in extra-time and the French then struck the winner a minute later.

It's going to be a very different looking Brazilian team in 2023, with Formiga, Marta and Cristiane all unlikely to be playing in four years (I mean, Formiga is 41).

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Four matches in the round of 16 remain to be played.

Spain v USA at 2am AEST and Sweden v Canada at 5am AEST.

The winner of the Sweden v Canada game plays Germany in a quarter final.

Then on Wednesday morning, Italy play China and the Netherlands play Japan. The winners of Italy-China and Netherland-Japan play in the quarter-final, with the winner of that quarter final playing the winner of the Germany-TBD quarter final.

Norway v England is confirmed as one of the four quarter-finals, with the French to play the winner of the Spain v USA round of 16 game.

Just goes to show how important that loss to Italy was in the first group game. Top the group and play China, who finished third in group B and who aren't much good, as opposed to finishing runners-up in Group C and playing Norway, who finished second in group A behind France.

 

[swingdog]

Still can't see anyone beating the US.

 

[peternorth]

Still can't see anyone beating the US.

Its the USWNT!!!

I wonder if we could adopt that...... the AWNT !

 

[Frank Bunn]

England claims that that Toni Duggan was spat on in the first half and claim that Steph Houghton was stamped on the ankle by a Cameroonian player. Neville also claimed that there had been Cameroonian people fighting in the hotel and that the ref was intimidated (for fear of her physical safety) in not giving a penalty in the second half and from sending off Cameroon players for fouls that would ordinarily merit a red card.

I saw the spitting incident. It could have been accidental. But the stamp on Houghton should have been a straight red. Ref didn't give any until VAR then she bottled it by only giving a yellow.

 

[drd23]

The second penalty awarded to the USWNT overnight was bullshit

 

[giggler99]

The second penalty awarded to the USWNT overnight was ********

Didn't watch What happen? Any footage?

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The second penalty awarded to the USWNT overnight was ********

The first penalty was soft as butter, too. The US player made a meal of the challenge.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Didn't watch What happen? Any footage?

 

[giggler99]

lol both penalties where dodgy yet VAR does not intervene? Very suspicious.

 

[drd23]

The first penalty was soft as butter, too. The US player made a meal of the challenge.

Heath does have her trailing foot stood on, so it is a pen imo, but she certainly did put some extra mayo on it.

She wasn't the only one to dive a bit - Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe did too in the highlights I've seen

 

[Dixie Flatline]

lol both penalties where dodgy yet VAR does not intervene? Very suspicious.

The VAR referee was Dutch. From what I've been reading on the Guardian website, according to Dutch press, the VAR signalled to the ref that the second penalty shouldn't have been awarded, but the ref ignored VAR and confirmed it.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Sets up France v USA in the quarter-final. Probably not the result FIFA was looking for, because whichever country loses, their supporters will stop caring about the World Cup.

 

[giggler99]

The VAR referee was Dutch. From what I've been reading on the Guardian website, according to Dutch press, the VAR signalled to the ref that the second penalty shouldn't have been awarded, but the ref ignored VAR and confirmed it.

That's just ridiculous! That Ref should be sacked!