The Netherlands - The Next Opponent

They are currently ranked by FIFA as #8 in the world.  They won the Algarve Cup last year [they weren’t so hot this year, though].  In 2017, they ended Germany’s 22-year reign at the summit of European women’s football by winning Euro 2017.  They struggled to qualify for this year’s World Cup, but they have yet to lose in this year’s tournament.   They survived a marathon match against Sweden to advance to the World Cup final.  The Netherlands women's national football team [The Orange Lionesses] is the only thing standing in the way of the United States successfully defending their world championship. What makes them tick?

Strengths: The main strengths are in attack. This is not a team that plays conservatively.  When you've got three of the four top scorers in the history of your team on your side, you are in great shape. Lieke Martens has had a strong tournament, but striker Vivianne Miedema is the country's all-time leading scorer with 61 goals, and she's just 22 years of age. She is a goal-scoring machine, scoring 31 goals in 27 appearances for her club team, Arsenal. Martens isn’t the only Dutch attacker worth noting, either. On the opposite side is Shanice van de Sanden, who coincidentally plays for Lyon. She’s a speedster capable of racing up the right wing and into the box at will. The Netherlands’ main source of attacks is from the flanks. They love to play with width and they rotate the ball around the flanks a lot. With the full-backs sitting quite high, the center-mid drifting wide, and the winger dropping deep – they are often able to open up spaces and attack the flanks with their passing.  Martens, Miedema, and van de Sanden are in the same league as Tobin Heath, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.  American defenders Crystal Dunn and Kelley O’Hara will be very busy on Sunday.

The aerial game is a Dutch strength.  Five goals out of the 12 scored have come from headers.  Watch out for set pieces [corner kicks, free kicks].  Dutch midfielder Sherida Spitse has set up four goals and all of them have been from set plays. Spitse is flanked by the energetic Jackie Groenen [who scored the game-winner against Sweden] and the often-elusive Danielle van de Donk.  She is an outstanding playmaker in her own right, but she’s also developed into an all-around midfielder over the last few seasons.

The Dutch like to play diagonal long passes from the back.  The players that are responsible for these passes are defender Dominique Bloodworth and midfielder Spitse.  Both of them have extraordinary vision and are able to deliver perfectly-weighted, accurate passes almost all the time. The Dutch always want to advance quickly. This is why we see a lot of long forward passes from behind, usually diagonally.  To prevent these passes from happening, the opposing team should mark and press these two aggressively. If you give them time and space, they’ll deliver those passes.  These diagonal passes are extremely vital in the Netherlands’ attacking play as they always looked to break quickly from wider areas.

The Orange Lionesses seem to break quickly whenever they find gaps to exploit. And they are, of course, even more dangerous after winning possession. They try to launch a quick counter immediately after winning possession in the middle of the pitch. The forwards are always ready to make a run and the passers seem to always know where to pick out these attackers.  They love to catch the opposing team napping on the break. They are extremely quick and dangerous on the counter.  They press aggressively and try to win the ball from as high up the pitch as possible. They tend to press immediately after losing possession and brake forward quickly after that.

Weaknesses: They conceded in three straight games before a shutout against Italy in the quarter final. Sometimes it is due to playing too cautiously on defense, and other times the team will double team and leave space open in the middle. They have to be more alert there.  The Netherlands do have one very good, and very physical, defender in Stefanie van der Gragt, but she’s injury-prone.  The rest of the defense has the same problem as the team as a whole: they’re young and inexperienced at the top level. That problem is more pressing in defense, because there’s not a vast wealth of talent like there is in front of them.  They practice the maxim of “a good defense is a good offense.”  The Dutch defenders don’t have to defend as much because the ladies in front of them are always attacking.

If they beat the Americans on Sunday, they will have done so in their very first final.

Cheerio, England!

Missing from today’s starting lineup was Megan Rapinoe.  Nobody was certain why she was MIA until after the match, but it was reported that she didn’t participate in team warmups prior to game time.  Given England coach Phil Neville’s knack for starting different players each game to confuse the opposition, my first thought was US coach Jill Smith might be doing a little of the same with Rapinoe, or that she might be saving Rapinoe for the second half.  But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and it turned out Rapinoe tweaked her hamstring.  Christen Press started in her place.

Lindsey Horan also started for the US today.  She was used as a sub the last two games.  She was one of five US players sitting on a yellow card.  My guess is US coach Jill Smith didn’t want to risk her getting a second yellow before the semi-final.  If she had gotten that second yellow, she would have missed today’s game.  But all yellow cards for all players were wiped off the board after the quarter-final, so Horan had a clean slate and was able to start.

One question coming into this game was whether the US would have their heads in the game, given the tough win against France.  The US wasted little time in grabbing the opening lead.  In the 10^th minute, defender Kelley O’Hara drove deep into the English left side when she made a cross into the English penalty area.  O’Hara found her target, and Christen Press [Rapinoe’s sub] headed home the goal.  England’s defenders were caught “ball watching” again.  No Rapinoe?  No problem.  But the US lead would be short-lived.  England’s Ellen White evened the score at 1-1 in the 19^th minute when she spilt to US defenders, took a cross from Beth Mead on the left, and slotted home the equalizer.  This put her in the lead for the Golden Boot award [ahead of Morgan and Rapinoe]. 

Things got a bit more intense down at the US end.  Lucy Bronze took a long pass from England’s defensive side, cut right briefly, then cut toward midfield.  She found an open Beth Mead in the penalty area.  Mead slipped, and a British scoring opportunity quickly vanished.  If she hadn’t slipped, she stood a good chance of putting England in the lead.  Kiera Walsh took the following throw-in and made a pass toward midfielder Jill Smith who was streaking toward the goal, trying to repeat what Ellen White had done eight minutes prior.  US defender Becky Sauerbrunn got a foot on it and nearly got an “own goal”.  But the US weathered this brief storm.

There was a tense moment in the English penalty area right after the 24-minute mark.  Alex Morgan was set up for a header in the box, but she bashed heads Lucy Bronze.  Play continued while Morgan appeared down for the count.  While Morgan lay sprawled on the field, Rose Lavelle hit a thunderous shot on goal, only to be saved by substitute goalie Carly Telford [Karen Bardsley had a hamstring injury of her own].  Luckily for the US, Morgan was down for only a minute. 

In the 31^st minute, Alex Morgan finally got her sixth goal of the tournament.  US defender Abby Dahlkemper bypassed England’s midfield with a pinpoint cross-field long ball to Christen Press. Press subsequently found Lindsey Horan, who made a beautiful pass to Morgan who was sprinting through the English penalty area.  Without a break in stride, Morgan headed home the go-ahead goal.  The US led 2-1.  Happy Birthday Alex!  She’s back in the lead for the Golden Boot because she also has three assists.  Moments later, England’s Kiera Walsh tested US goalie Alyssa Naeher with a slicing shot from outside the box.  The shot was fading away to the far post. Had Naeher not gone airborne to make a terrific save it would have been 2-2. In the 40^th minute, England’s Millie Bright backhanded Alex Morgan’s face.  Phil Neville didn’t seem to think the foul was that egregious, but the referee saw it a different way and booked Bright.  It was an action-packed first half.  England controlled possession 54 percent of the time, but were still down one goal.

After play resumed, Crystal Dunn committed a hard foul on Nikita Parris, after which England was awarded a free kick.  Beth Mead took the free kick, which bounced around the front of the goal like a pinball until goalie Alyssa Naeher cradled it just in front of the net.  Whew!  Rose Lavelle, who had a great game as a playmaker, got injured making a defensive play.  You could read her lips when she said “it’s my hamstring”.  Julie Mewis came on in her place.  Jill Smith didn’t want to make any “fatigue substitutions”, so one wonders if Lavelle will be fit to play again.

In the 67^th minute, the English had possession in the US final third.   Ellen White took a flick from Jill Scott, split two US defenders and tied the score at 2-2.  But wait…let’s go to VAR.  White was barely offside.  But “barely offside” is still offside, so White’s goal was waved off.  I thought she had timed her run just right, but the video said otherwise.  After White’s near-miss, the US began to play the 5-4-1 they played in the last quarter of the match against France.

Two things happened three minutes apart that sealed England’s fate.  First, American Becky Sauerbrunn committed a bad foul at the 83^rd minute.  What VAR took away from Ellen White, VAR gave back.  Upon further review, England was awarded a penalty kick.  Steph Houghton took the penalty [Nikita Parris had missed England’s previous two PKs], but Alyssa Naeher guessed right and made an incredible save.  To quote Alex Morgan, “she saved our ass”.  Three minutes later, England’s Millie Bright was shown her second yellow card.  It was a hard foul on Alex Morgan, studs up. That earned her a red card and she was sent off.  It’s pretty hard to make a comeback when you’re one player down, and your team has a reputation for not finishing games.  Although there were seven minutes of stoppage time added to the end of regulation, it wasn’t enough for England.  Time ran out for them, and the US advanced to Sunday’s final.  You can win by 13, or you can win by one, but the “W” counts the same.

Who was my player of the game? US Goalie Alyssa Naeher.  Alex Morgan may have scored the winning goal, but Naeher made one incredible save in the first half and two critical saves in the second half [including the penalty].  That save was the first non-shootout save for any US women’s goalie in World Cup history [take THAT, Hope Solo!].  More props to Kelley O’Hara and Crystal Dunn.  They had another solid game in defense.  The English wingers couldn’t get past them.

The US await the winners of the Netherlands/Sweden game. 

England - The Next Opponent

England made it through group play while surrendering only one goal.  Since the knockout stage began, they’ve posted clean sheets against Cameroon and Norway.  While that is true, it may also be irrelevant.  Take Germany, for instance.  When Germany entered the quarterfinal against Sweden, they had not given up a goal in the tournament.  Yet, Sweden managed to score twice and won the game, knocking the Germans out of the tournament.  But England is not to be taken lightly.  They dismantled Norway in the quarterfinal without any problem.  They had some struggles in group play, but against Norway they played what is unarguably their best game of the World Cup tournament.  What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Lionesses?

Strengths

1.      They start fast.  Four of their eleven goals have come before the 15th minute. The only game in which England has not scored a first half goal was a 1-0 win over Argentina. They attack through the right side with Lucy Bronze charging forward from right back and linking with Nikita Parris in particular. Crystal Dunn and Kelley O’Hara need a similar effort against England that they had against France.  Midfielder Jill Scott is another that presents a clear and present danger to the U.S. with her well-timed runs into the penalty box.  Ellen White has scored as many goals as both Alex Morgan [who hasn’t scored since the first game against Thailand] and Megan Rapinoe.

2.      Depth.  Coach Phil Neville has a group that has competition in every single position.  He likes to start different lineups every game.  Those that don’t start come off the bench with a chip on their shoulders.  With an ever-changing starting lineup, that makes it hard for opponents to make a good game plan.

3.      Controlling possession.  England have dominated the ball in most of the games they have played in France and possess a comfort in possession.  32-year-old Jill Scott’s experience is key to this style of play.  At 5’11”, she dictates the tempo.   While controlling possession is a key indicator on the outcome of any game, it isn’t absolute.  The US had possession of the ball on forty percent of the game against France, yet they won 2-1.  For every rule, there is an exception.

Weaknesses

1.      Defense.   England doesn’t have many weaknesses, but their defense is somewhat suspect. England’s defenders are so involved in attacking and scoring, but having their defenders so far forward leaves them vulnerable to the counterattack.  As Sweden did to Germany, England is vulnerable to the long ball.  England’s defense is mistake-prone.  Despite their clean sheets against Japan and Argentina, England’s lapses on defense, especially in the second half, gave both teams opportunities to score – they just didn’t cash in.  Their clean sheets against those teams had more to do with their opponents’ inability to capitalize on England’s defensive lapses rather than their own skill in defending. Another lapse against Scotland turned a comfortable 2-0 lead into a 2-1 nail-biter.  England’s defenders are also vulnerable to speedy attackers.  Also, they get caught “ball watching” rather than marking their assignments.

2.      Not closing the deal.  England can control possession, but thus far they haven’t turned that possession advantage into goals. They aren’t as ruthless as they could be.  If they discover a killer instinct that they haven’t displayed yet, the US could be in trouble.

The US and England met earlier this year in the SheBelieves Cup.  The two sides played to a 2-2 draw, with England winning the four-team round-robin tournament.  The teams are no strangers to each other.  Despite their struggles in group play, England finally put it all together against Norway.  I expect that consistency to continue, but if the Americans get off to a fast start as is their wont, the Lionesses could fall back into bad habits.  I expect a good game.

Auf Wiedersehen, Germany

During the pre-game show, much was made of Sweden's futility against Germany since 1995. Somebody forgot to tell Sweden that they were "destined" to lose today.  There's an old NFL saying that "defense wins championships".  Sweden's defense was stellar today.  Germany's defense was not.  Germany had not surrendered a single goal throughout the World Cup tournament, but today Sweden cracked the code and scored twice.  As the clock ticked toward 90 minutes, Germany needed a miracle to survive.  They didn't get one.

How did Sweden "crack the code"?  It was the long ball.  Things began promisingly enough for Germany.  Lina Magull gave Germany the lead in the 16th minute after a great finish from a typically fast and direct German attack. But only six minutes later Germany's defense let them down when Linda Sembrant launched a long ball downfield.  Sweden's Sofia Jakobsson outran two German defenders to catch up to the ball, and lo and behold she was one-on-one with German goalie Almuth Schult.  Jakobsson didn't waste the opportunity, shooting past Schult and grabbing the equalizer for Sweden.  Suddenly Germany looked dazed and confused.  The score was tied 1-1 at the half.

This was a very entertaining game.  Both sides were getting up and down the field and attacking in numbers.  This game was played end-to-end, but Sweden's front line were more athletic than was Germany's backline.  Germany has world-class attackers, but inexperienced defenders.  Only two minutes after the second half began, a header toward the far post from Fridolina Rolfo was saved well by Schult, but she couldn't control the rebound.  Stina Blackstenius found the ball at her feet and an empty net in front of her,  Sweden led 2-1.  The Germans look rattled, and that didn't change for the rest of the game.  To these eyes, it also looked like the Swedes handled the scorching heat better than the Germans.

The Germans tried to mount a comeback.  Twice they had shots come tantalizingly close.  Both times they here headers that sailed just over the crossbar.  The chances were there, but Germany failed to capitalize.  Despite getting six extra minutes of stoppage time, Germany couldn't find that tying goal to force extra time.  Given the 90 degree heat, it's just as well the game didn't go to extra time.  The Swedes appeared to have more gas in the tank.  They were the better team.

Sweden now face the current European champions from the Netherlands in the semi-final.  The winner faces the winner of the US/England semi-final.

Megan Rapinoe 2, France 1

There they were, in the belly of the beast.  The defending champions faced off against the host country, roughly 30,000 screaming Parisians (lots of Americans were there, too) and 90 degree heat.  The Americans came off an unconvincing win against Spain. Pressure? What pressure? Spain gave France the game plan - play rough with the Americans. But France had a different plan - kill the Americans with speed.

The French have some very fast players - winger Kadidiatou Diani, left-back Amel Majri (whose natural position is midfield), and center-forward Valérie Gauvin (Diani's favorite target).  Opposing Diani would be Crystal Dunn, who would like to forget the game she had against Spain. On the other side of the field was Kelley O'Hara. The American defenders were slower than the French attackers, but both Dunn and O'Hara bent but did not break.  The Americans didn't deliberately play an offside trap, but it sure seemed that way as the French were caught offside several times.

Megan Rapinoe had other ideas.  She ran the French right flank ragged.  Her play on the left flank opened up opportunities for the Americans in the middle.  Alex Morgan was a non- factor against Spain. Having a fullback draped all over you for an entire match will do that.  But today was a different story. French defender Griedge Mbock Bathy, who saved an all but certain goal against Brazil, got caught in a footrace with Alex Morgan early in the first half and lost.  Knowing she was beaten, she dragged Morgan to the turf, resulting in an American free kick. Rapinoe took the free kick, which went through a lot of legs (both French and American) and found the back of the net.  The Americans led after only five minutes, 1-0.

The rest of the first half was entertaining to watch.  It was end-to-end until halftime. One would think given the intense heat and the physical game against Spain would put the Americans at a disadvantage.  But several American players play their club football in places like Orlando and Houston. They're used to oppressive heat.

Both teams got off to a fast start in the second half.  Exactly an hour after her first goal, Megan Rapinoe scored her second.  Alex Morgan once again was a factor. After an unforced error by France and the resulting throw in, Morgan found a streaking Tobin Heath sprinting down the French left side.  Heath got deep into the French penalty area and made a cross to Megan Rapinoe, who buried it. The Americans led 2-0.

At the 80th minute Kelley O'Hara committed a hard foul on French team captain Amadine Henry, the heroine in France's victory over Brazil.  O'Hara's foul resulted in a French free kick. French defender Wendi Renard, at 6'2" the tallest player in the tournament, head the ball home and drew France to within one goal (2-1).  But it wasn't enough. While the French tried to make it all the way back, the Americans were effective at killing the clock. One of the match commentators made a very telling comment she attributed to US coach Jill Ellis - “France doesn’t want the ball”.  Accordingly, after the US took the 2-0 lead they switched to a 5-4-1 formation. They packed in the defense and they let France have the ball. I was critical of Ellis after not making any tactical switches in the game against Spain, but her switch to the 5-4-1 was very smart.  France had no answers, although they controlled possession 60-40.

Megan Rapinoe was the star of the game (again), but credit must be given to the American defenders.  Their defense was exceptional. Take a bow, Crystal Dunn.

Megan Rapinoe is brash, she's outspoken, but like a good team captain her play has been sterling.  She has been the American offense, scoring four goals in the last two games. Rapinoe is the first woman to ever score two goals in two consecutive knockout games.  Right now it's Megan's world and we're just living in it. Color me "impressed".

Up next on Tuesday in Lyon - England.

This Weekend in the Women's World Cup

Group play in the Women’s World Cup is over.  Now the tournament is in the knockout stage.  It is literally “win or go home” time for everybody.  There were four Round of 16 games played this weekend in the Women’s World Cup.  I saw the Saturday games live, but I slept in on Sunday, knowing that those games were being recorded.  DVR is such a wonderful device. 😊 The Video Assistant Referee [VAR] didn’t play a part in Saturday’s games, but Sunday’s games are another story.  More on that later.

The first game on Saturday was Germany vs. Nigeria.  It was a controversy-free game as Germany cruised to a 3-0 victory.  They have yet to allow a goal in the tournament.  They’re currently the world’s #2 ranked team, behind the United States.  They await the winner of Sweden vs. Canada.  The most entertaining game of the weekend came in the afternoon, with Norway vs. Australia.  Like the Germany/Nigeria game, this game was fairly free of controversy.  VAR allowed the referee to overturn one call [correctly, I might add].  But more on that later.  In the opening minute the Australians threatened early. 

Australian forward Sam Kerr took a pass from Caitlin Foord and raced along the left side, beating her defender.  But, her shot on goal went left, barely.  The game’s first goal didn’t come until the half-hour point.  Norwegian forward Karina Saevik found forward Isabell Herlovsen, who right footed a shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner.  Things remained thus until just before halftime.  A ball bounced off Norwegian defender Maria Thorisdottir's right shoulder in Australia’s penalty area.  The referee awarded Australia a penalty.  Sam Kerr placed the ball on the spot ready to take the penalty shot, and then came the VAR.  And the players and the spectators waited. and waited some more.  Upon further review, Thorisdottir had her right arm tucked into her side.  No penalty.  The score at halftime had Norway ahead, 1-0.

The score remained 1-0 until seven minutes from the end of regulation.  Australian midfielder   Elise Kellond-Knight scored on a corner kick to equalize.  The Australians were still alive.  At the end of regulation, the score was tied 1-1.  Under FIFA rules, there were two be two extra fifteen-minute periods.  There is no ‘golden goal’ in the World Cup.  If after the two extra periods and the score is still tied, then it’s on to penalty kicks.  Despite the extra time, the play was at a furious pace on both ends.  Australian goalie Lydia Williams seemed like she was singlehandedly keeping Australia in the game, She blocked shot after Norwegian shot.  She came up limping after one play.  I wondered how that would affect her if the game went to penalty kicks.  Australian defender Alanna Kennedy received a straight red card in the first extra period and was sent off.  Norway couldn’t capitalize on the one-person advantage, so the game ended 1-1.  It was on to penalty kicks.

Caroline Graham-Hanson took the first shot for Norway.  She made it look easy.  Sam Kerr took the first shot for the Australians.  Until this time, she hadn’t had a bad game, but she didn’t have a particularly good one either.  She took her shot and it ended up in the seats behind goal.   Norway ahead on PK 1-0.   Guro Reiten was up next for Norway.  She made it look as easy as Graham-Hanson.  Emily Gielnick for Australia was next.  She took her shot to the left, but Norwegian goalie Ingrid Hjelmseth guessed right and made the save.  Norway was up 2-0.  Norway’s Marin Mjelde stepped up and made it 3-0.  As the late Stuart Scott would say, the Norwegians were “as cool as the other side of the pillow.”  Australian Steph Catley needed to score to keep Australia in the World Cup, and she did just that for a couple of minutes.  Norwegian Ingrid Ergen stepped up and scored.  There was no need for a fifth penalty shot since Australia missed twice.  Norway won the PK shootout 4-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals.  They meet the winner of the England/Cameroon game on Sunday.

The England/Cameroon match was chaotic, and things got very ugly.  The first goal came at 14 minutes.  In something one doesn’t see very often, England were awarded an indirect free kick about six yards from goal because of a back pass to Cameroon’s goalie [it didn’t look deliberate to me].  Cameroon had almost everyone on the goal line.  But England’s Toni Duggan passed the ball to English captain Steph Houghton, who curled a low shot into the bottom right corner.  England led 1-0.  England dominated play in the first half.  Seven minutes of stoppage time was tacked onto the end of the second half.  Four minutes in, Ellen White scored the second goal for England.  The referee waved it off for offside.  Out came the VAR, and the ruling was overturned.  Cameroon players were furious. They argued that Toni Duggan was in an offside position for the goal [she was], but she clearly wasn't interfering with play. They acted like they didn’t want to resume play.  They did, finally, but the referee blew the whistle for halftime.  England led 2-0 at the break.  Cameroon players and coaching staff accused the match officials and FIFA of racism as they left the field at half time.

When play resumed after the half, Cameroon players were still furious.  Ajara Nchout scored three minutes into the second half to bring Cameroon back into the game.  However, VAR came out and the referee ruled Cameroon was offside and the goal was disallowed.  It looked like a clean goal to me, and the person called for being offside wasn’t nearly as egregious what Toni Duggan had done [and was allowed] in the first half.  More fury from Cameroon ensued.  At 55 minutes Alex Greenwood scored a textbook goal after a corner kick, giving England the lead 3-0. Then things got uglier.

Cameroon players committed some bad fouls.  Elbows were thrown, players were spit on.  At 10 minutes into stoppage time Cameroon substitute Alexandra Takounda made a brutal challenge on Steph Houghton painfully high on the ankle [studs up].  It should have been a red card, but the referee only booked her with a yellow card.  This was not a fun game to watch.  As a result of England’s trouble, they get to play Norway in the quarterfinal.

France vs. Brazil promised to be just as hard-fought, but more entertaining.  It wasn’t a pretty game.  It was tough, but it had none of the chaos from the England/Cameroon game.  Neither team played exceptionally well, which was a disappointment.  Brazil had more movement with the ball as is their wont.  This was going to be one of those games where the winner was going to have to grind it out, and that’s what came to pass.

In the 23d minute French forward Valérie Gauvin scored what appeared to be the opening goal.  She and Brazilian goalie Barbara collided, both she and Gauvin went to the ground and stayed there for a while.  Meanwhile, the VAR reared its head.  Upon further review, the referee determined Bárbara had possession of the ball and disallowed the goal.  I saw the same replay the referee did.  It was a bullshit call.  Bárbara never had possession.  The ball was slipping though her hands when it bounced off Gauvin’s shoulder and into the goal.  But they don’t pay me to referee the games, and play continued until halftime, where the score was 0-0.

In the 52^nd minute French forward Kadidiatou Diani drove deep into Brazilian territory, fired a cross toward the Brazilian goal, where Gauvin capitalized and scored what should have been her second goal.  France led 1-0.  In the 63^rd minute Thaisa equalized for Brazil.  At first the referee waived off the goal.  The assistant referee called Brazil offside, but upon further review Brazil was not offside.  The goal counted, and the score was tied 1-1.  In the 85^th minute Brazilian defender Tamires put the ball in the net in the 86th minute.  But the goal was immediately disallowed because three Brazilians were clearly offside.  France had dodged a bullet.

Things got very exciting in extra time.  At the 105^th minute France got a real scare when Brazil’s Debinha was all alone and took a long pass from Brazilian forward Geyse.  She had the defender beat, and she had French goalie Sarah Bouhaddi beat as well.  But French defender Griedge Mbock Bathy kept her composure and deflected what was a wide-open shot from Debinha. The first 15-minute extra period ended without another goal.  Almost immediately after the second extra period commenced, Brazil committed foul [one of many in this game] and France was awarded a free kick.  Delphine Cascarino, who substituted on for Valérie Gauvin before extra time, fired the free kick into the Brazilian penalty area.  French captain Amadine Henry broke free and put the ball in the back of the Brazilian net.  France led 2-1.  Brazil pressed but couldn’t equalize.  The game ended with France on top, 2-1.  This game would not go to penalty kicks.

Tony’s take – Brazil committed more than their share of fouls to slow down the French.  I’m surprised they received only four yellow cards.  It should have been more.  They didn’t play dirty, but they did play rough.  France deserved the win.  They showed mental toughness despite the VAR going against them in the first half.  They’re the host country this year, so there’s a bit more pressure for them to do well, if not win it all.  Brazil looked like they were running out of gas in the second extra period.  It should never have gone to extra time.  The French await the winner of the USA/Spain game.