[0762]

Agreed re that last line! It appears that FIFA are using this tourney as a test bed for VAR and certain changes to footie rules. There were gonna be casualties and sadly Scotland is one of them. The previous system would've rendered Scotland qualifying to the next round of 16 and that is as much of a sickener TBF. However, I concur with SCO re Scotland's "implosion" which was highly unsatisfactory from a Scottish fan's perspective now that I've viewed the last quarter again. They had a deserved 3-0 lead that should've been 4-0 with over 15 mins remaining!!! You "see the game out" tactically and, Shelley Kerr, who fielded the correct starting line up, did not respond to the Argentinian coach's move to bring on fresh legs after 3-0. Some of the Scottish players looked like they were "dead on their feet" and Kerr "froze" on the touch line instead of moving to counter that desperate move by "closing space" and "holding firm" in spite of bad refereeing v a team that they were superior to. Hope Solo's previous criticism of Kerr's tactics was absolutely correct IMO - they drew one game out of three and Kerr is worthy of criticism particularly v Japan and Argentina!! Also my other bugbear was the fact that the Scottish goalie, Lee Alexander, is not tall enough and therefore adequate cover is required or find a suitable replacement!!! This is not an anti Alexander line but a criticism based on avoidable goals lost v Japan and Argentina that exposed Alexander's lack of height! I would've saved both these tentative shots because I am nimble and slightly taller than Alexander. I believe if Scotland had Correia, the Argie goalie, in their team, Scotland would've been top or second top of their group. On a positive note, these Scot ladies have still done Scotland proud in the past 12 months and one can only hope that they will learn from this disappointing campaign in France and many young Scot girls and boys will be inspired to follow their heroines to even greater heights with the appropriate encouragement.

[0762]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/...e-16546877
Note the Premier League stance to change the pen accountability to referees after the controversial events in France!!!! That says it all but it disnae help Scotland one jot!! These heartbroken ladies are sadly heading home tomorrow!!!

[Lord Snooty]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/...e-16546877
Note the Premier League stance to change the pen accountability to referees after the controversial events in France!!!! That says it all but it disnae help Scotland one jot!! These heartbroken ladies are sadly heading home tomorrow!!!

Oh wow! That's even more sickening and just proves the point that FIFA are Guinea Pigging this, the women's game's most prestigious tournament.
Shocking!

[Lord Snooty]

Round of 16:

Saturday:
Germany v Nigeria 16:30
Norway v Australia 20:00

Sunday:
England v Cameroon 16:30
France v Brazil 20:00

Monday:
Spain v USA 17:00
Sweden v Canada 20:00

Tuesday:
Italy v China 17:00
Netherlands v Japan 20:00

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

There's a still frame shot showing that the keeper may just have a fraction of a millimetre of heel still on the line.

The camera angle from behind the keeper is pretty conclusive to me: both feet in the air as the ball is struck.

However, that just illustrates the entire problem with VAR: it's enforcing the letter of the law to the detriment of the spirit of the game. A goalkeeper with two feet off the ground when a penalty is struck gains no real competitive advantage; likewise an attacker whose toes are an inch or two beyond the defender's when the ball is played, as with Lingard at the Nations Cup and Aguero in the Champions League. Fundamentally, if any on-field refereeing "error" is something so marginal that a human being couldn't reasonably be expected to spot it in real-time, then it has no business being overturned on VAR. And I'd feel exactly the same way even if my team was benefitting from it, because the fact is that if you concede a goal like Lingard's or Aguero's, or fail to score a penalty like Argentina's, then it's not because you were cheated; it's because your players weren't good enough in the heat of the moment. Having VAR ride to your rescue in those circumstances is simply being bailed out on a technicality.

[Lord Snooty]

Exactly. With the offside decisions there needs to be a margin of doubt, similar to the umpire's decision ruling in the DRS in cricket.

[0762]

Yep! You are actually referring to that old adage that if a referee is uncertain re any critical decision then he/she defaults to the game continuing regardless. In other words, tell the VAR official to back off. Another ref bugbear of mine is the lack of any ref overruling a AR's "flag" because eg the offside decision was clearly wrong. There was one awful incident in the Scotland v Japan match where Erin Cuthbert was 4 yds onside and any ref "worth his/her salt" would've spotted that - too much dependency on an AR always being correct!!!

[0762]

I'm listening to critical comments on the bbc coverage of today's match, Germany v Nigeria, debating where some of these WC refs officiate (low category WFLs???) because THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH AND SOME OF THEM DON'T APPLY THE FIFA RULES PROPERLY, POOR REFS!! I totally concur with that criticism after watching various matches that have had awful refereeing attached to them!!

[0762]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/...e-16546877
Note the Premier League stance to change the pen accountability to referees after the controversial events in France!!!! That says it all but it disnae help Scotland one jot!! These heartbroken ladies are sadly heading home tomorrow!!!

Oh wow! That's even more sickening and just proves the point that FIFA are Guinea Pigging this, the women's game's most prestigious tournament.
Shocking!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48723902
Now we have the latest formal FIFA adjustment to the rule re goalie encroachment and it just confirms what LS has affirmed - a "guinea pig" Women's World Cup and it is becoming a bit of a farce for various reasons!!

[Lord Snooty]

FIFA are an absolute joke.  Why tinker with rules all the time in a sport that has been fine for over a hundred years?
The one where if the ball hits the ref.  Why change what has been ok since the game was in it's infancy? What a great way now to run the clock down.  Just keep kicking the ball at the ref and get it back again unopposed.