My predictions: Spain 4-0 Costa Rica - Costa Rica to park the bus, Spain will still cruise to a decent win Zambia 2-4 Japan - Zambia to give Japan a good contest but probably lose in the last 20-25 minutes to a more experienced team Japan 3-0 Costa Rica - Japan not as offensively blessed as Spain, will still ease to victory. Spain 5-2 Zambia - Think Spain have the offensive record to get themselves in control early, Zambia to bag a couple in the second half Japan 0-2 Spain - Once again think Spain have a better side, will dominate the stats and ultimately win by a couple Costa Rica 1-2 Zambia - Zambia have at least shown some potential in WC year (Costa Rica really haven't), so first ever win for them
Spain to go all the way to the semis and lose in extra time to USA, Japan will be out in the quarterfinals
Great advertisement for the tournament and quality of football, if I was on the fence I'd fork out my hard earned $10 to go and watch Spain play keep ball in the opposition box anytime!
Spain played some fine football. But like in the euros, they can’t score. They had over 40 attempts on goal and it felt like 90% possession. 23k people moved their bums into the stadium I got free tickets and glad I went, at the end it’s not all about ticke sales. The atmosphere was good, at the end people rooted for Costa Rica for ever counter attack. The stadium looked great.
That game was what we all expected NZL v NOR to look like
That's whats I said to my parents when I got home (they took care of the little ones so wife and I could go).
That was the score line I expected against Norway, I hoped we would at least lose close for the for and against, I was secretly hoping we would scratch out a draw, I never even steamed we'd bloody win that game.
Costa Rica had a couple decent almost chances. The thing we did was played aggressively and held posession. If we parked the bus like Costa Rica did from minute 1 I expect our game would have had a similar result.
What was impressive was how many passes Spain made with 10 players playing as defenders. That accuracy was excellent.
Costa Rican Goalkeeper celebrated her 26th Birthday by playing a blinder of a game. Spain started with a hiss and a roar but that last 10-15 minutes saw them fade. Well done to those whom showed up. Weather was cold and looked crap.
Creepy male chauvinists are always mocking women goalkeepers, but the standard so far has been top-notch, even in teams getting beaten (Costa Rica and Vietnam).
Creepy male chauvinists are always mocking women goalkeepers, but the standard so far has been top-notch, even in teams getting beaten (Costa Rica and Vietnam).
To be fair there are some shockers out there, for the men too to be fair, but yea this world cup has shown so incredible talent.
Crazy all the early stuff in Zambia/Japan game getting ruled out by VAR.
Did raise an interesting point with the yellow card that the Zambia keeper got for giving away a penalty that was later ruled out for offside. IFAB states that “if play continues after an incident which is then reviewed, any disciplinary action taken during the post-incident period is not cancelled, even if the original decision is changed”.
So unless it's the card itself getting looked at by VAR, anything that still happens after the play that's being reviewed, can't still stand.
Really doesn't matter whether we finish first or second in our group, we are playing Spain or Japan in the next round if we make it and either will be huge favourites over us. Japan look fantastic
Crazy all the early stuff in Zambia/Japan game getting ruled out by VAR.
Did raise an interesting point with the yellow card that the Zambia keeper got for giving away a penalty that was later ruled out for offside. IFAB states that “if play continues after an incident which is then reviewed, any disciplinary action taken during the post-incident period is not cancelled, even if the original decision is changed”.
So unless it's the card itself getting looked at by VAR, anything that still happens after the play that's being reviewed, can't still stand.
Came here to ask this, the earlier yellow not being ruled out became pretty consequential once she got a second one for the exact same thing in injury time.
Crazy all the early stuff in Zambia/Japan game getting ruled out by VAR.
Did raise an interesting point with the yellow card that the Zambia keeper got for giving away a penalty that was later ruled out for offside. IFAB states that “if play continues after an incident which is then reviewed, any disciplinary action taken during the post-incident period is not cancelled, even if the original decision is changed”.
So unless it's the card itself getting looked at by VAR, anything that still happens after the play that's being reviewed, can't still stand.
Came here to ask this, the earlier yellow not being ruled out became pretty consequential once she got a second one for the exact same thing in injury time.
Yeah certainly more crazy when she does the same thing again to get a second yellow. Feels harsh but it's still a foul and idea is if you still foul someone, that still happened even if something before it rules the play back. So violent conduct, serious foul play, biting, spitting, abuse or other behaviour are carded because the conduct is seen as unacceptable in any circumstances on the pitch. Players will have to start assuming the ball is always live, so a foul is a foul even if VAR takes the play back to earlier than when it was committed.
Crazy all the early stuff in Zambia/Japan game getting ruled out by VAR.
Did raise an interesting point with the yellow card that the Zambia keeper got for giving away a penalty that was later ruled out for offside. IFAB states that “if play continues after an incident which is then reviewed, any disciplinary action taken during the post-incident period is not cancelled, even if the original decision is changed”.
So unless it's the card itself getting looked at by VAR, anything that still happens after the play that's being reviewed, can't still stand.
Came here to ask this, the earlier yellow not being ruled out became pretty consequential once she got a second one for the exact same thing in injury time.
Yeah certainly more crazy when she does the same thing again to get a second yellow. Feels harsh but it's still a foul and idea is if you still foul someone, that still happened even if something before it rules the play back. So violent conduct, serious foul play, biting, spitting, abuse or other behaviour are carded because the conduct is seen as unacceptable in any circumstances on the pitch. Players will have to start assuming the ball is always live, so a foul is a foul even if VAR takes the play back to earlier than when it was committed.
That’s all true, but it feels harsh. The AR makes the call there, the GK doesn’t find herself last line of defence having to take a chance. Remember they were only a goal down at that point. She is effectively punished because AR didn’t make what I felt live was a clear call.
Crazy all the early stuff in Zambia/Japan game getting ruled out by VAR.
Did raise an interesting point with the yellow card that the Zambia keeper got for giving away a penalty that was later ruled out for offside. IFAB states that “if play continues after an incident which is then reviewed, any disciplinary action taken during the post-incident period is not cancelled, even if the original decision is changed”.
So unless it's the card itself getting looked at by VAR, anything that still happens after the play that's being reviewed, can't still stand.
Came here to ask this, the earlier yellow not being ruled out became pretty consequential once she got a second one for the exact same thing in injury time.
Yeah certainly more crazy when she does the same thing again to get a second yellow. Feels harsh but it's still a foul and idea is if you still foul someone, that still happened even if something before it rules the play back. So violent conduct, serious foul play, biting, spitting, abuse or other behaviour are carded because the conduct is seen as unacceptable in any circumstances on the pitch. Players will have to start assuming the ball is always live, so a foul is a foul even if VAR takes the play back to earlier than when it was committed.
That’s all true, but it feels harsh. The AR makes the call there, the GK doesn’t find herself last line of defence having to take a chance. Remember they were only a goal down at that point. She is effectively punished because AR didn’t make what I felt live was a clear call.
Yeah which is even harder because ARs are trained now to delay raising the flag and letting it happen.
Weird to see a similar incident in the very next game as well, with a yellow card awarded for a foul on an attacking player in the box, but no penalty being awarded as another foul was deemed to have just taken place in the opposite direction.
Weird to see a similar incident in the very next game as well, with a yellow card awarded for a foul on an attacking player in the box, but no penalty being awarded as another foul was deemed to have just taken place in the opposite direction.
Yep. Right call insofar as the first foul takes precedence, but the second foul was a possible red card.
Quite a different scenario though, as there were multiple situations within fractions of seconds, as opposed to several seconds after a reasonably clear offside. Is the first a foul, is the second a foul, did the second happen before the ball went out of play, is the foul serious enough for a card… all in less than 3 seconds.
Whats the attendance for tonights Spain V Zambia game? Looks decent enough. I have to say how happy I am that Aucklanders are making the most of this opportunity and going to these games.
Anecdotally I think there were plenty of people holding tickets for tonight who didn't get along and then found out they couldn't transfer tickets to mates for free.
Whats the attendance for tonights Spain V Zambia game? Looks decent enough. I have to say how happy I am that Aucklanders are making the most of this opportunity and going to these games.
Japan were lovely to watch against Costa Rica, technically superb on the ball, broke through Costa Rica with a variety of offensive approaches and really should have won by more than two.
Their game against Spain to top the group should be a cracker... but feel like at least one team will be rotating.
Japan and Spain both through, be interesting to see what both teams decide to do interms of lineup for their next game against each other. Do they go all in for #1 or rotate the squad?
Was good crowd, vocal too - and absolutely freezing at Eden Park.
Loads of people buying and wearing Zambia gear, especially beanies - was a solid effort all round.
And yes, Zambia played way better than their first game - keeper was good, and the number 3 at the back seemed a decent player in the face of relentless Spanish attacks.
I mean Palmy is a nice place but if you were going to have an epic journey to NZ with your whānau I would imagine that the whole time stuck in palmy when you're not playing would get... Less exciting than you may expect.
And even as players training, not training too close to where you play heaps of games would be kinda sucky.