Hot Day, Bad Call and Two New WPS Fans

So I just finished the latest episode of World SoccerWrap where the lead-in was the WPS Final. Its no secret that I looooove WPS….and its no secret that I am a Sol fan. But I tried to remain pro when talking about the Final.

I knew something was no quite right when I got to section where our seats where and asked a “gentleman” what seat number he was sitting in. The fan thought I was questioning if he was sitting in my seat…his answer was quite rude to say the least…In any other stadium in the world...I would have clipped round his ear…It was too hot for me to take this kind of BS.. but cooler heads prevail...and this was only a sign of bigger BS to come!!

The game itself…well….Firstly….SkyBlue played very well and SHOULD be congratulated for a never-give up attitude… but the Red card given to Falk was utter bull!!!

Please don’t quote me the FIFA handbook …Each ref interprets these rules…In most Leagues this foul was a yellow at best…because contact was minimal and Kai sold the foul to a very giullible ref. One of my favorite players is Kai…but the way she celebrated the red card was bit “off”. Next season I think she might get her fair share of boos by Sol Fans . Frankly the ref RUINED the Final. A Sky Blue -11 on 11 victory would put most doubters to rest but now the questions will arise ..namely…if it was 11 on 11…Sol would have probably won.

Sour Grapes? Not at all. The ref missed a few calls that may have changed the game. Aya got fouled in the box but got no call. The crowd around me really had it out for the ref and at one point “rippy the shark” the mascot “mooned” the ref. A fan behind me had a few choice words also.

The one change I would have made for the Sol was to put Brittany up front-make her a forward and get Han off a lot sooner .
After the match I heard some fans chat about how good the SkyBlue Defense was…really?? I saw one plan- albeit done well… “surround Marta!!!”..that’s it!!!

Now…the whole reason I was in the stands rather than in the media booth…was because I wanted to bring some people to the game that weren’t fans. My “date” had never seen a soccer match in her life. My other guest didn’t even know that LA had a pro womens team- which shocked me because I think the WPS are doing pretty good get the word out. My 4th guest didn’t show up…her loss!!
By the end of the match…my guest became a fan…and said that he would come to watch the Sol next season. He was impressed with the match and knolewdgable fans around him. My date..slowly got into the match as the minutes ticked away and by the end of the match…she commented that the match ended too soon. She thought it would be like baseball and the match would last for 3 hours. She was honestly unhappy the match ended and wanted the ladies to play some more. Me too!!!
I guess I had done what I set out to do…create two new fans for the Sol.

When the game was done….I saw something that made me step back from being Simon the pundit. Marta was sitting on her own…obviously sad that the Sol had not won. She got up, remembered where she was and started clapping the LA fans. We started clapping back in appreciation….For the first time in a while I didn’t see that famous Marta Smile….
And like I have said on the show a million times….Marta’s smile puts the “beautiful” in the Beautiful Game.
It’s a final…and even underdogs win Playoff Finals…

Until next season… I’ll see you at the pub!!!

Don’t forget to check out World Soccer Wrap © on I-tunes….
Simon Allen

Next week...the All Star game....

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Comment by Doug Levy on August 26, 2009 at 3:40pm: Let me break it down for you (even though what StarCityFan has said is absolutely correct in relationship to the rules and the interpretation thereof; refer to pic shown above):

Zerboni, even though "technically" more forward than Kai is running in the opposite direction (away from the goal mouth from right to left in the pic above) because Kai cut inside of her (Tasha moving from left to right).

Faulk is also moving from right to left and that is how she "clipped" Kai in the heel and brought her down. She was in NO position to recover and get back in front of Kai (and did not have the speed to recover, even if she did not clip Tasha)

Cox is moving straight down the field towards her own goal marking an incoming Sky Blue player making a run on the right side. If you watch the replay all the way through, she makes no attempt to cut in and take on Kai defensively (and she did not have space or speed to do so, even if she wanted to)

Kai was going to be one-on-one with the keeper in the box, which is why it was the right call when Kai went down: an obvious goal scoring opportunity for Tasha and Sky Blue that was taken away by a take down...

Comment by Mona<33 on August 24, 2009 at 9:10pm: omg the game is over. get over it. sky blue won. the trophy is already imported from cali to jersey. (i think im using the wrong terminology. haha. well im mona)

it feels amazing when you know your non socerish friends become fans of WPS after a game!!
my friend memorized some of the players names too. i was shocked

Comment by StarCityFan on August 24, 2009 at 8:25pm: Im writing another blog.....just goes to show you how one ref can ruin a game...we should be talking about how well Rampone did and how Han didnt perform...instead we're yapping about a ref that just officiated badly....

On BigSoccer, we are talking about all of that. It's only here that the Sol fans are going on and on about how Kari Seitz should be hung, drawn, and quartered.

Comment by StarCityFan on August 24, 2009 at 8:23pm: Once again, the US Soccer guideline for number of defenders in this situation is:

Number of Defenders: not more than one defender between the foul and the goal, not counting the defender who committed the foul

I see zero defenders between the foul and the goal. This isn't an offsides call.

Comment by Simon Allen-World Soccer Wrap on August 24, 2009 at 6:47pm: Im writing another blog.....just goes to show you how one ref can ruin a game...we should be talking about how well Rampone did and how Han didnt perform...instead we're yapping about a ref that just officiated badly....

Comment by mchang12 on August 24, 2009 at 10:29am: For those of you saying that Kirby was the last defender and therefore deserved the automatic red card, she wasn't Zerboni was.

Comment by BestServedCold on August 24, 2009 at 9:15am: You must not like DeVanna either, because not only did she capitalize with a goal on an injured Branam, but she certainly didn't hide her joy while Branam was rolling in pain.

Wouldn't you guys celebrate if you had a breakaway and someone took you down and paid for it with a red card? But SkyBlue beat our teams, so they must be evil. Don't claim you aren't bitter!

Comment by StarCityFan on August 24, 2009 at 7:42am: cavorting ?she was celebrating a goal surrounded by opposition fans, pretty hard to avoid

It wasn't opposition fans; this was in Jersey.

As for me, I prefer people who celebrate goals as if they'd done it before, whether it's the men's game or the women's game.

Comment by bluebaby on August 24, 2009 at 5:34am: lols love Tash - raw emotion, pure adrenaline - what soccer should be

she didn't dive (cheat) the call just went her way - every team has had their share of bad calls. And don't even talk to Sky Blue about bad luck !
cavorting ?she was celebrating a goal surrounded by opposition fans, pretty hard to avoid - its not like she gave them the finger ? Maybe she should have gone back to apologise for scoring and for making the GK dive and end up on the ground ? If this was a men's match, will these comments be made ?

Want to see real bad sportsmanship ? (plz note i'm not picking on Sol)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2nc5mLDV8c

Comment by JR Salazar on August 24, 2009 at 12:10am: You pointed out what Tasha did when Seitz pulled out that red. That's just another of the many reasons why Sky Blue FC has risen to become LA's biggest nemesis.

Well, I can take solace that the G's are on track to do the playoff rounds while the Red Bulls have been slaughtered of their hopes to pull out what SBFC did...but that's a different story and a different league.

Good blog, Simon.