Ali Krieger, United States Defeat France, Head To World Cup Final
by Adam Bittner on Jul 13, 2011 2:04 PM EDT
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The amazing ride of former Penn State women's soccer player Ali Krieger and her United States teammates continued Wednesday afternoon when they defeated France 3-1 in the semifinals of the World Cup in Moenchengladbach, Germany.to advance to the finals on Sunday.
The contest lacked the epic quality of Sunday's win against Brazil in Dresden, but in a single-elimination tournament, your next win is always your most important, and the Americans avoided a let-down by scoring key goals at key times.
Lauren Cheney got the U.S. on the board early with a goal in the ninth minute. After that, though, the French dominated play at times, holding the ball on the U.S. side of the pitch for sustained periods and getting a number of good opportunities.
This forced the U.S. defense, led by Krieger, to hold strong. Early in the second half, Krieger single-handedly thwarted a French breakaway to keep the U.S. ahead. The French knotted things up in the 55th minute on a goal by Sonia Bompastor, but that was the only goal the Americans would surrender all day. After missing time in the second half with an injury, Krieger came back onto the pitch to hold the French down until a quick spurt of late goals by Abby Wambach (79') and Alex Morgan (82') sealed the U.S. victory.
Krieger and Co. will face either Japan or Sweden in the final on Sunday in Frankfurt.
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hold the French down until a quick spurt
Giggity
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by 06Lion on Jul 13, 2011 2:34 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs
The defense was the essence of BBDS
And hey, it worked. France took a lot of shots, but most were from distance and not much trouble. Great work from the defense as a whole unit.
Gus, don't be a gooey chocolate chip cookie.
BBDS is how you win in soccer
unless you are overwhelmingly more talented like Barcelona. The best chances are in transition, even if numbers are even. 4 v. 4 is way more space than 8 v. 8. Hold possession when you can, don’t over-commit in routine buildup, and counter in transition. That’s the efficient way to do it. Otherwise you pass the ball to the weakest player, he/she makes a dumb pas/dribble, and you’re chasing the opponent.
Kind of like Tressel ball. But without the tats and cars. Play field position, score off a turnover or special teams play. (Though for the record, JoPa invented the style back in the aughts of the 20th century, and didn’t need no cheatin’ to do it.)
Rapinoe needs to start
Dynamic completely changed the moment she took the field.
"Life is no way to treat an animal"
Couldn't stop her on the left side
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Seems like a mixed bag with her
Against Brazil for every brilliant run or cross she made, there was an errant pass or bad turnover deep in midfield. She did track back a lot to cover for her mistakes, though. And made the vital cross.
Need to watch a condensed version of the game to see what she was up to this go ‘round. Seems like a super-sub type of player. Kind of one dimensional, but can wreck an opponent when she’s on her game.
The other thing that makes me hesitate starting her
is her performance in the Sweden game, where she started in place of the injured O’Reilly. Yes, it was just one game, but Rapinoe just didn’t look sharp at all – didn’t have the wheels push the opposing defense, and her crosses were lackluster. Super-sub seems to be the best, and she’s done it well. One of those “If it ain’t broke…” sorta situations.
Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?
Agree that Rapinoe was a shot in the arm yesterday.
But I don’t know that she has that effect throughout an entire game. I don’t entierly mind the idea of knowing you’ve got something with that kind of impact ability on the bench to unleash when the starters are a little gassed. And as my futbol knowledge is limited, I will cede to the coaches on this one.
by Nittany SeaLion on Jul 14, 2011 1:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Exactly. I kinda see Rapinoe as running a WR reverse.
It’s most effective when you do your normal thing just long enough to get the other team to bite in. Then you hit em with the huge change of pace and hope to catch them off guard enough to break something open.
You can’t run the reverse two to three times a drive, unless you totally mismatch your opponent, at which point why are you running a reverse in the first place? Same deal here. If you constantly play volleyball with the deep clears for her to run down and put over the middle, all you get is one defender that adjusts and plays deep. She’s most effective when she gets the defender to bite and gets clear to create a scoring opportunity off a cross.
"This is being a Penn State fan. We’ll prove it, or we won’t. It’s not about proving it to them, it’s about proving to ourselves."
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