AUGUST 15, 2008
re: previous entry | U.S. vs Canada Olympic women's soccer quarterfinal
Man, what a messed up game.
Torrential rain, waterlogged field, thunder rattling the stadium, U.S. took a 1-0 lead, Canada's goalie was injured and hauled off on a stretcher... And that was just the first 15 minutes of the game!
Then the game was stopped in the 20th minute and delayed an hour and a half due to lightening, but once the match resumed Canada tied it up via an amazing goal by Christine Sinclair (woot!).
Then the game went into overtime and both teams were fighting for their lives, but the U.S. scored and, even though the goal was offsides (ie should not have counted) the ref still deemed it good and that was the end of the game.
And like I said before, I knew there was no way I'd be happy come the end of this game, what with my favorite players being on opposing sides, but this was a total heartbreaker, what with the 'winning' goal being offside. Because there is nothing worse than seeing a team not just lose, but be eliminated from a major tournament due to a bad call by the ref.
But, like it or not, that's the way it goes sometimes, which is why soccer fans have chants for bad refs. Granted, those chants never get a call changed and are deemed offensive by uptight soccer moms, but they're cathartic for fans and the team so it's at this point that I'd like to say: I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref!
Ok, I feel better now.
So, Canada lost and was eliminated from play and now the U.S. moves on to the semifinals, where they will face Japan.
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