Getting used to living with VAR

We have mentioned it already, but both games yesterday were dominated by decisions influenced by VAR (video Assistant Referee) EnGerLand comfortably brushed aside Cameroon 3-0 and will now face Norway in the quarter finals.

Too much VAR

The game however will not be remembered for the three goals but for the numerous incidents which twice saw Cameroon refuse to restart the game as they were so incensed by the decisions. There has been a lot of criticism of the Cameroonian players for losing their heads and it has to be said that their behavior was unacceptable. This challenge in the last minute of the game when it was all over is disgraceful. The referee did not show a red card after the VAR viewing because she was probably scared she would not get off the pitch alive if she did.

How is that not a red card ?

However at least they showed passion, they cared, it was sad to see them crying and the goal they had disallowed was marginal to say the least, but that is the thing with VAR, in the past you could feel hard done by if a referee gave a decision which was later shown to be wrong but without the aid of technology you had to accept it. With VAR, in the main, those wrong decisions have been eliminated and that is a good thing. The problem lies in the grey areas which are open to interpretation by the referee, for possible penalties or red card decisions. Once something is debatable, the side which does not get what they hoped for are going to be upset.

Another issue with VAR is the disruption to the flow of the game, the process takes too long. The instantaneous explosion of joy from fans after the ball hits the back of the net is somewhat dissipated if a goal is awarded after a few minutes waiting around while the referee looks at replays. I also wonder how good is the football knowledge of the people sitting in the VAR room.

In the later game France scraped through against Brasil 2-1 in a game also dominated by VAR.  I do not think the first French goal should have been disallowed, you can decide for yourselves after watching the highlights below

France V Brasil

There was a sense of Deja vu as well in that the French winner was score by Henry in a repeat of the same named player scoring against Brasil in the 2006 men's world cup to also knock them out.  France will now face the winner of today's game between Spain and the US of A.

Henry against Brasil in 2006 (enjoy the skill from Zidane for free)

The US of A aka as the USWNT, I have to digress here, what type of nickname is that. the men's team just to avoid confusion are known as the USMNT. Why do American's lack any imagination, why do they have to have everything dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.

Anyway the US of A are the clear favourites to win the title, they probably have one (they actually have a number of, to be honest) of the best players in the world in Alex Morgan. The best league system in the world is to be found there, but despite all that and this is one of the reasons we love football they don't always win. The American player who has impressed me most so far is Tobin Heath.

She dribbles well

Today, they are up against a Spanish team who exhibit all the traits we expect from Spanish footballers, technically gifted, good on the ball and tactical discipline. Spain rather laboured to a 3-1 win over South Africa, lost 1-0 to the Shermans and played a bore draw against China, not the ideal preparation to face the US of A.

What this Spanish team lack, is the killer touch and against the US of A if you do not take any of the few chances you will create, you will live to regret it. Just ask Thailand who conceded thirteen times against this very professional if somewhat heartless team. The USWNT to win this one and face France in the quarter finals.

In the late game today we will see a battle between two teams who are in the top ten in the FIFA rankings, Sweden aka Blagult (Blue & Yellow) and Canada who do not have another name as they are even more boring than their American neighbours.

On paper, Canada are the favourites, I saw Sweden against the US of A and they didn't impress. This though, may not have been a true reflection of their ability as they rested a number of senior players for that game as they had already qualified and wanted see how good their squad depth is.

Canada in contrast beat the two lesser ranked teams in their group but lost to the Netherlands in the game to decide who would finish first.

The last meeting between these two teams in March of this year does not bode well for tonight as it was decided on penalties after a 0-0 in 120 minutes. I really do not know who to pick here so after tossing a coin, I will plump for Canada to advance.