From the Vancouver Sun:
They lingered out on the hallowed ground of Old Trafford. As if they
didn’t want to leave. As if they felt they’d earned the right to stay.
Christine
Sinclair sat on the ground, too tired and too angry to budge.
Midfielder Sophie Schmidt couldn’t be bothered to hide her tears.
They all looked dazed, disoriented, disbelieving, like victims who’d stumbled out of an auto wreck.
“I
just don’t think any of us could believe what happened,’’ murmured a
misty-eyed Melissa Tancredi. “Honestly. That’s why we didn’t leave,
probably. I just didn’t want to leave because I couldn’t believe that’s
what happened. That was our game. That was our win to have. We put it
all out there on the field.
And it was just ... taken away.”
Conspiracy theorists, queue up....
The No.-1 ranked Americans, the poster gals for the women’s game,
were the beneficiaries of virtually every call from Norwegian referee
Christiana Pedersen. Coincidence? Not from a Canadian viewpoint. Sour
grapes? Nope. Not in this case. At least not in any sort of balanced
viewpoint.
“We outplayed the Americans the whole game, and never
we’ve done that,’’ said keeper Erin McLeod. “[The refereeing) was
one-side the whole way. This is heartbreaking. We feel we got robbed.’’...
The Canadians were furious, and rightly so, with two critical
sequences. First, a missed handball that clearly struck the arm of
American midfielder Megan Rapinoe at one end of the pitch, followed by a
rarely-if-ever called delay of game on McLeod for not playing the ball
within six seconds. That led to an indirect free kick inside the area,
about 12 yards out —and that led to a subsequent hand ball call levied
on central defender Marie-Eve Nault (which was, glory be, spotted!).
McLeod
acknowledged she’d received a warning from a linesman at the start of
the second half not to dawdle. “She said ‘Don’t delay the play too
much,’ but it wasn’t like a real warning. She said I held the ball for
10 seconds. She obviously counted the time when I was on the ground.’’
A sarcastic semi-smile. “An interesting call.’’
When asked if she’d held the ball 10 seconds, as accused, McLeod, unblinking, replied bluntly: “Nowhere near.
“I think the referee was very one-sided. I was stunned when it happened, when I got the indirect free kick.’’
Sinclair
claimed that when, as captain, she approached Pedersen to discuss such a
rare and controversial decision, there was no explanation forthcoming.
“She
actually giggled,’’ fumed the skipper, “and said nothing. Classy. You
never see the six-second rule call without a warning, first of all. Then
to have a penalty shot called as a result. Just shocking. That’s all I
said to her.
I watched most of the match from about half way through the first half. I think the Americans were ripped off a few times, when penalties could have been called inside the penalty box.
But I also agree that while the delay of game penalty on the Canadian goalkeeper may have been technically correct, it was the wrong call. It's like a drop kick in American football- it's legal, but you never see it. Or traveling in the NBA- it happens but the ref's don't call it unless you take 10 steps or more.
On the other hand, that was just 1 sequence of plays in a 90 minute game. The Canadians led most of the game but let the USA back in and they should not have allowed that to happen. Especially on the corner kick in which the USA kicked the corner kick and no Americans touched the ball but the ball did touch 2 Canadians and the ball went into the goal.
I understand the frustration of the Canadians and they have every right to be mad, but in the end, they are the one's who lost the game in before and after the penalty shot.
Can't wait for the 2016 Olympics when the Canadians will be out for revenge.
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