Olympics 2012, in Londontown

Yet you never see it called. You can give a yellow the next time the play stops. It was a terrible decision.

 

Sheesh. I've seen men's goalies hold the ball for 10 seconds or longer before kicking it. I thought the ref was cutting it too tight.

 

You do see it called every once in a blue moon, though. It's like intentional backpass (which I think I've seen maybe once) - it has to be pretty obvious, but it does happen.

As someone else has mentioned on this thread, she held the ball for 16 (16!) seconds on an earlier punt. She loses all benefit of the doubt at that point. It's not like it was a one time thing in the half. The ref finally got fed up with it and called her. That's not the ref's fault...

 

This. There are rules in sports. Rules players and coaches all know. When you choose to break the rules, even if you get away with it 99 times out of 100, you risk putting the play in the hands of an official. It's hard enough to officiate a game when players are trying to follow the rules. The fact that there was a warning and the call in question was not even borderline shows that the officials did what they could to keep it decided on the field.

 

The best officials in the world use discretion and have a feel for their sport. This ref was awful throughout the whole game?

When is the last time you have seen it called?

 

Wait, so Tobago gets a medal too???

 

See, I claim the game was decided on the field because it's a legit call. It's only not "decided on the field" if it's something completely blown, like a goal-saving handball (hi 2002 Germans!) or a phantom trip in the box. This was something McLeod put herself at risk for and got caught. The rule isn't there just to make the FIFA tests harder.

It sucks for her. I knew her several years ago and really, really feel for her. But the game wasn't taken out of her hands or out of the Canadian's hands. They tried a risk-reward technique and got caught up in the risk part of it. That's sports.

 

I agree that it's something you never see called, but a warning had been issued. The goalie even said so. She should have known she was being watched carefully.

 

What level? I've seen multiple yellow cards given for it in pro and international levels when it occurred in a dead-ball situation (almost always a goalkick or already awarded free kick). The equivalent to that in a live-ball situation is an indirect free kick.

And I'm almost positive you can't go back to her after the play ends and yellow card her retroactively. If it happens on a punt, it's a free kick period. Most goalies don't push the punts quite that far (again, 16 seconds earlier in the half) for just that reason.

 

If they don't, they should. Tobago works just as hard as Trinidad.

 

Yeah, but it's bullshit that they get two whole countries as one entry. Maybe next Olympics, you'll see United States and Brazil. US&B, like T&T.

 

Guys, my apologies if my Felix Sanchez rant set Mark off. Sanchez really does piss me off, though. He really should be running for the U.S.