World Cup appreciation thread - starts Sat June 6th

luckily the next one is in France so no games at stupid o'clock

Plans female-only trip (me and the DDs, both of whom are now football mad and going to football classes) to France in 2019 think football mad DH and DS might have something to say about this

And it was lovely to see men in the audience cheering them on and being genuinely happy about their achievements.

That was a great tournament. The France vs Germany game was the best I've seen since the 1987-88 FA Trophy Final replay between Enfield and Telford at The Hawthorns.

And that save from Bardsley in the 3rd/4th playoff game. Wonderful.

Just watching the admiration and respect that US women's team get from their countrymates is heartwarming.

That's what it could be like over here one day.

Time for bed. Great tournament. Now I am thoroughly jet lagged, luckily the next one is in France so no games at stupid o'clock.

Poor Japan....not fun to see any team get decimated

I did think USA are going to tear Japan apart, but not in the first 15 minutes!

Japan is gifting this.

There was nothing 'leggy' about Jill Scott's performance was there? Her speed and fast feet was occupying 2-3 defenders each time.
I thought JP did pretty well overall and wouldn't wish to berate him entirely for this particular obvs and yes the standard of womens football has vastly improved even compared to 4-5 years ago.

And I too loved the "Who can forget that rainy night in Poznan.." references

• in the mens game

Not "in there's game "

I think he WAS using it as an alternative to 'tall', just like he does for Peter Crouch. The fact that that term has a dodgy history when used for women is unfortunate, but hopefully he's learned things like that.

Could've been worse

Unless he is literally describing players as a "leggy blond" etc

In fairness players in there's game are constantly described as leggy.
As said above its a way of describing a player as being lethargic or lacking sharpness.

'Leggy' is one of Jonathan Pearce's adjectives. It can means both 'tall' and 'tired'. Good commentators use loads and loads of descriptors; it was inevitable that some were going to be a bit 'off' when describing players' physiques. It's always glaring when this happens, and hopefully he's learned a few things during his stint as main commentator.

But generally I think he's been quite good. I like the way he sortof refers to the history of the women's game as if lots of us are expected to remember those key matches. And at the same time also emphasises that the impact of the women's team at the semifinal 2015 could, and should, be as memorable as the men's semifinal in 1990 (gazza's tears; bassett's tears). 1990 was when football's popularity really rocketed.

Plus a man calling a man leggy and a man calling a woman leggy are two completely different things. And it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise, given the context Baking has just outlined.

Well done England is all I can say. I really thought their heads might have gone down after the Japan match but they got it together. Woo hoo! The women did good!

Oh, well that's just fine then. As long as someone once said it to a man, it's just dandy to reduce a woman to irrelevant physical attributes, because that never happens to women ever.

and if the commentator refers to Jill Scott as being 'leggy' (would he call Rio Ferdinand as such?) there may be a firmly constructed letter composed.

To be fair, I've heard Peter Crouch called leggy.

Just a fantastic game. Hated last 5 mins.

Smiles all round.

Great game.

DH was the one watching it mostly, he was really getting into it. I just read a friends tweets!

It's going to penalties, isn't it?

Eeek!

and if the commentator refers to Jill Scott as being 'leggy' (would he call Rio Ferdinand as such?) there may be a firmly constructed letter composed.

Set? Get..

The Japan game was awful and brilliant at the same time. I've watched all the games, and the 1st half of Japan but had to fall asleep with the 2nd half radio commentary (up early) so didn't hear the end. Seeing Laura B having to be comforted by her team mates at the end on tv catch up meant I had something in my eye that needed a good wash out.

England v Germany in the World Cup. Set strapped in.

I'm more confident about tonight than I was when we played Japan, and we should've beaten them out of sight. Just a few bits of bad luck, what with hitting the woodwork a couple of times and that fluke deflection which could've gone anywhere cost us.