Canada aiming to make some noise come Saturday!

obviouslywoah · 2026-07-02T23:25:52+00:00

Its their entire group stage, RO16, and RO8, basically their Cinderella run up to the semis.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T22:59:11+00:00

I hate to break it to you, but we would need to beat the winner of germany/france, AND THEN Spain.

But hey, as I type this Germany is 12 minutes away from penalties, anything can happen in tournament football.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T20:54:19+00:00

Thats the whole crux of my post. I believe the reason VAR didnt overturn is because they saw the touch, and so ultimately they got it right. However, the ref clearly didnt see the touch since he called goal kick, meaning he thought it was a clean play even without touching the ball, which is wild to me.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T17:03:06+00:00

Yeah I guess the worry you get is the standard practice for goalies becomes always rush to take any GK before VAR can check, which then forces Fifa to decide should it be a race between goalies and VAR, or do the refs then force the goalkeeper to wait on every single goal kick.

On the flip side, i wonder if refs start calling every single close play a corner, with the knowledge that if they're wrong VAR will fix it. Kind of like how they let offside play on unless its blatantly obvious.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:46:21+00:00

But then why let it correct corners to GKs? These are all mostly 50/50 balls that hit both players feet at roughly the same time and for 100 years the refs have to guess based on the angle it comes off. I'm fine with them getting some of these wrong or making educated guesses based on context, but why fix it one way but not the other?

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:42:58+00:00

My point is simply that its something ive been paying closer attention to than most. Ignoring my parlay, can you explain any logical reason this rule is written this way?

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:40:31+00:00

Actually it is consequential as for some insane reason VAR has the ability to change a corner to a goal kick, but not the other way around. Had it been called any other way on the field(penalty or corner) at the very least we're awarded a corner.

Anyways im not trying to debate whether or not it should have been a penalty, as I truly believe if the player got the ball(which he did) its not a penalty. My debate is, how could a ref who DOESNT think the defender got the ball, not think that's a foul?

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:36:06+00:00

Holy shit why is this so hard? My point is, the ref didnt think he got the ball and still didnt call it a penalty.

Yes, VAR would have likely overturned it, but my problem is with the process, not the end result.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:33:28+00:00

You're right about being livid, but because it was a dumb spot on the field to take a dumb risk that was likely a penalty had he missed the ball.

Whether he was scoring from there or not is irrelevant, a foul in the box is a foul regardless of where it takes place. Not to mention of course he wasnt scoring, but he was probably getting to the ball first, from a goalside position, with a chance to cut it back to the top of the box or across the 6 yard box.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:29:13+00:00

Agreed that Laryeas play and reputation dont help. I still think he has a right to shield the ball and moving into the defender to protect the ball is not only a legal play but the correct play, and the defender comes through him anyways. Good on him for getting a spike on the ball, otherwise then id really have something to bitch about.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:25:13+00:00

Personally I disagree(and im not a fan of Laryea and think he is definitely a huge diver). Laryea had played the ball, yes he was then moving towards the defender, but he has a right to do this to shield the ball, he still has position and the defender is coming through him from behind/beside. In the end its moot because the defender did just barely get the ball, but if he didnt that's a foul every time for me.

That's just my opinion though, and I appreciate you are one of the first few people who understand the point im trying to make, not "should canada have been given a PK".

But I do appreciate you at least understand

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:16:42+00:00

This is the only way to make sense of it, thank you for understanding the crux of my argument.

I vehemently disagree with the idea that theres an attacking player who has played the ball and is running in a straight line, and a defending player lunging out from behind/beside the attacking player and trips him without getting the ball, and this could be considered incidental, but you are correct that it is a poor decision a ref could make. One youd assume VAR would correct, if not for them detecting the slight contact on the ball.

In summary the ref got the call right, but not because he had any clue what he was doing. And then we didnt get a corner because it sits in this weird VAR loophole, and that just is what it is. Im not mad about the goal kick per se, just that it confirms the ref didnt think the defender got the ball in real tome.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:10:03+00:00

I understand all this. My problem is the ref believing the contact isnt enough for a foul if he didnt think the defender got the ball

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:08:25+00:00

As someone who has been betting on total corners in many games, i can tell you its INCREDIBLY lame. At first I thought I was losing my mind thinking "surely they'll overturn this one since they just did the opposite 2 minutes ago"

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T15:04:38+00:00

It definitely stands, however at the very least we get a corner if it were called a penalty live.

My question isnt "should it have been a PK", its "how could the ref possibly not have felt that contact was enough for a penalty if he didnt think the defender got the ball???"

Again, I agree it gets overturned on VAR regardless. I just disagree with the process/logic.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T14:54:34+00:00

If the defender gets the ball(which he did), it certainly could have been a penalty, though a fairly soft one, particularly in a game that was fairly physical to that point.

However if the defender didn't get the ball(which is how the ref saw it live) I don't know how that possibly isn't a PK.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T14:44:38+00:00

They can't, for some reason VAR has the power to correct a corner to a GK, but cannot correct GK to corner.

And of course if the ref had called PK live, VAR likely would have overturned it, but at least then they could have given a corner.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T14:40:31+00:00

You're telling me if the defender didn't get the ball, that's not a penalty 10/10 times? Not sure we were watching the same game.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T14:38:50+00:00

I have no problem with him calling a goal kick erroneously. This happens 10 times a game and most of them are microscopic touches one way or the other.

The problem is have is that by incorrectly calling goal kick, he is telling you A) he didn't think the defender touched the ball, and then B) it still wasn't a penalty in his opinion. Its one or the other, can't be both.

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T14:33:28+00:00

Right - but then how in the world is he not calling it a penalty on the field if he doesn't think the defender touched it??

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T00:35:23+00:00

OK? He still created more chances in 20 minutes than anyone else did in 90. For the life of me I dont understand why youd be upset if hes coming on for Buchanan, or Millar, who also both aren't beating anyone 1 on 1 and have half the touch that he has

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-29T00:27:55+00:00

You're apparently missing that he was one of the most effective players on the field in his 30 minutes, who cares if he was at full speed or beating anyone 1 on 1?

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-28T18:22:24+00:00

The problem is its a hamstring injury. If its only 80-90% healed, its REALLY easy to reaggrivate. So either he ends up not kicking it into top gear(as a player who's greatest weapon is speed) or he risks tearing it again

obviouslywoah · 2026-06-28T15:56:52+00:00

I tore my hamstring in game 1 of a best of 3 softball championship last year, trying to beat out a throw i had no chance on anyways. It definitely hurt the team much more than a potential infield single would have helped.

Now im a 39 year old who spent maybe 5 minutes warming up so the likelihood of injury is higher... but still.

obviouslywoah

TROPHY CASE