2023 WWC - The Official Story

 Greetings, gentle readers.

So what we have found is this:  the exhilarating triumphs of virtuoso goliaths juxtaposed with the moral victories of plucky minnows have made the dramatic narratives of the 2023 Women's World Cup tournament appealing enough to increase the value of the brand to the overall benefit of women's sports.  

Who's Yer Girlfriend?

One of the trends that the casual observer may detect is the continuation of the Qatar Men's World Cup proclivity for enormous swaths of injury time at the end of every half of play.  In a related topic, the number and frequency of injuries seem to be slowing down the flow of game play and restricting the availability of star players from competition.  Another common thread that seems to be interwoven throughout the competition is the awarding of penalties.  Finally, the one underlying factor that seems to affect all of these referee-related game management issues is the use of Video Assisted Review.

A Galaxy VAR, VAR Away

Football's governing body resisted video review for decades, the most prominent reason being that the game ought to be quick-flowing, organic, and dynamic.  The clock does not stop when the referee blows his/her whistle, there are regulations about the time taken to perform set plays, and if treatment for an injury threatens to slow down the game, the rules indicate that the player is to be removed from the field and play must continue in the player's absence.  Everything is designed to keep driving the course of the game towards its conclusion.

Jenni from the block

To be perfectly frank, the refereeing decisions in this tournament have been almost flawless.  The flip side of that accuracy is the slowdown of the pace of every game.  Not only are there long and extended breaks for video checks, but the trend of referees to hesitate to even make an initial decision and instead immediately refer to the VAR team for a decision.  Anyone watching the Spain-Zambia game will recollect that Jenni Hermoso had both of her goals initially disallowed before being reviewed, and the first even had a "La La Land"/"Moonlight" moment as the referee announced that, after review, there was no goal.  The referee then paused and looked confused for a moment before announcing that there was no offside, and that the goal was good.  The confusion of the Spanish players was palpable as they tried to determine whether or not they ought to celebrate.  Amidst the chaos of the second goal, someone had to remind Jenni that she had just scored her 50th international goal in her 100th appearance.

Seraina Piubel

In the Switzerland-Philippines match, Sarina Bolden appeared to make history when she scored the first
goal of the match for the Filipino side after latching onto a long ball over the top, beating two defenders and lashing a 20-yard shot into the Swiss net.  It looked to be the first ever World Cup goal for the debutante South-East Asian nation, and a dramatic upset of expectations in the match.  Then the VAR check was performed, and the goal was chalked off for offside.  The entire Philippines team went from ecstatic jubilation to confused distress in a matter of seconds and they never recovered their composure for the rest of the match.  Luana Bühler stroked some spectacular passes out from defence, Ramona Bachmann performed some dazzling feats of schoolyard freestyle flair, while Seraina Piubel and Lia Wälti drifted elegantly through the midfield en route to a comfortable 2-0 win that left the Philippines broken and disoriented.  To their credit, they regrouped after the match and turned all of that frustration and indignation into a verve that defeated host country New Zealand.

Everybody Hurts

Not all of the delays of game and ten-minute episodes of time-added-on are as a result of self-conscious and over-cautious referees relying on technology to make the right call.  Sometimes injury time is just that—a compensation for playing time lost because players are medically harmed or in distress.  As in the men's game, feigned injuries are always a factor, as tired teams seek to get an impromptu time out for players to catch their breath, receive coaching instructions from the touchline, and re-establish discipline within a positional formation.  

Italy's Valentina Giacinti

The Italy-Argentina game was a very physical war of attrition that exhausted its combatants throughout the match, and players that took anything more than a superficial knock or contact from a challenge tended to stay down just a little bit longer than necessary to afford their teammates a quick break from the action.  The problem with the referees in this situation is twofold:  they are supposed to discipline players suspected of simulating injury, and they are supposed to expeditiously remove injured players who require medical treatment from the field of play so that play may resume.  

Insofar as discipline is concerned, no yellow cards yet been issued for simulation, and in terms of quick and effective game-management, the prevalent trend has been for referees to allow physios and medics to treat players on the pitch for several minutes before insisting that the treatment continue off-field.

This is not to say that all injuries sustained during the tournament have been simulated.

Retired Canadian
International Kara Lang

In fact, a cursory glance at the players who have been rendered medically ineligible to play over the past few decades shows a large number of knee injuries, particularly cruciate ligament sprains and tears. Kara Lang, in an interview before the Canada-Nigeria Game, described her struggles with ACL injuries, and how they eventually forced her premature retirement from the game. She was unequivocal in laying the blame for these sorts of injuries on the playing surface. Unlike the men, women in footy are often forced to play on artificial turf, which doesn't have the same sort of give or yield that natural grass does. In cases of extreme stress, when the surface doesn't accommodate deformation or deterioration, the force is transferred to the joints of the limbs planted in that surface. In the men's game, Marco Van Basten's career was cut short by the fact that his constant twisting and dancing about in his studs eventually ripped up his ankles as much as the sod beneath him. Women don't have his kind of upper body muscle mass, so their injuries tend to be around the knees rather than the ankles.

No Au Revoir, Just Hors d'Oeuvres

And with that, I need to cease my blithering babble before I do myself irrevocable neurological damage.  Until my next installment about the scutal playing tactics within the tournament, I bid you adieu.

Good night England and the colonies,

—mARKUS