That left side of the US defense isn’t doing too well IMO. Crystal Dunn is having 1ssues right now.
EDIT: Just had a good tackle though at about the 44’ mark. Sweden is quite the grabby bunch. US has too much speed.
Sweden continues to attack the left side of the defense. Everything from Sweden is coming from the left side it seems.
Carli Lloyd (for Morgan) coming in!. Finally!
Tobin Heath amazing goal at 49’ or 50’. Carli Lloyd was offsides, but the ref decided that Sweden had the ball and time to play it out.
Okay, I’m watching the game now-the announcers said that Tobin Heath’s goal was changed to an own goal. WTH???
I didn’t analyze it, since I was watching on my lunch at my computer, but ya, I saw that they recorded it as an OG. I don’t understand it, but I believe the ball slightly deflected off a Swedish defender. But it wasn’t like the ball was significantly redirected from what I saw. I thought it was an amazing shot by Heath.
Did you see Kelly O’Hara go down and then play the rest of the game with something in her nose to prevent the bleeding? She’s tough as nails.
^^That was quite attractive!
I love tough, badass women!
Can someone please explain offsides to me as it related to Heath’s goal? Offsides is called in kid’s rec league, and I never understand it.
I’ll take a stab at it. An attacking player can’t be beyond the second to last defender when the ball is passed to them or they are otherwise part of the play.
Carly Lloyd was in an offside position (with only the goalie between her and the goal) when the ball was passed to Tobin Heath. The question was whether Lloyd was part of the play. She was ruled not to have been.
To clarify, a team can have a player in the offside position (too far upfield) but still score a goal if the offside player was not part of the action.
Thanks, @Sue22 , that helps.
What is the motivation for having the offsides rule? I assume the attacking team would have an advantage with an offsides player, but isn’t it the defense’s responsibility to guard the player?
It keeps the attacking team from simply parking players in front of the goal waiting for someone to lob a ball to them. It’s like the 3 second rule in basketball.
If I may add something to Sue’s explanation of the specific play today, not the general offsides rule explanation.
Sue is absolutely correct that Carli Lloyd was judged to NOT be part of the scoring play, even though she was in an offsides position. That is the rule. The addition here, is that Carli Lloyd would have been part of the scoring play, but not for the Swedish defender having time to touch, control and play the ball at her feet, before Heath got possession of the ball and scored.
Without it, much of the strategy and skill is taken out of the game.
It would destroy play in the midfield, as both teams would have to keep defenders permanently back to mark strikers that the offense is keeping by the opposing goal to try to poach a goal from a long pass. Play through the midfield would be irrelevant because you could just kick the ball all the way to the other end with impunity.
Offsides also encourages defenses to be more courageous, because they can play farther from the goal without having to worry much about a defender getting behind them. Without offsides, there would always be 3-4 defenders who never wander more than a few yards from the goal.
And a well-executed offsides trap is a thing of beauty.
Here’s a video worth watching that explains it all. Offside, no s on the end by the way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiwmR6CC0Bk
Thanks for your explanations of offside! All of them are very helpful.
So will the announcers tell me when one of these beautiful offside traps happens?
No, not really, because it’s a relatively common defensive strategy. A “cat and mouse” game between offense and defense. The defense is trying to catch the offensive players “napping” or not paying attention.
Essentially, it’s the defensive backline (typically 3 or 4 players) stepping forward, immediately before the pass is made by the offensive team, leaving one or more of the offensive players in an offsides position.
But if the backline gambles, and screws up (timing it improperly), then your keeper is left 1v1 (or worse).
I had written this analogy and then edited it out last night when I discovered you had already written it. You stole my line. 
I was just at a big box sports store getting gear for our trip to France and there was a nine or ten year old boy picking out gear beside me. We had a nice conversation about his favorite players. He left with a Pugh jersey and a big grin.
I’m excited for the knockout games tomorrow.
I’m playing early and will be home in time to watch.