ORLANDO PRIDE WIN NWSL CHAMPIONSHIP! UNFAIR AND BIASED REF? TRINITY RODMAN SPEAKS OUT!

[@Wentaya]

The goal/win was definitely tainted by that push... but... can't help but love that Marta finally got a championship and especially with her mom in the audience!

[@edcleverley9333]

I was impressed that Esme Morgan managed to keep up with Banda for the goal. For me she's England's 3rd centre back after Greenwood and Bright, on form. Really good at retaining the ball passing out from the back

[@saferguson6956]

You gotta call it, I thought this is what VAR is for to help the referees with missed calls. Shouldn't matter if it’s Marta's last game, win it honestly.

[@TheRumblewagon]

So if it was a foul on Santos, then it was a foul. Are there "kinda" fouls and "kinda not" fouls? When a foul leads to a goal, it's a pretty serious foul.

[@VeraLucia-tw9pq]

Parabéns ao Orlando,pela conquista, e a nossa, Marta ❤😂😂🎉🎉

[@lassam333]

The goal itself was beautiful, but imho shouldn't have counted because of the push as it was decisive that Barbara Banda received the pass. The referee doesn't have to listen to anything the players say. Congratulations to Orlando Pride for winning both the Shield and the championship. For Marta it would ne a great time to retire, ending her career on a high. I can, though, see her continuing playing, as she still has enough fitness on the field.

[@user-pk4sj8fs4x]

It looks like yellow 10 was holding purple 15 (a foul); therefore, the referee may have given the advantage to the purple team since 15 retained possession and kept moving forward.

[@Dan-dg9pi]

Let's face facts. The ref missed the call when it happened and then didn't want to change it. All you have to do is look at the direction of the two players. Angelina turned to her right so she could use both arms to shove Santos. The so-called TV rules analyst didn't make any sense. Interesting that they shipped her in from......Florida. There was also a scramble at the end where the Pride defender was on the ground near the goal tripping the Spirit forward. The point is that none of the 50/50 calls seemed to go to the Spirit. The Pride had a great season and did a good job of regaining momentum at the end of the season when their unbeaten streak was broken. The League does seem to be attracting better and better players and the women coming out of college (and high school) are also more highly skilled than they were even five years ago.

[@gwynbourlakov7252]

It had to be Marta’s moment. That was determined prior to the game 🤷

[@RiverRokz]

Yes

[@gwynbourlakov7252]

Something happens to refs at CPKC. Watched 12 games there and fifa or pro refs doesn’t matter. Refs are over influencing the game in nwsl with subjective calls, adding time, etc.

[@For_Cruyff_Sake]

People just grasping at straws. Just the other week, we all saw Mayra Ramirez shove Alanna Kennedy to a full splayed out faceplant before scoring a goal against Man City and no one thought that body check was a foul at all. The shove to Leicy Santos was pretty weak to even call foul. It's rude but it's a contact sport. I see Santos leaned a little and stayed on her feet. If washington spirit had really wanted to win fouls, they should have dived. Santos should have flopped both arms up and fall to the ground rolling like a canolli. If you want to win a championship, you gotta do what you gotta do. If it was so unfair, the rightful course of action was for Esme Morgan to immediately shove Barbra Banda as retribution. Who knows, Morgan could have shoved Banda, gotten away with it with no foul, won the ball back and who knows where we all be today

[@twagissmude]

❤

[@adastrapride]

She had her arm hooked over Angelina in a hold and that was the first contact. 23 shots on target not leading to a goal in a championship is a bigger deciding factor than a 50/50 foul that earned a no call. Controversial, sure, but a hold is always a foul. The analyst should have gone into that more than the way she interpreted it. Koroleva is a solid ref and was on VAR, and every goal is checked thoroughly. Sending Nichols to VAR when it looked 50/50 would have been asinine and interrupted the flow for both teams, with two outcomes: She makes a new call and gets it wrong, or spends a really long time studying the angles to come to the same "not a clear and obvious" foul that occurs as a result of the initial contact that VAR made, the goal stays, and everyone plays sufferball for even longer until they can regroup for the half. The only way to respond in an adverse situation is to score. The only way this call affects the entire outcome is if it comes after regulation time at the death. They had an entire half and plenty of chances to score and didn't. The ref can't change that. Championship games are physical and a lot of things don't get called, with cards on egregious ones to keep it from getting too crazy. To win a game, especially a decisive one, you have to finish your chances. The ref can't score for you, and she can't only overlook the calls that negatively impact your team. There were absurd calls and no calls on both sides and some of those no calls would have left fewer Spirit on the pitch, and then you're bunkering and most definitely not putting the ball in the net. Shake it off and look forward to next season.

[@alansmithee8831]

Hello Sarah and Sara. US can take Pride in the season just finished. Sorry, but I will still be wanting England to beat them at Wembley, even with Emma Hayes on their side.

[@natch27]

Blaming the ref is the last refuge of a scoundrel.