Japan ties England to a standstill...

...and quite frankly were the better team. Now I really had no interest in either team, but Kari Seitz and Jennifer Bennett were the officials for the match so I wanted to see how well they did. Jennifer really didn't have much work to do, holding up that sub billboard.

Kari had to make what John Kennedy used to call, "the moment of truth call." It came at the final minute of stoppage time. It happened so quick that even the replay didn't do it justice, unless you are a referee and know what to look for. What was found was the England defender held #9 of Japan as she was going up for the ball. However from the angle we were looking at it could very well look like two players going up for the ball. Where's the foul? Well if you took a close look at the play you will see the English player never really attempted to play the ball but did what she set out to do; keep the Japanese player from playing the ball. In slow motion you really could see it. Again, you need to know what to look for in a hold because not all holds are obvious. If what I say is not convincing, then look at this photo for a more obvious look.



And just bare in mind...Kari didn't have the luxury of a replay. Great call Kari and great guts in making that crucial call. Yes Crucial call. Because not only England committed a foul, but then choose to do a misconduct by encroaching the ball during the free kick in a desperation Kari would call the game. However it backfired on England because this occurred after Kari blew the whistle for restart, then had to caution the player. However, it doesn't say she has to blow the whistle twice and the keeper let her guard down as Japan took their final shot to score the tying goal.