"loophole" - what a jerk. How about the fact that Tancredi should have been sent off in the 55th minute for the intentional head stamp on Carli Lloyd?

Its not a loophole. I've heard of players doing this many times *IF* a goalie is abusing the 6 second rule... which MacLeod clearly was doing all second half as shown in another article on Soccer America. Also, he might like to know that his keeper admitted to being warned at halftime by the ref.

I don't know if it is gamesmanship but Herdman seems like a whiny little jealous schoolboy. His players can feel like "it was taken from us" but the rules are the rules and his GK admitted that she had been warned by Pedersen about taking too long. Even if he feels that she should have been cautioned, the restart still would have been an indirect free kick. He doesn't seem to grasp a few basics about the rules of the game.

Hmmm, kudos for Canada to showe some serious passion. Although i agree with touchline that most of the first 90 seem to favor Canada roughhousing our ladies especially in the box... not only the Lloyd collision but Alex Morgan seemed to deserve a PK but those are all close calls... Bigger picture that no one has the guts to bring up... I would lay money that at least four players on that field were high on something. I ofcourse have no inside knowledge other than life experience but I believe it firmly. There were juiced up players playing at a very high level on that field!

"loophole" my ass. The basic definition of a loophole is an undefined rule, law or process that allows actions not originally intended. The 6 second rule is hard and fast. Although seldom called, its a rule. As a referee I rarely call it except when the goalie is clearly abusing it as was the Canadian keeper. She was warned. Good luck to the red, white and blue.

I am quite surprised that Herdman made such comments. He should know better. He was lucky that the foul on Morgan in the box (clearly a PK) wasn't called. Nevertheless, the game was incredible and kudos to Canada for being so tenacious - I wish them well in the Bronze medal match. As for me, GO WNT!

Was it a "loophole" when Rapinoe handled the ball in the box and was not called, yet Canada handle was called? Was it a "loophole" when Solo exceeded the 6 seconds and it was not called? This is not Morgan but Sean posting this comment.

OK, folks give Herdman a break. His team just got punched in the face by someone (team USA) that often gets the better of them. It must be frustrating. He's trying to move on, but it's hard. Someone asked him a question and what he said off the cuff was all positive except for ONE word that he probably would have changed if he had time to type his thoughts on a comment board. Big deal.

One of the areas that a ref is looking at for a handling of the ball(not handball) is did the act increase the target area of the defender. The ball Rapinoe had hit her did not increase and the ball would have hit her directly in the side. Not so with the Canadian. There were four penalties that were not called and three of them were for the US, so justice was done.

"...I would lay money that at least four players on that field were high on something. I ofcourse have no inside knowledge other than life experience but I believe it firmly. There were juiced up players playing at a very high level on that field!" Colin, who are you Harry Reid making an accusation without an iota of proof or evidence?! Gimme a break.

A caution to the goal keeper for the offense instead of enforcing the offense with an IDFK is probably improper. The keeper is not delaying the restart of play, because the ball is still in play. A caution for persistent infringement is harder to sell if one hasn't sanctioned the offense previously, and unsporting behavior is a stretch. Though in many cases this is a trifling offense, it's not fair to a team that's expending their energy to apply pressure to reduce the keeper's outlet options to continually have that time significantly extended. Perhaps the referee should have done something sooner, and certainly allowing the US players to browbeat her by counting the time aloud repeatedly is a failure of game management. When the US players started that, she should have told them to stop it, then gone to the keeper for a little private talk to make it clear to everyone that she'd been warned, but the call was warranted if the keeper was repeatedly just standing there with the ball making no real effort to make a timely distribution. To have that immediately followed by a tough game critical handling call is a referee's nightmare. No matter which way that call is made, it's going to be questioned. I think she can stand by that call either way.