U.S. Women vs. Canada: A Breakdown of the 2 Minutes of Madness

The Olympic Women's Soccer semifinal Monday between the United States and Canada offered up plenty of memorable moments. Christine Sinclair's hat-trick, Megan Rapinoe's goal scored directly off a corner kick and wicked strike off the post and into the net. And of course, Alex Morgan's game-winning header in the last minute of stoppage time in the second extra-time period.

But the main talking points after the match focused on the two controversial calls made by Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen in the 77th and 79th minutes of the match. The sequence helped the U.S. Women tie the match at 3-3, which allowed Morgan's moment in extra time.

The first was when Pedersen called Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for holding the ball with her hands for more than six seconds before releasing it from her possession under Law 12 of the FIFA Laws of the Game. It is a rare call at the top levels of the game, and referees often ignore it as they run back upfield to get in position to view the battle for the goalkeeper's punt.

According to ESPN.com, McLeod was warned about taking too much time by an assistant referee at halftime. This is a common courtesy that the USSF states should happen prior to taking any further action.  A review of the first half shows McLeod on at least three occasions took 10 seconds or more to release the ball back into play.

In the second half, McLeod continued to take much more than 10 seconds to release the ball back into play. While it is often a trifling or trivial offense, the circumstances of the 78th minute contributed to the call being made. Referees start to become more mindful of time-wasting tactics in the last 15 minutes, and with Canada up a goal, Pedersen had to be aware that Canada may start draining the clock. 

At the 76:34 mark, Rapinoe took a corner kick from the near-side corner. The ball was gathered by McLeod at the back post where she fell down to secure the ball at 76:37. McLeod then gets up at 76:40 and starts to run up to the top of the box. NBC cut to a replay of the corner when the whistle actually blew for the foul, but the estimated time of the whistle was 76:47. So under the standard established, the whistle was technically correct, but a bit harsh.

The resulting indirect free kick led to the second moment of controversy. At 78:03, Tobin Heath tapped the ball over to Rapinoe for a shot from about 15 yards out. The ball struck Marie-Eve Nault, who was judged to have handled the ball deliberately. Under the interpretations of Law 12, the referee must take the following into consideration:

"

the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)

the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)

the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement

touching the ball with an object held in the hand (clothing, shin guard, etc.) counts as      an infringement

hitting the ball with a thrown object (boot, shin guard, etc.) counts as an infringement

"

Watching the replay (skip ahead to the 2:40 mark), Nault is turning away from the ball with her right arm tucked next to her body. But the ball appears to strike Nault's left hand, which is extended away from her body. Nault is 10 yards away from the ball, and had to know a shot was coming. It was a tough call for Pedersen to make, especially when you have one quick look at it. All things considered, it was another technically correct, yet harsh call against Canada.

Unfortunately, these two minutes will overshadow the rest of the match. But without these two minutes, the last 40 minutes of the match wouldn't have been as enthralling as they were, and the last 30 may not have happened. Such is the balance of life in the passion people have for the beautiful game.