The following is a round-up of news tidbits for the upcoming Under-20 Women’s World Cup. For readers who are interested in learning more about certain teams, links to the teams’ federation websites are provided where available.
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TOURNAMENT NEWS
The Draw: If you missed the results of the U-20 WWC draw, here are the four groups:
Group A: Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, New Zealand
Group B: Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, South Korea
Group C: North Korea, Norway, Argentina, Canada
Group D: Ghana, United States, Germany, China
Referees: Last week, the list of referees for the tournament was released (online version, PDF file). From CONCACAF, three center referees were chosen: Margaret Domka (USA), Dianne Ferreira-James (Guyana), and Lucila Venegas (Mexico). No U.S. assistant referees are on the list.
Official Statistical Kit: This is primarily for media-types, but it is a nice compilation of information regarding how teams qualified, previous meetings between teams in the same group, historical stats, and more. (PDF file)
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GROUP A
Japan: The host team is preparing for two home friendlies versus the U-20 USWNT, which will be played this Sunday and next Wednesday. Japan’s camp roster for these friendlies has changed slightly as defender Akira Takagi was scratched due to injury. Called up in her place was defender Mami Kanazawa, who attends university in South Korea. (JFA news item) See also (external): The team’s micro-site on the JFA website.
Mexico: Santa Clara Bronco forward Sophia Huerta recently trained with this team (www.SantaClaraBroncos.com). Huerta had been in the U-20 USWNT’s camp as recently as January of this year. In other news, Mexico’s U-20 WNT held a recent training camp. (The FMF does not publish camp rosters as regularly as US Soccer.) See also (external): FMF’s website.
Switzerland: The Swiss FA website lists a friendly between Switzerland’s U-20 WNT and Canada’s U-20 WNT on July 20th in Buochs, Switzerland. (www.football.ch) See also (external): The team’s micro-site at www.football.ch.
New Zealand: The team last held a camp in May, in the States, where they were defeated 0:5 by the U-20 USWNT. See also (external): The Junior Football Ferns section of NZFootball.co.nz.
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GROUP B
Brazil: Last week, the CBF released a roster for a camp that will be held from June 18th to the 30th (CBF.com.br). On June 29th, the U-20 WNT will scrimmage the full WNT. Not included on the roster is forward Thais Guedes (“Thaisnha”) who is currently in the senior WNT camp. (Tip: for the full names of most of the players, see this CBF news item from late last year.)
South Korea: The team has held a handful of camps this year. No known upcoming friendlies. See also (external): U-20 WNT section on KFA.or.kr
Italy: The team last had a camp in April where they defeat Norway 4:2 after being down two goals. – On FIGC’s website, news items tend to brief are not organized by team. To find official news about Italy’s U-20 WNT, try a Google search such as “site:www.figc.it Corradini 2012.” (Corradini is the last name of the U-20 WNT’s head coach.)
Nigeria: The Nigerian FA does not have a website.
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GROUP C
Argentina: The Argentine U-20 WNT has held at least two camps since qualifying in February. For the latest news on this team, see the AFA website, here.
Canada: See the Switzerland entry above regarding a possible friendly scheduled for July 20th. See also (external): “Women’s U-20 Team” and “FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup” news sections on CanadaSoccer.com.
Norway: A friendly versus Germany is scheduled for July 15th, per the DFB’s website. For the latest news on Norway’s U-20 WNT, see the “J20” section of www.fotball.no.
North Korea: Korea DPR’s FA does not have a website.
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GROUP D
United States: The U-20 USWNT is currently in Japan preparing for two friendlies — one on Sunday and a re-match on Wednesday — versus their Japanese cohorts. See also: USA’s travel roster; More on the friendlies, including Japan’s roster. (Note that a defender on Japan’s roster was replaced due to injury. See Japan’s entry above.) Plus, here is the team’s micro-site on USSoccer.com.
China: Last week, the Chinese U-20 WNT convened for an eleven-week residency camp. The team will be in camp until they travel to Japan for the U-20 WWC. (www.fa.org.cn, in Chinese)
Germany: Maren Meinert’s squad is currently in the middle of a one week camp. The team will convene for two more camps, each with a friendly: In July, Norway, and in August, Sweden. For more on this team, see this thorough fact file. Also, here is the team’s page on DFB.de, and the news feed where U-20 WNT team news will appear (along with all other DFB women’s soccer news).
Ghana: No news regarding their next camp or any upcoming friendlies. For more about Ghana’s team, see this brief fact file.
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