Category: General Soccer

Olympics: Team Great Britain Announces its WNT Roster

On Tuesday, the Olympic women’s soccer squad for Team Great Britain was announced by its coach, Hope Powell (TheFA.com; Google cache version). Sixteen of the eighteen official players hail from England. The remaining two are both Scottish: midfielder Kim Little and defender Ifeoma Dieke. Two of the reserve players are non-English: goalkeeper Emma Higgins of Northern Ireland and forward Jane Ross of Scotland. Of the sixteen English players on the primary roster, only one was not in Germany for the 2011 Women’s World Cup: midfielder Rachel Williams, who is a veteran of the 2008 Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Continue reading “Olympics: Team Great Britain Announces its WNT Roster”

Olympics: Colombia Announces Its Team Roster

On Tuesday, USWNT group opponent Colombia announced its 18-player Olympic roster for its Women’s National Team (ColFutbol.org). Only 14 of the 18 players on the roster participated in the Women’s World Cup last year.  The four new players all currently play collegiate soccer in the USA: Natalia Ariza, Stefany Castaño Cardozo, Ana María Montoya, and Melissa Ortiz.  No alternates were named. Continue reading “Olympics: Colombia Announces Its Team Roster”

Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Unofficial ESPN Networks Schedule

According to the posted schedule on ESPN’s “WatchESPN” website, at least seventeen matches of the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup will be televised live by ESPN, primarily on ESPNU. All of the United States’ group matches will be shown live, including the team’s final group match versus Germany, which will air on ESPN2. All of the knock-out matches will also be televised live. In addition to showing every USA group match, all of host Japan’s and Brazil’s group matches will be televised live.

(Edit: The second semifinal match is now listed on the website.)

(Edit #2: On Sunday, August 26th, instead of Japan/Switzerland, ESPNU will be showing the Mexico vs. New Zealand at 6:10 a.m. EDT.)

Continue reading “Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Unofficial ESPN Networks Schedule”

U-20 WWC: Germany’s July Training Camp Roster – Dzsenifer Marozsán Called In

On Wednesday, the DFB released the roster of the next training camp for Germany’s Under-20 Women’s National Team, which is preparing for the U-2o Women’s World Cup in Japan, where they are grouped with the United States, China, and Ghana. Called in for the first time this cycle is senior national team midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsán, who already has 7 caps and 3 goals (DFB stats, in German). Marozsán participated in the 2010 U-20 Women’s World Cup, where she played in 5 matches, had a team-leading 3 assists, and scored 1 goal (FIFA). The Hungarian-born midfielder’s offensive prowess is badly needed in a team that has struggled at times to score goals. Other players on the roster include two other senior-capped players, centerback Luisa Wensing and midfielder Lena Lotzen, who were both absent from the prior training camp (June 11-15). Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Germany’s July Training Camp Roster – Dzsenifer Marozsán Called In”

Olympics: South Africa’s Semi-Official Roster

Canada group opponent South Africa announced their preliminary Olympic roster last week (www.safa.net). Of the eighteen players on the list, two currently play for American universities: goalkeeper Roxanne Barker (Pepperdine University) and Kylie-Ann Louw  (Stephen F. Austin State University). SAFA’s new item notes that an official roster will be announced on July 4th. Continue reading “Olympics: South Africa’s Semi-Official Roster”

The USWNT’s First Doubleheader with the USMNT

The media guide for the United States Women’s National Team only notes one doubleheader* with the Men’s National Team: a pair of matches held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1998, in which the women played New Zealand and the men played Scotland. Contemporary news reports in 1998 state that this doubleheader was the “first-ever” (SoccerAmerica) and the “[f]irst time both the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams have played a doubleheader (Baltimore Sun).**

But, that would not be the first time the men’s and women’s national teams had played at the same stadium on the same day. Continue reading “The USWNT’s First Doubleheader with the USMNT”

U-20 WWC: Germany Fact File (2012, Vol. 1)

When Germany and the United States meet in their third group match at the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup, it will be the first group stage meeting between the two nations at any FIFA women’s tournament, let alone a U-19/20 Women’s World Cup.  Both Germany (2004, 2010) and the USA (2002, 2008) are the only two-time winners of this age-group tournament.

The rest of this post looks at Germany’s U-20 pool, playing time during qualification and later friendlies, formations used and positions of players, a discussion of key players, and Germany’s  upcoming schedule, including known friendlies. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Germany Fact File (2012, Vol. 1)”

U-20 WWC: The Final Draw – The USA gets China, Ghana, and Germany (Yes, Really!)

The final draw for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup was held in Tokyo earlier today. In a bit of a surprise, reigning and two-time U-20 WWC champion Germany was not seeded as one of the top three teams. Instead, North Korea was placed into the first pot, along with host Japan, Brazil, and the United States. On the positive side for the USA, this meant that they avoided North Korea during the group stage. But, it also opened up the possibility that the USA and Germany could be grouped together. And, guess what happened…

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

Also, the full schedule is available as a PDF file.

Continue reading “U-20 WWC: The Final Draw – The USA gets China, Ghana, and Germany (Yes, Really!)”