The Under-17 Women’s World Cup Begins September 22nd: All Matches Will Be Streamed Via ESPN3

The 2012 Under-17 Women’s World Cup kicks off on Saturday, September 22nd. Every match of the group stage, along with all of the knock-out matches will be streamed online via ESPN3 on WatchESPN. The United States is in Group B and will face France, Gambia, and North Korea. Also participating are Canada, who are in Group A, and Mexico, who are in Group C. Continue reading “The Under-17 Women’s World Cup Begins September 22nd: All Matches Will Be Streamed Via ESPN3”

Under-17 Women’s World Cup: Official Rosters Released By FIFA

On Friday, FIFA.com published the roster for all sixteen teams on its micro-site for the U-17 WWC. The rosters are also available in a single document as a PDF file. The rest of this post examines the teams’ age and height statistics, primarily for Group B, which includes the United States, along with France, Gambia, and North Korea.

(For the United States’ roster, please also see this earlier post, which also has some notes on the likely preferred starting line-up.) Continue reading “Under-17 Women’s World Cup: Official Rosters Released By FIFA”

U-20 WWC: The Semifinals – The United States and Germany Win, Will Meet in the Final

After struggling in the group stage, the United States are right where they wanted to be, in the final of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, after defeating Nigeria 2:0 on Tuesday in the first semifinal, via a header goal by Morgan Brian and a counter-attack goal off the foot of Kealia Ohai. In the later semifinal, host Japan fell to a merciless Germany who scored a goal in the first minute and then added two more in the next eighteen minutes.

Thus, the United States and Germany will meet in the title match on September 8th at 6:30 a.m. EDT. That match will be televised live on ESPNU, starting at 6:20 a.m. EDT, with Adrian Healey and Julie Foudy as commentators, instead of the single pool announcer (Foudy’s Twitter). Continue reading “U-20 WWC: The Semifinals – The United States and Germany Win, Will Meet in the Final”

U-20 WWC: Quarterfinals Round-Up – Nigeria, Japan, Germany, and the USA Advance

The quarterfinals matches for the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup were a mix of the predictable and the dramatic.

On the predictable side, Germany rather easily defeated Norway 3:0. The match between Japan and South Korea was more a mix of predictable and dramatic, with South Korea getting an early equalizer before Japan re-took the lead for good.

The other two quarterfinals, Mexico vs. Nigeria, and United States vs. North Korea, were each a bit more dramatic, as both went to extra time. Against Mexico, Nigeria needed a stoppage time goal to seal victory. Meanwhile, the United States took a 1:0 lead over North Korea off a strike from Vanessa DiBernardo, only to see the Koreans equalize and send the match into extra time. Eight minutes into extra time, Chioma Ubogagu headed in the game-winner, off a Crystal Dunn cross. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Quarterfinals Round-Up – Nigeria, Japan, Germany, and the USA Advance”

U-20 WWC: Match Day 6 – USA Loses But Still Advances, Canada Eliminated

On the final day of group play at the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup, the marquee match-up, between the United States and Germany, was anything but a thriller, as the USA’s defensive lapses and lack of attacking prowess was punished by the Germans in a 0:3 loss. In the other Group D match, China only managed a 1:0 win over Ghana, so even though the United States and China were tied on points, the USA advanced to the quarterfinals via a better goal differential.

In Group C, Norway defeated Argentina 4:1 while Canada lost 1:2 to North Korea. Norway, on a goalkeeping error, let in an 82nd minute Argentine goal to make the score 2:1, but a goal by Andrine Hegerberg three minutes later restored the Norwegian’s two goal advantage.

On Friday, August 31st, Germany will face Norway in the earlier quarterfinal (3:00 a.m. EDT), while the United States will play North Korea in the later one (6:30 a.m. EDT). Both matches will be televised live on ESPNU. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Match Day 6 – USA Loses But Still Advances, Canada Eliminated”

U-20 WWC: Match Day 5 – Mexico Knocks-Out New Zealand, Brazil Falls to South Korea

The final day of group play for Groups A and B in the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup saw Mexico crush the hearts of the Junior Football Ferns as El Tri scored four second-half goals and Brazil fall to South Korea after scoring a potential go-ahead goal that was disallowed on a disputable offside call. In the other matches, Japan and Nigeria each had relatively easy 4:0 wins over Switzerland and Italy, respectively.

With all matches played in Groups A and B, Japan and Mexico advance out of Group A, while Nigeria and South Korea advance from Group B. Thus, the quarterfinal match-ups for August 30th will be Nigeria vs. Mexico (3:00 a.m. EDT) and Japan vs. South Korea (6:30 a.m. EDT). Both matches will be shown live on ESPNU. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Match Day 5 – Mexico Knocks-Out New Zealand, Brazil Falls to South Korea”

U-20 USWNT: On the Draw with China

The draw between the United States Under-20 Women’s National Team and China’s U-20 WNT in their second group match of the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup is a disappointing result for the USA squad, but far from a disaster. Continue reading “U-20 USWNT: On the Draw with China”

U-20 WWC: Mexico vs. New Zealand (Group A) Will Be Shown on ESPNU

A quick heads-up for those not on Twitter… According to the WatchESPN site, Sunday morning’s schedule for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup on ESPNU has been changed as Mexico vs. New Zealand will be the Group A match televised, instead of Japan vs. Switzerland.

Sunday’s Schedule:
3:10 AM EDT        Korea Republic vs. Brazil (Group B)
6:10 AM EDT        Mexico vs. New Zealand (Group A)

Barring a miraculous Switzerland blowout of Japan, Mexico must win against New Zealand, while the Junior Football Ferns only need a draw to ensure advancement.

In the Group B match, Brazil requires a win, but South Korea can advance with just a draw, although a win for the Koreans would guarantee advancement to the quarterfinals.

U-20 WWC: Match Day 4 – USA Only Gets a Draw, Germany Ekes Out a Win, Canada Falls to Norway

On the fourth day of group play at the 2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup, two of the favorites, the United States and Germany each struggled against teams easily dispatched by the other squad in the opening matches of Group D.  The USA,  in a lackluster performance, could only manage a 1:1 draw with China, while Germany needed a stoppage time goal from late sub Lina Magull to pull out a 1:0 win over Ghana. In Group C action, Norway edged out Canada 2:1, while North Korea pummeled Argentina 9:0. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Match Day 4 – USA Only Gets a Draw, Germany Ekes Out a Win, Canada Falls to Norway”

U-20 WWC: Match Day 3 – Japan and New Zealand Tie, Brazil Gets Another Draw

On Wednesday, New Zealand created the biggest headline so far from this year’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup when they got out to an early 2:0 lead and held host Japan to an eventual draw.Also in Group A, Mexico pulled out a 2:0 win over Switzerland, keeping their hopes alive, while snuffing out Switzerland’s. Meanwhile, in Group B, under-performing Brazil earned its second draw of the tournament via another late goal against Nigeria, and South Korea got their first points via a 2:0 win over Italy. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Match Day 3 – Japan and New Zealand Tie, Brazil Gets Another Draw”