Category: General Soccer

Olympics: Preview Notes – South Africa (Group F)

DEBUTANTES DESTINED TO BE WALLFLOWERS? Banyana Banyana (“banyana” means “the girls” in Nguni) is, at #61,  the lowest ranked squad in the tournament and find themselves in a group with two of the top three teams from the 2011 Women’s World Cup: champions Japan and third-place Sweden, along with a Canada side that is focused on redemption. Continue reading “Olympics: Preview Notes – South Africa (Group F)”

Olympics: Preview Notes – United States (Group G)

LIKE AN ACTING COMPANY’S FAVORITE PLAY — Once again, the United States finds itself in USWNT: Olympic Redemption, A Triumph in Two Acts. The first act ends with a disappointing finish in Women’s World Cup. And, the second act is suppose to end a year later with the USWNT wearing Olympic Gold Medals around their necks. At least that’s how the play’s inaugural run ended in 1996, along with its two revivals in 2004 and 2008. But, complicating the matter will be the guest actresses that play the final team of antagonists, who may decide to go off script and ad-lib a different ending.
Continue reading “Olympics: Preview Notes – United States (Group G)”

Olympics: Preview Notes – Great Britain (Group E)

WAIT, “GREAT BRITAIN?” — In FIFA there is no “Great Britain,” as each of Great Britain’s four constituent countries, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, all have their separate federations. But, with London being the host city, and its country’s Olympic team being Great Britain, not England, the home team could only compete under the Union Jack, not St. George’s Cross. And, due to the fact that none of the four confederations really like the idea of unitary Great Britain soccer teams, these teams are the soccer equivalent of a shotgun wedding that gets annulled in a month and is never spoken about again. Continue reading “Olympics: Preview Notes – Great Britain (Group E)”

Olympics: Preview Notes – Sweden (Group F)

DON’T COUNT THEM OUT — Down a player due to a dubious red card in the consolation match at last year’s Women’s World Cup, Sweden found a way to scoring a go-ahead goal and hold onto the lead to claim third place. This year, Sweden finds itself without several key players due to injuries. But, among the healthy is their star forward, Lotta Schelin. And, that is cause of concern for any defense. Continue reading “Olympics: Preview Notes – Sweden (Group F)”

Olympics: Preview Notes – France (Group G)

FRANCE IS HOPING FOR A LIGHT HORSE FINAL, since Les Bleus can no longer be considered dark horses.  But, these filles are not the only light horses in the tournament, or in their group, as France finds themselves in the same starting gate as the United States.

Continue reading “Olympics: Preview Notes – France (Group G)”

Olympics: Complete Listings For NBC’s Coverage, Including Online Options

[Edit: Some non-USA matches on MSNBC and NBCSN may be cut-into, so have Live Extra streams ready as a back-up.]

The following is a summary of the viewing options for NBC’s coverage of the women’s soccer tournament at the London Olympics, along with (hopefully complete and accurate) schedules for (1) the standard cable channels, NBC Sports Network and MSNBC; (2) NBC Specialty Olympic Soccer Channel; and (3) live online streaming options via NBCOlympics.com’s “Live Extra” feature. Continue reading “Olympics: Complete Listings For NBC’s Coverage, Including Online Options”

U-20 WWC: Germany’s Semi-Official Tournament Roster (USA Group Opponent)

[Edit – July 30: The write-up portion of this post does not reflect the replacement of goalkeeper Lisa Schmitz with fellow ‘keeper Meike Kämper and Clara Schöne with Katharina Leiding.]

On Tuesday, the DFB released Germany’s semi-official roster for this year’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. As expected, the roster includes German Women’s National Team midfielder Dzenifer Marozsan, whose first call-up during this cycle was for the just-concluded training camp. Among the players nominated by head coach Maren Meinert are six other players who, prior to the recent Norway friendly, were uncapped this cycle. Four of those players, all midfielders, were brought up from Germany’s current U-19 WNT, which failed to make the final stage of this year’s UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship. One of the other two previously uncapped players is defender Sophie Howard, who will be attending the University of Central Florida this fall. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Germany’s Semi-Official Tournament Roster (USA Group Opponent)”

The First Women’s Soccer Match At Old Wembley Stadium

According to then-contemporary news reports, the first women’s soccer match[1] at Old Wembley Stadium, England’s most-hallowed soccer ground, was contested on July 16th, 1987, a full sixty-four years after the Stadium opened in 1923. In that match, which was the opening game of the fourth annual London International Football Festival, the Cincinnati Cardinals, an under-14 girls travel team from Ohio, played a Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. youth squad. And, yes, the Americans won, albeit by the slimmest of scorelines, 1:0. Continue reading “The First Women’s Soccer Match At Old Wembley Stadium”

U-20 WWC: Mid-July Friendly Results, Plus Notes on Germany’s Friendly

During the second week of July, a handful of Women’s Under-20 friendlies were contested, including matches that separately involved Mexico and Canada, plus Germany, who will be the United States’ final group opponent in August’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup.

Mexico traveled to Argentina and beat the hosts in two friendlies, by 1:0 and 3:1 margins. Canada is in Europe and played Italy on Saturday, winning 3:0.

On Sunday, Germany hosted Norway and defeated the guests 5:0, which was slightly better than the 7:1 drubbing Germany gave the Norwegians in last year’s UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship final, but much worse than the two sides’ 1:1 draw in a friendly at La Manga earlier this year. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Mid-July Friendly Results, Plus Notes on Germany’s Friendly”