Category: Neighbor Watch

Notable news and analysis about the USWNT’s two North American neighbors: Canada and Mexico.

2024 Olympics: Match Day 2 Recap and Video Highlights

The second day of group stage matches in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics was one to remember:

  • The USWNT had their best performances against Germany ever at an Olympics, defeating the two-time Women’s World Cup champions 4:1.
  • Japan had a 2:1 comeback victory against Brazil, which was capped by an awe-inspiring long-distance chip by second-half sub Momoko Tanikawa.
  • Canada is still in the hunt for a knock-out slot thanks to their 2:1 come-from-behind victory over host France, with the game-winning goal scored by Vanessa Gilles 12 minutes deep into second-half stoppage time.
  • Oh, And Australia came from three goals down in the second half to defeat Zambia 6:5!
Continue reading “2024 Olympics: Match Day 2 Recap and Video Highlights”

DroneGate: Canada Hit With 6 Point Deduction, Bev Priestman Suspended by FIFA, More Spying Allegations

On Saturday, FIFA announced that that the Canadian Women’s National Team has been penalized with a 6 point deduction from their group standings at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the same announcement, Canada Soccer was also fined CHF 200,000 (about $226,000 USD) and three members of the WNT’s staff were suspended from soccer-related activities for one year: Head coach Bev Priestman, performance analyst Joseph Lombardi, and assistant coach Jasmine Mander.

Also, TSN’s Rick Westhead has an article out that details additional allegations of spying by Canada’s WNT against the United States Women’s National Team and other women’s teams.

Continue reading “DroneGate: Canada Hit With 6 Point Deduction, Bev Priestman Suspended by FIFA, More Spying Allegations”

DroneGate: FIFA is on the Case, Bev Priestman Sent Home, and Evidence of ‘Previous Drone Use’

Wednesday evening, TSN’s senior correspondent, Rick Westhead, published an eye-opening article detailing past drone spying by the staff of the Canadian Women’s National Team that dates back to at least the (2021) Tokyo Summer Olympics, where Canada won gold.

The allegations in the article indicate that the drone spying against New Zealand could be a “tip of the iceberg” situation, and greatly increases the probability that Canada Soccer, Canada’s WNT, and some of the WNT’s coaching and support staff could be facing significant sanctions in the days and months to come.

Other news from Wednesday include the suspension of head coach Bev Priestman as well as an official statement from FIFA that its Disciplinary Committee has opened official investigations.

Continue reading “DroneGate: FIFA is on the Case, Bev Priestman Sent Home, and Evidence of ‘Previous Drone Use’”

2024 Olympics: Match Day 1 Recap and Video Highlights

The first day of group play in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympic saw no upsets, with all six matches ending in victories for the higher-ranked teams.

The USWNT had one of the easiest matches, thanks to a strong first half where Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson combined for three goals, with Swanson bagging a brace by scoring goals just 66 seconds apart (OptaJack x.com post). A VAR-upgraded 30th minute red card shown to Pauline Zulu reduced Zambia to 10 players. While the USWNT was unable to extend the lead after the red card, their defense did hold the speedy Barbra Banda and Zambia scoreless.

Continue reading “2024 Olympics: Match Day 1 Recap and Video Highlights”

2024 Olympics: DroneGate! Canada Caught Spying on New Zealand Practices

On Tuesday, July 23rd, news broke that an unnamed “staff member” for the Canadian Women’s National Team was caught using a camera drone to surveil a closed-door practice of the New Zealand Women’s National Team.

A day later, several more facts have come to light about this incident, but a number of key questions remain unanswered.

Continue reading “2024 Olympics: DroneGate! Canada Caught Spying on New Zealand Practices”

Roster Round-Up: March 2020 International Window

The first full international window of 2020 is upon us. Most active women’s national teams will be participating in friendly tournaments, such as the SheBelieves Cup, the Algarve Cup the noveau Tournoi de France, and others.  Meanwhile, six national teams, including the Matildas of Australia, will be playing in Olympic qualifying play-offs.  Over in UEFA, some teams will continue their qualifying campaigns for the 2021 Women’s Euro.

Here is a special extended edition Roster Round-Up, organized by friendly tournament.  The usual teams are covered in summary detail, while links are provided to the rosters of other notable teams. Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: March 2020 International Window”

CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: Group Stage Stats For Semifinal Teams

Ahead of tonight’s semifinals, which will decide CONCACAF’s two representatives for this Summer Olympic’s women’s soccer tournament, here are summary tournament stats for the four semifinalist squads.

Semifinals (Friday, February 7th):

  • Canada vs. Costa Rica: 7:00 p.m. ET – Fox Soccer Plus (7:06 p.m. kick-off)
  • USWNT vs. Mexico: 10:00 p.m. ET – Fox Sports 1 (10:15 p.m. kick-off)

The statistics were compiled from the CONCACAF website’s match details pages for this tournament, which feature detailed player stats for each match.

Continue reading “CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: Group Stage Stats For Semifinal Teams”

CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship: Mexico to Host; Preliminary Schedule Announced

On Friday, January 31st, CONCACAF released a preliminary schedule for this year’s edition of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, which will be hosted by Mexico from April 18th to May 3rd (CONCACAF.com).*   Up for grabs at the tournament are three tickets to November’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India. Continue reading “CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship: Mexico to Host; Preliminary Schedule Announced”

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying: Birth Year Distribution and Comparison Charts

As seen on Twitter, here’s a quick post with charts showing the birth year distribution for each team’s rosters at this year’s CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship.

First up is a stacked bar chart showing the overall distribution, with each team represented by a unique color. Teams are roughly in order of oldest to youngest, based on each squad’s average and median age.

Continue reading “CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying: Birth Year Distribution and Comparison Charts”

2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: USA TV Schedule Announced (Finally!)

After extended negotiations between CONCACAF and FOX Sports for a multi-year and multi-event deal (FOXSports.com), on Monday, FOX Sports announced their airing schedule for the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, which starts on Tuesday, January 28th (a/k/a, “the next day”).

Every match of the tournament will be aired live by a FOX Sports network:  FOX Sports 1 (FS1), FOX Sports 2 (FS2), or FOX Soccer Plus.

Continue reading “2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: USA TV Schedule Announced (Finally!)”