Rival Watch – Page 7 – Women's Soccer Express

USWNT To Play Sweden and Japan, in Sweden, in June

(Update, 18-April-2012: US Soccer has confirmed the USWNT’s involvement in the tournament. No word yet on TV coverage.)

On Wednesday, Sweden’s soccer federation (SvFF) announced on its website that in June it will be hosting a mini friendly tournament between the women’s national teams of Sweden, the United States, and Japan. The next day, Japan’s soccer federation (JFA), also posted a short news item on its website about the tournament. US Soccer has yet to publicly confirm the USWNT’s participation in this friendly tournament, which may be due to them trying to line-up a TV broadcaster before they make their official announcement. Continue reading “USWNT To Play Sweden and Japan, in Sweden, in June”

USWNT: Brazil, Since Last We Met…

The United States Women’s National Team will play Brazil in the USA’s second match of the Women’s Kirin Challenge Cup on April 3rd, in Japan. The last time these two teams met was just eight months ago, in the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Since that match, Brazil has changed its head coach, changed its captain, and changed its federation’s president. The one thing that has not changed is Brazil’s reliance on a three-back formation. Continue reading “USWNT: Brazil, Since Last We Met…”

USWNT Rival Watch: Brazil’s (Old?) 3-4-3 Formation

Edit: So, I missed Ray’s Curren’s March 28th article at AWK on the Brazil-Canada match, which he attended in person. He notes that Brazil used a 4-4-2 formation, which does match the notation used in the CBF’s match report. Based on a closer look at some CBF news items on in-camp scrimmages earlier this year, it seems that new head coach Jorge Barcellos has been trying the 4-4-2 formation at least since January.

At this point, consider this post useful for historical, e.g., non-current, purposes. Although, with only a few months to go until the Olympics, it is possible that Barcellos may fall back to this formation.

Continue reading “USWNT Rival Watch: Brazil’s (Old?) 3-4-3 Formation”

USWNT Neighbor + Rival Watch: Canada’s Friendlies Versus Brazil and Sweden

The London-bound Canadian Women’s National Team played two friendlies recently, both against fellow Olympics-bound teams: a 2:1 victory against a far from full strength Brazil on March 24th, outside of Boston; and a 1:3 loss versus Sweden in Malmö, on March 31st. Sweden’s victory this past Saturday ended a two-match losing streak (0:4 losses to Germany and the USA during the Algarve Cup). Continue reading “USWNT Neighbor + Rival Watch: Canada’s Friendlies Versus Brazil and Sweden”

USWNT Opponent: Japan’s 2012 Kirin Cup Roster Is Loaded With Defenders

Earlier today, Japan released its roster for the 2012 Women’s Kirin Challenge Cup, which begins April 1st, with Japan taking on the United States Women’s National Team. The 23-player roster is loaded with ten defenders, which is three more than were on Japan’s recent Algarve Cup roster. From the Algarve Cup roster, head coach Naori Sasaki made five changes, although two are due to medical reasons.

The additional defenders may indicate that Sasaki is unhappy with his defense, which gave up four goals (3 during the run of play, 1 via a PK) versus Germany in the Algarve Cup final.

Continue reading “USWNT Opponent: Japan’s 2012 Kirin Cup Roster Is Loaded With Defenders”

Brazilian WNT’ers Erika and Maurine, ‘Orphaned’ By Santos, Have Signed With Olympic Training Center Team

Last week, A.D. Centro Olímpico, an extension of the Brazilian state of São Paolo’s Centro Olímpico de Treinamento e Pesquisa (translates to “Center of Olympic Training and Research;” acronym is “COTP”), announced that it had signed ten former Santos FC players, including Brazilian Women’s National Team players Érika dos Santos , Maurine Dornelles Gonçalves, and Gabriela Zanotti Demoner, to one-year contracts with its women’s soccer club team. All Santos’ players were “orphaned” in December when that club dropped its powerhouse women’s team due to financial issues (OurGameMagazine.com). Continue reading “Brazilian WNT’ers Erika and Maurine, ‘Orphaned’ By Santos, Have Signed With Olympic Training Center Team”

USWNT Rival Watch: Brazil’s Player Pool, 2012 Olympics (Detailed)

(Note: Some of the player’s positions have been corrected. The corrections are mostly due to a minor translation error on my part. Also, positions for other players have been updated, based on additional information.)

Last Wednesday, March 14th, the CBF released the names of 33 players who could be called up for Brazil’s Olympic team roster. This list is required to be submitted to the IOC, but I do not think that it is in anyway binding.

Since the CBF website does not maintain biographical pages for its players, I have listed those 33 players below, with details such as height, birthday, position information, plus relevant links to Wikipedia, FIFA.com competition summaries, etc., where available. Also, a quick summary of the list is provided as a table, which includes whether the player was rostered for recent matches, going back to the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany.

Continue reading “USWNT Rival Watch: Brazil’s Player Pool, 2012 Olympics (Detailed)”

USWNT Rival Watch: Sweden at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-Up)

In the 2012 Algarve Cup, Sweden suffered two straight 0:4 losses, first to Germany, and then to the USA. In its first two matches, Sweden defeated China 1:0 and Iceland 4:1.

Notables: (1) The back-to-back 0:4 losses; (2) Dennerby’s continued experimentation with the 4-2-3-1 formation; (3) Lotta Schelin earned her 100th cap in the China match; and (4) 21 year-old midfielder Antonia Göransson has 4 goals this year, to lead the team.

Continue reading “USWNT Rival Watch: Sweden at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-Up)”

USWNT Rival Watch: Germany at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-up)

Germany won the 2012 Algarve Cup after winning all its group matches (versus Iceland, China, and Sweden) and then winning the first place match over Japan 4:3. Celia Okoyino da Mbabi had two hat tricks (versus Sweden and Japan). Germany was missing several veterans due to injuries, including Simone Laudeher (meniscus), Kim Kulig (torn ACL in 2011 WWC) as well as two players who were on the squad’s Algarve Cup roster: Nadine Angerer, and Fatmire Bajramaj. Also, veteran strikers Inka Grings and Martina Müller were not available.

Continue reading “USWNT Rival Watch: Germany at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-up)”

USWNT Rival Watch: Japan at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-up)

At the 2012 Algarve Cup, Japan’s Women’s National Team won all three of its group matches, including its final group match versus the United States. By topping the group, Japan played in the placement match for first place, where they lost 4:3 in a match that saw 3 goals scored in the final few minutes.

Continue reading “USWNT Rival Watch: Japan at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-up)”