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 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”

U-20 WWC: Match Day 1 – Japan Cruises, New Zealand Wins, Italy and Brazil Tie

On Sunday, the 2012 edition of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup kicked off. In Group A, host Japan ended up with a dominant victory over Mexico, while New Zealand’s quality helped itself earn a win against Switzerland. Over in Group B, Nigeria finds itself alone atop the group after defeating South Korea, due to Brazil and Italy drawing in their earlier match. Continue reading “U-20 WWC: Match Day 1 – Japan Cruises, New Zealand Wins, Italy and Brazil Tie”

2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Group B – Preview Notes (Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, South Korea)

Of the four groups in this year’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup, Group B is the biggest toss-up. Brazil, on paper, should dominate, but their usual lack of preparation may mean a repeat of 2010, when the South American champions failed to advance out of their group. 2010 Runners-Up Nigeria and Italy, who return to this tournament for the first time since 2004, are the other main contenders in this group. But the wild card is South Korea, who only qualified for this tournament after Uzbekistan was unable to host the tournament. Two years ago, the Koreans won the U-17 Women’s World Cup on penalties over Japan and finished third at the U-20 Women’s World Cup. Continue reading “2012 Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Group B – Preview Notes (Brazil, Italy, Nigeria, South Korea)”

Olympics: Brazil’s WNT Announces Its Roster (Plus Other Notes)

On Friday, head coach Jorge Barcellos announced Brazil’s roster for the women’s soccer tournament at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Great Britain (CBF.com.br, in Portuguese).  Only one player, defender Bruna Benites, was not on the roster for last year’s Women’s World Cup.  Neither Gabriela Maria Zanotti Demoner, who played collegiate soccer at Franklin Pierce University, nor Rafaelle Leone Carvalho Souza, who currently plays for the University of Missippi (Ole Miss) are on the eighteen player roster. The roster includes one U-20 player, forward Thaís Guedes, who also played in the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Continue reading “Olympics: Brazil’s WNT Announces Its Roster (Plus Other Notes)”

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”

Olympics: More Details on Brazil’s June Camp

On Friday, the CBF posted a short news item detailing the schedule for Brazil’s penultimate domestic training camp prior to the Olympics. As part of the camp, Brazil will play two scrimmages, one versus the Under-15 boys’ team of Fluminense (Wikipedia) and then one versus Brazil’s Under-20 Women’s National Team, who are preparing for the U-20 Women’s World Cup, which begins in late August. Also mentioned in the news item were the arrival dates for some of the European-based players, including Marta and Elaine, who both play for Tyresö in Sweden. Continue reading “Olympics: More Details on Brazil’s June Camp”