Iceland WNT – Women's Soccer Express

USWNT: Iceland’s Roster for the October 2024 Friendlies

For its two friendlies against the top-ranked United States Women’s National Team, 13th-ranked Iceland will be bringing 23 players, including four who played collegiately in the United States. Most notable among them is former Duke Blue Devil and Under-23 USWYNT defender Natasha Anasi, who acquired Icelandic citizenship in 2019.

Anasi, at the age of 33, is the oldest player on Iceland’s roster and the only one over the age of 30. When comparing median and average ages, the roster selected by head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson is only slightly younger, by roughly a year, compared to the USWNT’s roster for the friendlies.

USWNT: The USA Will Host Argentina on Wednesday, October 30th

Today, U.S. Soccer announced that the United States Women’s National Team will play Argentina in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday, October 30th.

The friendly match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. eastern time and will air live on three cable channels, TNT and truTV (both English-language) and Universo (Spanish-language). The match will also stream live on Max (English) and Peacock (Spanish).

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: November 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights

UEFA Women's Euro logo

The year’s final qualifying matches for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 ended in disappointment for the Republic of Ireland and Portugal, who both saw late equalizers dash their hopes of full points, as well as Spain and Wales, who were each held to scoreless draws. Top contenders, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria all finish the year on full points, as all are yet to concede a draw or lost.

Qualifying for the 2021 Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by England, resumes in March 2020, although most of the top contenders do not restart their qualifying campaigns until April 2020.

England, was also in action this window, playing two friendlies: First, hosting Germany at Wembley in front of a home attendance record of 77,768 on Saturday, and then an away friendly at the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: November 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights

UEFA Women's Euro logo

Qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 continued this month, with no significant surprise results among the top teams. That said, the October window was not without drama:

In Group A, the Netherlands needed a 78th minute goal to separate themselves from Slovenia. Elsewhere, Kazakhstan held expected Group G winner France scoreless for over 55 minutes. And, in Group B, minnow Malta kept Italy off the scoresheet for even longer, at almost 70 minutes.

But the match of the window was the Republic of Ireland’s 3:2 victory over Ukraine, which saw Ukraine equalize at 2:2 just fifteen minutes after Ireland took a 2-nil lead. The tie did not last for long, as a deflected blocked shot led to a decisive own goal in favor of the home team.

Host England was also in action, playing two friendlies, losing to Brazil in Middlesbrough and defeating Portugal 1:0 on the road. The victory against Portugal snapped a five-game winless streak that stretched back to the Lionesses semifinal loss to the United States in this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup. Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: October 2019 Group Stage Window Recap and Highlights”

Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: August-September 2019 Group Stage Window Recap

UEFA Women's Euro logo Qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021, which will be hosted by England, got underway last week, as 30 matches were played over six days. None of the top favorites stumbled, as Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Iceland, and Russia each earned two wins out of two matches, while other notable teams, such as Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria each won their only qualifying match of the window. Continue reading “Women’s Euro 2021 Qualifying: August-September 2019 Group Stage Window Recap”

Women’s Euros 2013: The Final Draw

On Friday, November 9th, the final draw for the 2013 UEFA Women’s Championship was held in Göteborg, Sweden. The twelve qualified teams were divided into three round-robin groups of four, with host Sweden being paired with Italy, Denmark and Finland in Group A. Group B features five-in-a-row reigning champion German, along with Norway, the Netherlands and Iceland. In Group C, France will face England, Spain, and Russia. As there are only twelve squads, the top two teams from each group, along with the top two third place teams will qualify for the knock-out stage. Continue reading “Women’s Euros 2013: The Final Draw”

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)”