Japan WNT – Page 2 – Women's Soccer Express

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.

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.

2024 Olympics – Women’s Soccer Tournament: Squad List Stats and Superlatives

In previous years, before a tournament, FIFA typically publishes a document with historical statistics for that tournament as well as comparative statistics for each team competing in the tournament. I have not found a public version of such a document for this year’s Olympics tournament.

The official squads lists, in PDF format, can be downloaded directly from FIFA, via the following link: https://fdp.fifa.org/assetspublic/ce159/pdf/SquadLists-English.pdf.

For a spreadsheet version of the above squads list, with additional columns, see this Google Sheets file: 2024 Summer Olympics – Squad Lists. Each team is on a separate sheet. The columns for each team can be sorted and/or filtered.

Olympics 2024: Match Schedule with TV and Streaming Details (USA)

(Updated on 8-Aug-2024: The gold medal match will air live on NBC. The bronze medal match will be streaming-only for the English-language commentary.)

While the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics do not officially begin until the Opening Ceremonies get underway on Friday, July 26th, the women’s soccer tournament kicks off on Thursday, July 25th.

As in years past, all soccer matches will available to watch live, though some will only be viewable via streaming.

The good news for those without cable or another TV provider is that all matches will be available for streaming live through NBC’s Peacock app for only a $7.99/month subscription.

2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates

The 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which is hosted by the United States Women’s National Team, officially gets underway on Thursday, March 5th. Rosters for the four participating teams – the USWNT, England, Japan, and first-timer Spain – have all been announced.

In the United States, all USWNT matches will be shown live on ESPN channels, while the non-USA matches will be available via ESPN’s streaming platforms. Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates”

Opponent Watch: Japan Calls In 25 Players Ahead of the SheBelieves Cup

Update (15-Feb-2020): Midfielder Hasegawa Yui (age 23, 42 caps) and Hayashi Honoka (age 21, 1 cap) were withdrawn before the camp started due to unspecified injuries. No replacement players will be called in. (jfa.jp)

Update (25-Feb-2020): Hasegawa’s injury was quite minor, as she has been named to Japan’s SheBelieves Cup squad. All but three players, defender Seike Kiko, midfielder Hayashi Honoka, and forward Ueki Riko, from this original camp roster have been named to Japan’s SheBelieves Cup squad. As expected, Kumagai Saki, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France has also been named to Japan’s roster for the tournament. (jfa.jp)

Update (01-Mar-2020): Forward Kobayashi Rikako has been withdrawn due to injury. Ueki Riko has been recalled as Kobayashi’s replacement. (jfa.jp)

(This article follows Japanese name customs: Family names are listed first, followed by the given name.)

Ahead of next month’s SheBelieves Cup, Japan has called in 25 domestic-based players for a six-day training camp that runs from Friday, February 14th to Wednesday, February 19th. As this camp is outside of a FIFA window, team captain Kumagai Saki, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France, has not been included, but is expected to be on the roster for the SheBelieves Cup.

Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Japan Calls In 25 Players Ahead of the SheBelieves Cup”

Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule

Today, U.S. Soccer finally confirmed the teams and venues for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which will be hosted by the United States Women’s National Team. The other three teams will be England, Japan, and first-time participant Spain.

The Cup’s matches will be played on Thursday, March 5th; Sunday, March 8th; and Wednesday, March 11th. All USWNT matches will be televised live via ESPN channels (English language) and TUDN (Spanish language). Tickets officially go on sale on Friday, January 17th, although there will be a Visa cardholder “pre-sale” on Thursday, January 16th. Continue reading “Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule”

Post-Holiday Round-Up: Two More U.S. Soccer Coaches Step Down; NWSL News; Japan Confirms SheBelieves Cup Participation

A quick round-up of notable news since mid-December:

U-20 USWNT head coach Mark Carr hired by the University of Oklahoma
USWNT goalkeeping coach Graeme Abel hired by the University of Oregon
2023 FIFA WWC bid books published
NWSL News: OL Groupe buys Reign FC; 2020 Draft list of eligible players released; No expansion
2020 SheBelieves Cup: Japan confirmed, one to go
2020 FIFA U-20 WWC: Will be jointly hosted by Costa Rica and Panama

Continue reading “Post-Holiday Round-Up: Two More U.S. Soccer Coaches Step Down; NWSL News; Japan Confirms SheBelieves Cup Participation”

2020 SheBelieves Cup: England Confirmed, But Germany, France, and Brazil Have Other Plans

Update (13-Jan-2020): U.S. Soccer has finally published the schedule for this year’s SheBelieves Cup. The fourth team will be Spain. Full details, here.

Update (05-Jan-2020): On December 20th, the JFA published preliminary calendars for their national teams, confirming Japan‘s participation in this year’s tournament. The identity of the final team has yet-to-be officially confirmed.

Although the teams for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup have yet to be officially announced, we do have a very good idea of which teams will not be competing against the host, the United States Women’s National Team.

That is because the fields for two other friendly tournaments which will be held during the same international window, the Algarve Cup, as well as a new four-team tournament hosted by France, were both officially confirmed last week.

Also, earlier in November, the FA confirmed that England (#5T) will once again be participating in the SheBelieves Cup. That nugget was buried in the FA’s press release about their hiring of former USWNT high performance coach Dawn Scott.

Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: England Confirmed, But Germany, France, and Brazil Have Other Plans”

Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window

A (belated) round-up of rosters for top national teams who will be playing (or have played) during the November international window, whether in friendlies or Women’s Euro qualifiers.

Roster covered in this article:

CONCACAF: Canada
CONMEBOL: Brazil
AFC: Australia, Japan
UEFA: England, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Norway

The rosters for the United States and Sweden are analyzed in separate articles:

For Costa Rica roster analysis, see Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly

Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window”