2008 Peace Queen Tournament

[Vic]

GROUPS

GROUP A:

1 - USA

12 - Australia

4 - Brazil

13 - Italy

GROUP B:

9 - Canada

6 - Korea DPR

25 - Korea Replublic

29 - Argentina

MATCHES

Canada v. Argentina

June 14 - 08:15am - Vancouver

June 14 - 09:15am - Calgary

June 14 - 10:15am - Winnipeg

June 14 - 11:15am - Toronto

June 14 - 12:15pm - Halifax

Canada v. Korea Republic

June 15 - 10:00pm - Vancouver

June 15 - 11:00pm - Calgary

June 16 - 00:00am - Winnipeg

June 16 - 01:00am - Toronto

June 16 - 02:00am - Halifax

Canada v. Korea DPR

June 17 - 10:00pm - Vancouver

June 17 - 11:00pm - Calgary

June 18 - 00:00am - Winnipeg

June 18 - 01:00am - Toronto

June 18 - 02:00am - Halifax

FINAL

June 20 - 10:00pm - Vancouver

June 20 - 11:00pm - Calgary

June 21 - 00:00am - Winnipeg

June 21 - 01:00am - Toronto

June 21 - 02:00am - Halifax

Thank God we didn't get drawn into Group A. That would mean beating three solid teams to get to the final. As it is, we play two soft games against the weakest sides in the tournament, so one good game and we're in the final. And North Korea's results this year aren't stellar, so they're not going to be firing on all cylinders.

Sooner or later this run of great draws is going to catch up with us, but in the meantime, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. And let's hope for none of this:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/north-korean-missiles-fly-on-soccer-battlefield/2006/07/28/1153816383677.html (anyone remember De Toni from the U19 a few years ago in Bangkok... the brutal early red call on a dive that eliminated us?)

[The Ref]

^ I remember well Anna de Toni, one of the most incompetent referees ever. I am surprised she is still around. But not surprised she keeps on screwing up results. Now she got a beating.

[Richard]

That 'The Age' article is two years old!

[Vic]

I was giving background on North Korea (the keeper is back wearing the #1) and De Toni for interests sake not hot-off-the-press.

I remember North Korea being called a dark horse to go far in the WWC by a few pundits. They ended up with a group win to Nigeria, a tie in the pouring rain to the USA, and a loss to Sweden. Tough quarter-final 3-0 loss to Germany but then a lot of people went through that. Three games this year: loss to Japan (#10), tie to China (#14), 4-0 victory over Korea Republic (#25). Seems a good match for us.

[Vic]

If the draw itself was unbelievable, this is amazing. North Korea pulls out of the tournament and is replaced by a fledgling New Zealand side we walked over twice last year 3-0 and 5-0. It just keeps getting easier. Now because of no crossover semi-finals, all we have to do to get to the final is get points against three mid-20's teams (the Kiwis are ranked above the other two teams). On the other side, all Italy has to do is beat #1 USA, #4 WWC runner-up Brazil, and #12 Australia.

The Kiwis must be glad to get the call as an Olympic prep. In their onyl qualifying game to get entry to Beijing, they got over a first half stalemate to score in the second half and get by #56 Papau New Guineau.

[The Ref]

It appears on paper to be an easy group for us, but the way we are playing it may be difficult. We use to beat Australia too, but in the last three games against them, we have not won.

[Vic]

quote:

"We were notified on Monday of the North's decision," said Heo Kyung-lak, spokesman for organization committee of the biennial Peace Queen Cup.

"We regret to tell you we cannot take part in the competition amid the deteriorating conditions on the Korean Peninsula," the DPRK side informed the organization committee in a statement.

quote:

The two Koreas have remained technically at war since the end of their 1950-1953 conflict. Relations have worsened since the conservative administration of President Lee Myung-Bak took office in February.

Pyongyang has cut official ties with Lee's government in protest at its firmer line linking economic aid to progress on denuclearisation.

Whoever said sports and politics don't mix. North Korea is the big loser, and glad for Canada and New Zealand.

[N-A]

If I remember rightly N.Korea withdraw from the tournament in 2006.

Back to the main subject. New Zealand replacing N.Korea. Well Canada should find it easy to win the Group on paper. Having said that if we get some poor results here against NZ, Argentina, S.Korea then things wont be good for the WNT and the CSA espcially with the Olympics around the corner.

[Vic]

If we can't come out of a group of three weak opponents, should the coaching change timeline be advanced 8 weeks to give the girls a fighting chance in Beijing?

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by Vic

If we can't come out of a group of three weak opponents, should the coaching change timeline be advanced 8 weeks to give the girls a fighting chance in Beijing?

Good idea. Maybe we can get the coach a second hand gold medal from ebay and tell him to scoot early.

[jonny63]

Canada - Argentina 5-0 FT

[AlanDouglas]

Don't feel too disheartened folks. I expect Canada played really badly, and most of those were own goals.

[jonny63]

Originally posted by AlanDouglas

Don't feel too disheartened folks. I expect Canada played really badly, and most of those were own goals.

[/quote

25' Diana Matheson (Ass' Christine Sinclair)

46' Christine Sinclair

54' Christine Sinclair (Ass' Melissa Tancredi)

59' Melissa Tancredi

87' Brittany Timko

[jpg75]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2008/06/14/canadian_women_peacecup/

SUWON, South Korea -- Canada scored once in the first half before pulling away as the women's national soccer team opened the Peace Queen Cup with a 5-0 victory over Argentina on Saturday.

"It was a solid start to this year's edition of the Peace Queen Cup," says coach Even Pellerud. "After a slow start, by which our team was way too stretched out on defence, we found the right shape after the break."

Diana Matheson opened the scoring in the first half with what coach Pellerud called "the beauty of the evening." Matheson's left-footed, long-range shot struck the top left corner.

"We executed our goal-scoring opportunities very well, so the 5-0 win was a somewhat flattering," said Pellerud.

Despite Argentina's skilful team, its defence broke down throughout the second half.

Canada made five substitutions in the game, giving the team the opportunity to assess its players, including Amber Allen, who played well in her first game since suffering an injury in June 2007.

[The Ref]

I think it is only fair to mention Argentina's point of view on the game. Argentina recognizes Canada as being ranked much higher and being a strong team. They also say that the long, long trip to get there plus their hours difference caused them to be too tired beyond expectations. However they managed to keep the game close to the end of the first half. After that the exhaustion of the players wast just too overwhelming. They used all their subs to relieve tired legs and had to play part of the second half with only 10 players due to exhaustion. The last goal they conceded was from a penalty kick.

[Vic]

All in all a good sign. Hoping for three slow waltzes before a slamdance in the final.

Nice to see Amber Allen get a run and Timko get the PK nod.

[jonny63]

Today :

South Korea - Canada 1-3

South Korea beat New Zealand 2-1 in first match.

[terpfan68]

Hi Jonny63

Where are you getting the results?

[Vic]

http://pqcup.peacecup.com/eng/

[jonny63]

quote:Originally posted by terpfan68

Hi Jonny63

Where are you getting the results?

Livescore at www.futbol24.com

New Zealand - Argentina 1-0

Standings after two matches :

Canada + 7 - 6 points

New Zealand 0 - 3 points

South Korea -1 - 3 points

Argentina -6 - 0 points

[jonny63]

Canada remains in first place in Group A at the Peace Queen Cup after a 3:1 victory over Korea Republic today. Canada can advance to the 21 June final with either a win or a draw against New Zealand on 18 June. Canada now has a career record of five wins and one loss in two editions of the Peace Queen Cup.

'Our goal is to build on our consistency and show up with another strong match against New Zealand,' says coach Even Pellerud.

Rolling right along is Canadian captain Christine Sinclair, otherwise known as the 'Fearful Forward' in the Republic of Korea. Sinclair scored two more goals on Monday 16 June, giving her 10 goals in six career Peace Queen Cup games. She now has 90 goals in 117 career games at the senior level.

Canada has an all-time record of three wins, one draw and one loss against New Zealand, including back-to-back victories last June in Auckland. New Zealand won its Monday match 1:0 against Argentina, so it has a record of one win and one loss (three points) at the 2008 Peace Queen Cup.

For the 18 June and (likely) 21 June match in Korea Republic, the senior team will be without the service of the three youngest stars Jonelle Filigno, Jodi-Ann Robinson and Sophie Schmidt. The trio has flown to Mexico to join the youth team for the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Puebla. Canada’s youth team is looking to qualify for this year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008.

Canada’s women’s national team, whose title sponsor is Winners and whose presenting partner is Teck Cominco, is simultaneously preparing for the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. After the 2008 Peace Queen Cup, Canada will return home to play Brazil on 10 July at BMO Field in Toronto, ON. Tickets to the 10 July match are available via Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.ca / 416.872.5000).

http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=3221

[The Ref]

Knowing that Pellerud is finally getting curtains must be a great motivator for the players to perform well.

[Trillium]

We are in the weak draw side.. some of those who score bunches of goals against such oppostion seem to disappear when the going gets tough.

Lets see if Sinclair is out of her funk against stronger oppostion when the cross over occurs. I was glad to see it was Matheson who opened the flood gates, she should be getting a heck of lot more recognition, can anyone remember a game she did not put in 110% ?

I hope Lang will show something of her early form when she first joined the national team, but I fear she has not grown in the way some expected, if she had she would be truly dominating force on the field ... I dont think we can say that at this time.

[AlanDouglas]

quote:Originally posted by The Ref

Knowing that Pellerud is finally getting curtains must be a great motivator for the players to perform well.

Yes. In fact Pellerud's policy is that if you don't play well, then he forces you to wear clothes made out of his new curtains.

http://pqcup.peacecup.com/eng/upload/boarddata_com/MENU440_15940.jpg

[Vic]

Great posting on PQC from someone on the USA Boards:

PART 1

----------------------------------------------------

Sunday June 15 (Matchday 1 of 3, 2nd game)

Group B

===========

Brasil 2-1 Italia

===========

06' 1-0 Erika Santos(?) header (didn't see it)

45' 1-1 Zorri PK (didn't see the cause -- from match reports, truly hilarious)

77' 2-1 Maurine, cleaning up a scramble, point-blank

===========

00. I attended live in Suwon. My notes on the 1st game (USA 2-1 Australia) are here: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...4#post14895084 (except that I had Boxx instead of Wambach for USA's 2nd goal).

01. During the 1 hour gap between matches 1 and 2, we watched Brasil and Italia warm up. Here's a cultural difference:

16:15 Brasil and Italia enters field in warm-up uniforms

16:18 Brasil's non-GKs are scrimmaging 9 v 9 ("That is stretching" -- Brasilian wag)

16:22 Italia's warm-up is 5v5 handball keep-away -- they throw and catch the ball with their hands Does this, say, improve their coordination in tight spaces?

02. Attendance swells to about 300 people. Several "true" Brasilians showed up, including one guy wearing Brasil's flag like a cape. I say "true" because apparently the organizers invited local Suwonese to create two separate cheering sections, for which they bribed them by offering a free t-shirt: dark blue with "Italia" across the chest, or canary yellow (of course!) for Brasil. (For match 1, they had free USA and AUS t-shirts, too. Enterprising families assembled a complete set of 4 t-shirts. All that, and a double-header, for $5! No, I did not get any -- I was too sl^H^H^H^Ham above that sort of thing.)

Brasil's "fan" group took over the west endzone, and filled about 10 rows of 10-15 across. (This is easily arranged just by carrying the boxes of free t-shirts there -- wherever the boxes stop, that's where the fans sit ) Next to them, a group of ~15 Korean drum hobbyists, aged 45-60 (not kidding), set up, and started their traditional drum cadences. If you've never seen a Korean drum performance, search on YouTube or similar -- it's quite impressive, and easily dominates any other cheering -- the fan block was reduced to clapping their inflatable ThunderStix in unison. (It sounded particularly good from the opposite endzone, but I suspect that's a natural acoustic effect of any elliptical concrete bowl.)

03. As a fairly atypical American sports fan, I happen to know the anthems of both Australia and Italia. (No big deal -- I was curious, Googled them, spent a few hours each to memorize the lyrics.) I coulda sung all three, but you wouldn't want to hear that. Ironically, Suwon Stadium's loudspeakers are ill-suited to push sound to the endzones, so we could barely hear the anthems, and most of the Brasil block didn't even notice Brasil's anthem until it was 2/3 through.

04. The west endzone is in the shade of the Jumbotron in the afternoon -- probably why the Brasil block chose to sit there. The downside is that you can't watch the Jumbotron. I eventually walked alone to the east endzone to get closer to the action, as I expected Brasil to overrun Italia's half.

05. Brasil brought a B lineup -- no Cristiane, Marta, etc. Overall, Brasil's players are more physical than Italia's: taller, heftier, faster. Surprisingly, Italia's players showed better ball skills in tight spaces (hmm!), team cohesion, and tactical awareness.

================

06' 1-0 Erika. Early action is mostly in Italia's half. I am still in the west endzone, watching a bunch of 50-year-old Korean women carrying the double-ended hourglass drums, doing the cool cross-over drumming technique, with synchronized body swaying and hip rotations -- these are probably mothers who would normally be doing this in a park somewhere on a Sunday afternoon. Suddenly, the fan block roars, and the Brasilians players are doing a group hug at box top right. Apparently, Erika buried a header ...

06. I stroll over to the east endzone. En route, I pass the Italia fan block, sitting roughly at midfield -- they can't outshout the drums. I watch a bit from midfield.

07. Compared to USA-Australia, Brasil shows more urgency, and more tactical awareness. Their major weapon was the long inside-out diagonal ball ahead of a sprinting winger. Their strength was in doing this on the fly, using many different combinations of players -- i.e. everybody's on the same page, anticipating the same thing. It's either from their system, or it naturally fits their mentality. Maybe that's the way men's soccer is played in Brasil, and they've all been watching it for years? It was a bit like watching a gridiron run-and-shoot offense with 4 interchangeable QBs and 4 wide receivers -- so Italia couldn't ever shut it down by stopping any 1 player.

08. Given the difference in pedigree between the two countries, the early goal, and the apparent physical mismatch, one might have expected Brasil to win in a blowout. It never materialized. I waited for the shoe to drop (so did Brasil!), and instead Italia regrouped and clamped down. Surprisingly, Italia showed tremendously agile and inventive dribbling techniques in tight spaces, with toe pullbacks, back-foot dragbacks, spin-and-drags, outside-foot flicks, and other moves I don't have names for -- all done instinctively, at full speed, in very tight spaces, to win and keep possession. Brasil seemed slightly flummoxed at this, and kept crowding Italia in midfield, as if expecting the ball to just pop loose -- and not only never got the ball, but later Italia was able to thread passes and wade right through midfield, all the way to Brasil's box top.

09. Italia showed tremendous savvy in advancing the ball. Their strength is very subtle to quantify -- I'd say they excel in making decisions in time. Their short passes are accurate, their first touch is good (enough), but most importantly, the ball-carrier always made the next action (pass, touch-and-chase, turn-and-hold, etc.) just in time, before the defense could swarm her. They knew where each other were (i.e. they knew in which directions they had support/numbers), they made the right runs off the ball, and they made the ball do the work. Overall, they looked like a hive mind with one brain wearing six shirts, or something. Hence, even when tightly marked, Italia could regularly construct 5-10 pass sequences right through the heart of Brasil's congestion. Brasil was probably faster than Italia in every 1-v-1 matchup on the field, but when Italia got into their groove, they had Brasil chasing imaginary rabbits.

45+1' 1-1 Zorri (pk). I catnapped right through the incident. Apparently, Brasil gave up a PK for the ages -- a harmless ball was rolling out over the endline, and a Brasilian defender picked it up with her hands too soon. Blooper reel!

10. At halftime, I crawl under the huge 20-row-tall banner at the east endzone, and doze off until 61'. At some point, Brasil subs in #16 at right midfield (short, stocky blond, very fast), and #18 at right back or nearby. #16 experiences the usual travails of a winger -- she's lonely open in a big empty space, and Brasil doesn't get the ball to her ...

77' Brasil finally plays #16 into some space on the right. She feeds #18 sprinting past her, overlapping up the right sideline. Two Italia defenders converge on #18, she backheels to #16, who turns on jets, squeezes between them and the right sideline, and carries to the corner. From there, she crosses hard low inside the 6. Italia's GK Chiara dives to smother/block as the first Brasilian raider slides in to poke, they pile up in the middle of the box, the ball pops loose to the far post. #15 Maurine is second in pursuit, blasts in from about 2 yards, sprints to the bench, and gives her coach a flying hug.

11. Italia goes back to their need-a-goal desperation mode. They are quietly scary when they do that -- out of nothing, e.g. pinned behind their own box top and "trapped" 2-on-3 by Brasilian pressure, they sometimes just pass-run-pass-run the length of the field, pierce Brasil's last-stand wall at their box top, and end up with a 2-on-0 cross and shot in the box. Including the first half (that I saw ), Italia did this about five times! Sadly, they blasted each of those opportunities onto the track -- out of gas? And Brasil's 3-defender wall broke up ~20 other chances that reached the top of Brasil's box.

12. Summary: Brasil runs faster, Italia thinks faster. Maybe this is Brasil's second tier of players, who lack the on-ball excellence to get themselves into their A pool. I dunno how close this is to Italia's best team.

PART 2

----------------------------------------------------

========================

USA 2-1 Australia

========================

01. I would pay to watch Lisa De Vanna play. I paid $5. She started, and played 90!!

02. Attendance ~150 (not a misprint), including the press corps. The USA military personnel contingent is about 15 (including infants in strollers). This gradually increases over the afternoon, to about 300. They're not soccer die-hards -- some of them didn't even know that this is our A team.

03. With the stadium empty, general admission lets you wander over 5/6 of the bowl, down to the rail and up to the battlements. Suwon Stadium has a track between the stands and the field -- the endzones are particularly remote. I alternate between midfield and the endzone most likely to be busier -- i.e. Australia's.

04. Our midfield vantage point (cheap seats, ~30 yard line) is directly above the entrance to the locker rooms. Hence, as the teams file out, they are literally two meters straight down below us.

05. Everybody looks exactly the same as they do on TV. Pia Sundhage is tall and lanky -- she walks like a volleyball player or other elite athlete. I never got that impression from watching her on the sidelines.

06. Lineups, modulo my haste:

---- Solo ----

Mitts -- Rampone -- Markgraf -- Chalupny

O'Reilly -- Lloyd(36' Hucles) -- Boxx -- Tarpley(46' Wagner)

-- Kai(62' Cheney) -- Wambach --

---- De Vanna ----

Garriock -- Burgess(51' Chapman)

-- Munoz(74' Gill) -- McCallum(86' Neilson) -- Colthorpe --

Perry -- Polkinghorne -- Salisbury(72' McShea) -- Alagich

---- Barbieri ----

07. Overall, a helter-skelter game. Both sides had trouble stringing together 3+ passes in midfield. 20m passes usually got intercepted. Australia has a lot of tall players, and they just get in the way.

08. USA seemed to lack the killer instinct -- it felt like we were cruising at about 90% effort. Jet lag, training, the heat? We never really showed a big-game type of urgency. Perhaps they're saving themselves for the Olympics ...

09. Australia played some long-ball all game. Later, they occasionally got some good rushes with numbers. De Vanna was always a threat to win a sprint duel, but rarely got support (her teammates cannot keep up with her).

10. The loneliest position on the field must be left forward when the ball's getting pinged around the midfield scrum. Early on, Tarpley was always wide-open in 15m of space on the left wing, barely onside, calling for the ball, and never got it. Later, we saw Garriock of Aus, and #16 of Brasil, get similarly lost away from the madding crowd. Out of scrum, out of mind ...

========================

08' Tarpley gets the ball on the left, Chalupny overlaps into the gap, now she's the one calling for the ball ... Alagich sends Chalupny flying, yellow card.

36' 1-0 Kai. I missed the build-up -- suddenly the ball was coming into Kai at AUS's 6-yard box. Barbieri came out to smother the ball, Kai got a scramble touch while stumbling (I think with the outside of her left foot), Barbieri was too close to react to it, and it just happened to be on line to roll in at the far post. Kai chased it for about 3 yards before she was sure it would go in.

55' Hucles fed a great ball through 2 defenders to Wambach in the box right, she crossed, Kai kind of mis-dragged her feet, and whiffed on the ball completely -- she could have tapped in with either foot.

57' De Vanna turns on her jets, runs at the US backline, lays off into space to the right corner -- too far for Chapman.

58' 1-1 Garriock. We give it right back. AUS dumps it into our box, we clear it out to 18-box top right, AUS sharply fires it back in, Solo punches clear to the left. Garriock collects ~12 yards out, shoots low right, Solo is screened by a defender(?), and then De Vanna rushes up perpendicular to the ball, lunges with a fake header motion right at Solo, then dances away with both hands up for non-involvement. Distracted Solo never acquires ball -- it rolls past her and in at the right post, 1-1.

78' 2-1 Boxx. USA wins a left corner, I watch Wagner trot across the field from right front. She sends it to the far post, ~7 yards out -- Boxx was standing 6.5 yards out, she cannot backpedal in time. In a moment part goofy, part brilliant, she turns her back to the goal as she jumps, and sends in a reverse header off the back of her skull. It takes an uncanny flight between the near-post defender and the post -- Barbieri reaches across that defender and gets fingertips on the ball, and it banks off the post and in.

83' Mitts goes on a rare sortie, carrying the ball from right back to 3 mowed stripes past midfield -- lays off to HAO, and keeps going on the overlap! HAO feeds Mitts in the box, Mitts crosses!

84' De Vanna gets into a sprint duel with Rampone -- always a scalp-crawling thing to watch.

90+2' Mitts goes on another overlap, into the right front corner. This time, she just stays up there, and we're in a 3-4-3

========================

11. At full time, two AUS defenders bend over with hands on knees. De Vanna sits down alone, just short of midfield, away from the benches, looking morose. Wambach wanders over and slaps hands with the AUS defenders. Several players on both teams mill around to shake hands. De Vanna eventually lies back, still alone. ~5 minutes later, De Vanna is sitting up again, and another AUS player (long blond ponytail) squats beside her, talking to her. Soap opera! A considerable time later (8 minutes?), she finally gets up, trudges over to her bench, and stretches, but still hanging back on the fringe of the group. I dunno how to read that -- young player, expected too much?

12. Attendance has swelled to ~250. The USA fan block of ~40 people moves down to the rail, right on top of the players' field exit. Hucles leaves first, alone -- call of nature?

13. USA's warmdown includes the Slow Jog Group (Markgraf, O'Reilly) and the Jog/Walk Group (Rampone, Chalupny, Mitts, Boxx). All six start out together, but after one lap Markgraf and HAO have pulled way ahead. Wambach starts jogging late, but catches up to the Walking group.

14. We cheer everybody on both teams as they leave -- even the equipment managers. 15 minutes later, Mitts, O'Reilly, and Chalupny come back out just to thank us. Awww.

15. Half an hour later, while Brasil is in shooting-on-goal warmups, our players slowly trickle out of the grandstand side of the stadium, and walk around the track to the exit. I presume they were using some facilities that exist only on that side (ice bath, maybe). First out are Kai and Solo. Solo is carrying her powder-blue keeper jersey in hand, wearing a gray sports bra Nobody pays the slightest attention. 20 minutes later, several others emerge.

16. I remembered to bring water and crackers. I forgot sunscreen. My forearms are nicely two-toned now.