International Results

[The Ref]

Results of today at the CONMEBOL U17 Women's Championships taking place in Sao Paulo

Group B

Venezuela 1 - Colombia 0 (surprising result)

Argentina 1 - Chile 1

[The Ref]

Results of today 31st at the CONMEBOL U17 Women's Championships taking place in Sao Paulo

Group A

Peru 3 - Ecuador 0

Brasil 3 - Bolivia 0

[The Ref]

Results of February 1st and 2nd at the CONMEBOL U17 Women's Championships taking place in Sao Paulo

Group B

Uruguay 1 - Venezuela 4

Colombia 3 - Argentina 1

Group A

Paraguay 4 - Peru 0

Ecuador 0 - Brasil 15 (fifteen)

[The Ref]

Results of February 3rd and 4th at the CONMEBOL U17 Women's Championships taking place in Sao Paulo

Group A

Bolivia 1 - Ecuador 0

Brasil 5 - Paraguay 1

Group B

Chile 2 - Colombia 0

Argentina 2 - Uruguay 0

[N-A]

Here is the England Womens Squad for the upcoming Cyprus Cup 2010. Looks like England are sending a strong squad to defend their title and get ready for the upcoming WC Qualifiers.

England squad: Karen Bardsley (New Jersey Sky Blue), Rachel Brown (Everton), Siobhan Chamberlain (Chelsea), Alex Scott (Boston Breakers), Dunia Susi (Chelsea), Rachel Unitt (Everton), Casey Stoney (Chelsea), Faye White (Arsenal), Laura Bassett (Leeds Carnegie), Lindsay Johnson (Everton), Jill Scott (Everton), Fara Williams (Everton), Emily Westwood (Everton) Katie Chapman (Arsenal) Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers), Dani Buet (Chelsea), Sue Smith (Leeds Carnegie), Lianne Sanderson (Chelsea) Eniola Aluko (Saint Louis Athletica), Rachel Yankey (Arsenal), Jessica Clarke (Leeds Carnegie), Jody Handley (Everton).

[Vic]

Their home and away with Spain coming up will decide who goes on in their World Cup qualification group and who is eliminated. With their performance in the Euro's in the Summer it's obvious England has come a long way and should have little trouble over a two game series. But two years ago in qualification they played Spain twice and went 1-0 and 2-2 and I'm sure Hope Powell's memory is quite good.

[Vic]

North Korea pulled out a month ago without announcing why and were replaced by Taiwan. The tournament is in Japan who have an entry ban on most North Koreans as a result of their nuclear testing. The Japanese granted the team full approval.

[The Ref]

From the CONMEBOL U17 Women's Championships which is finalizing in Sao Paulo 3 teams qualify to the WC in T&T next September.

Brasil and Chile have qualified. The third country will come out from the winner of Paraguay vs Venezuela on Thursday.

[The Ref]

Brasil won the title of the CONMEBOL U17 Women's Championships finalized in Sao Paulo after beating Chile 7 - 0. In spite of the embarrassing loss Chile had already qualified together with Brasil. The 3rd qualified team was Venezuela after beating Paraguay 1 - 0 for 3rd. place.

[Vic]

Australia 3 (Sarah Walsh 23, 53 , Lisa de Vanna 84) New Zealand 0.

HT: 1-0.

3-0 Australia. Matilda's 19th straight over the Ferns. Hardly a NZ shot. Heather Garriock set up all three. De Vanna and Walsh ran at and through the NZ back line all game. The NZ backline's oldest player was 20 (Rebecca Smith didn't return from Germany and Stanford's WPS 1st round pick Ali Riley will be back and play on the weekend). It was Australia's first international game in over a year. No mention in any Aussie press.

New Zealand coach John Herdman: "The key thing that was missing that was the bite. The Aussies out-battled us in every area of the pitch. In the second half we came out with a bit more energy but that first half was women against girls. They set their stall out and left a mark on every single one of our players.. There will be a different look to the team on Saturday."

In surprise move, Herdman benched Oceania Football Confederation Under-20 gold boot Rosie White, who scored nine goals in three matches in the January tournament, instead opting to hand 17-year-old striker Hannah Wilkinson her debut. He had mixed feelings about the selection, but hinted at a change for the second match.

"When Rosie came in [on 56 minutes] she was a real shining light." Australian coach Tom Sermanni agreed. "Rosie caught my eye when she came on. She looks a real talent," he said. Sermanni said he was delighted by the way his squad, which boasted four professional players, had come together. “We looked sharp and have got the luxury of genuine pace up front which causes any defence problems.”

[Vic]

Thanks Sigma, I dream of the day there's a Women's Network that covers this stuff:

Australia sweep New Zealand

Australia 3-0 (0-0) New Zealand

Heather GARRIOCK 37, Lisa DE VANNA 49, Leena KHAMIS 84

Saturday, 20 February 2010

Trans-Tasman Women’s International Football Series

Bill McKinlay Park, Auckland, New Zealand

Local kick-off: 3.00pm (1.00pm AEDT)

* selected commentary from Australian and New Zealand press

An improved performance by the Football Ferns couldn't prevent a second straight 0-3 defeat to a clinical Australian side.

The home side, inspired by a vocal crowd, dominated possession for long periods and at times produced enterprising play upfront with 22-year-old stand-in captain Ali Riley – who arrived on Friday at 5am after a 10-hour flight from the United States – adding a new attacking dimension. Her combination with talented 16-year-old striker Rosie White, especially on the counter-attack, proved a highlight.

The Ferns displayed all the bite, aggression and passion missing from Wednesday night’s defeat but the Matildas made more of their chances with Heather Garriock breaking the deadlock, followed by second half goals to Lisa De Vanna and Leena Khamis.

While New Zealand failed to breach the Australian defence for the second game running, the increase in clear-cut and half chances created and an overall shift in confidence and execution gave New Zealand coach John Herdman some consolation.

"I was really impressed in the way our players responded to Wednesday and how they approached this game," Herdman said. "It was a good performance and a much better brand of football today but the difference was that the Australians were more clinical. "I can't fault the mentality or attitude of our players. I told them they were a bit gutless on Wednesday night but I certainly can't say the same today."

Australian coach Tom Sermanni outlined New Zealand's improvement. "Today we saw a different New Zealand side to what we played on Wednesday," he said.

The Westfield Matildas opened the scoring in the 36th minute when Heather Garriock collected the rebound off the cross bar from a Collette McCallum free-kick and blasted a half volley past New Zealand goalkeeper Jenny Bindon.

Australia, however, were as clinical as ever and opened the scoring in the 37th minute with what Sermanni described as a 'lucky' goal. Captain Collette McCallum's free kick hit the cross-bar and Heather Garriock was on-hand and blasted a half volley past New Zealand goalkeeper Jenny Bindon to give the visitor's a 1-0 halftime lead.

Australia twisted the knife four minutes after halftime when Lisa De Vanna snuck in behind the defence and collected a ball over the top of the Football Ferns defence from from a long Servet Uzunlar pass. After defending off the Football Ferns Abby Erceg, De Vanna composed herself to chip the advancing Bindon to make it 2 - 0.

New Zealand then looked to push numbers forward late in the game only to be caught out in their defensive third when substitute Leena Khamis (the W League goals runner-up) completed the scoring six minutes from time when two Ferns were temporarily sidelined with injury. Khamis headed Australia's final goal in the 85th minute.

New Zealand's best chance fell late to teenage substitute Hannah Wilkinson, whose injury time effort was cleared off the line.

The Ferns depart on Sunday (2/21) for the eight-team Cyprus Cup in the Mediterranean

The Westfield Matildas will now head to the Gold Coast for a week training camp as they prepare for their DPR Korea matches on the 3rd and 6th of March at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane.

Annual Series

Australian coach Tom Sermanni has called on football administrators to adopt an annual trans-Tasman series. Sermanni said the sooner an annual match, or series, was confirmed the better. "It's a question of the powers that be getting dates and getting things tided up. "This is a good time of year as we are at the end of our W-league [eight team Australian provincial competition], so we would be happy to have an annual fixture. "Whether it's three games in New Zealand, a year about, or a series and maybe we could play for some kind of cup. I'd like that.

New Zealand Gap Years

New Zealand coach John Herdman spoke of the 'wilderness' of New Zealand women's football. "Our oldest players are 35-36, but there's nothing in between so we have had to go with young players because of the wilderness years," he said. "Ten years of no international football has left a group of potentially young players with nothing and they have given the game away."

Benefits of Domestic League Pool

Australia coach Tom Sermanni has said that the W-League has been a ‘huge asset’ in the development of the national team as the Matildas continued their preparations for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with a second 3-0 win over New Zealand on Saturday.

“I think it’s a real testament to the success of the Westfield W-League that we have such a strong pool of players to choose from - the league’s been a huge asset in many ways," said Sermanni (pictured). “I think this year especially we’re seeing the result of the Westfield W-League coming through as it allows for excellent preparation for the national team. “We’ve got a bigger pool of players to choose from and from that we’ve seen the inclusion of players like Kylie Ledbrook, Aivi Luik and Servet Uzunlar who have all benefited greatly from their involvement in the Westfield W-League, who have all performed well and got themselves in the national team.”

[Vic]

Had it been 17-0 instead of 0-17 would we have seen the fundamentalist facist rage? FIFA need to ban any men's team that ban's their women's team. No politics in soccer. Same as Iraqi or Nigerian corruption.

[terpfan68]

I agree with Vic but you know that won't happen.

[The Ref]

At the Southamerican women U20 qualifiers in Bucaramanga, Colombia, today results were:

Colombia 3 - Ecuador 1 (The GK for Ecuador, Shirley Berrus [sic] stopped 3 PKs in regulation time)

Chile 1 - Argentina 0

This 10 country (2 groups of 5) championship qualify 2 teams for Germany WC.

[The Ref]

^ today results:

Uruguay 3 Peru 1

Brasil 4 Venezuela 1

[The Ref]

^ Results since last posting:

Group A:

Ecuador 2 Bolivia 0

Colombia 2 Chile 1

Chile 1 Ecuador 0

Argentina 2 Bolivia 0

Group B:

Peru 0 Venezuela 3

Uruguay 0 Paraguay 5

[Vic]

I noticed Equatorial Guineau, the defending champions are still alive. Minnow of a country of just over half a million people, who stole the trophy last year amidst gender claims on a number of their players. Either way it's a story I'm sure we'll hear more of if they keep progressing.

[The Ref]

At the Southamerican women U20 qualifiers in Bucaramanga, Colombia, the final two countries that qualified for the WC in Germany were Brasil and Colombia. Brasil beat Chile 3-1 and Colombia beat Paraguay 2-1 to earn the spots.

[The Ref]

England beat Spain 1-0 enroute to the 2011 WC

[Trillium]

England beat Spain 1-0 enroute to the 2011 WC

Both Spain and England are at the top of the table, a loss by one away does not secure a top placement for England, based on the result you have to wonder how England will do going on.

[Trillium]

England beat Spain 1-0 enroute to the 2011 WC

Both Spain and England are at the top of the table, a loss by one away does not secure a top placement for England, based on the result you have to wonder how England will do going on. Look to see Turkey bring up a young new striker from the U19s... a Canadian out of Ottawa .. Melisa Dilber Ertürk, out of Gloucester and now with Nepean Hotspurs she went over on trail a few weeks ago to Turkey and has three international goals.. http://www.tff.org/default.aspx?pageID=471&ftxtID=9569 ... This of course only shows the depth of player talent we have in Canada .. and the oppourtunitys for many of our players who have dual citizenships to contact coaches of national teams to seek a tryout oppourtunity.

Some of our players produced by our local clubs can move quickly to international play in associations where the women's game is not as developed, hopefully Ms. Euturk will get national cap for Turkey .... and help them build a program in Europe. What of course is impressive is the player is dealing with culture changes and language yet is quickly making an impact.

Good on her....

[Martyr]

Both Spain and England are at the top of the table, a loss by one away does not secure a top placement for England, based on the result you have to wonder how England will do going on.

I went to this game. It was very tactical. Neither team was willing to open up and attack with numbers. England scored through Katie Chapman on 30'. After that England hustled and bustled but didn't really look like breaking through Spain's back four. Spain seemed content to sit back and wait for the one chance that would give them the draw. That came from a free kick very late on, but the chance went over the bar. Kelly Smith was substituted with about 20 min to go - but she really never got out of 2nd gear. England missed Karen Carney, who I think is out injured. England play a very structured 4-3-3 system that really doesn't allow for a lot of creativity... they are much more focused on results. They leave the entertaining to individuals... and if the individuals don't produce it on the night - they've at least got their system to fall back on to grind out the points. Spain is the only team in the group that can give England a game, so this was a good result going forward. Both England and Spain should win their matches against Austria, Turkey and Malta. So if England can get at least a draw on 19th June they will win the group and get into the playoffs.

[The Ref]

Strange to hear that about Kelly Smith. She is my favorite player and I was hoping you would beat Marta at the FIFA awards, but maybe next year. Smith was a show in herself with the WPS last year.

[Trillium]

I went to this game. It was very tactical. Neither team was willing to open up and attack with numbers. England scored through Katie Chapman on 30'. After that England hustled and bustled but didn't really look like breaking through Spain's back four. Spain seemed content to sit back and wait for the one chance that would give them the draw. That came from a free kick very late on, but the chance went over the bar. Kelly Smith was substituted with about 20 min to go - but she really never got out of 2nd gear. England missed Karen Carney, who I think is out injured. England play a very structured 4-3-3 system that really doesn't allow for a lot of creativity... they are much more focused on results. They leave the entertaining to individuals... and if the individuals don't produce it on the night - they've at least got their system to fall back on to grind out the points. Spain is the only team in the group that can give England a game, so this was a good result going forward. Both England and Spain should win their matches against Austria, Turkey and Malta. So if England can get at least a draw on 19th June they will win the group and get into the playoffs.

What do you think the result will be between England and Spain in Spain, will heat be a factor for the English 4-3-3 and their style of play ?

[Martyr]

What do you think the result will be between England and Spain in Spain, will heat be a factor for the English 4-3-3 and their style of play ?

The England players were talking (on the FA web site) about how the heat will be a factor for them in Spain - which was why they thought last night's result was of extra importance. Most of those players play in WPS though, so they should have been playing (or at least training) in hot weather prior to meeting up with the National Team. They also should be in midseason form in June when probably all of the Spanish squad will be in their off season. They are a disciplined group as well. Based on last night's encounter I would predict England just shutting the game down completely and running out a 0-0 in Spain.

Just to clarify about Kelly Smith. She didn't play badly, she just wasn't the force you'd come to expect. She's been nursing an injury since last year and didn't even dress for the 3-0 win against Austria last week. If she is healthy again in June England will definitely be favoured to win that match away to Spain.