Cyprus Cup

[kj52]

Canada wins 1-0

[raknrev]

Nice!

[Tuscan]

Match details?

[Vic]

With the Dutch having two wins and the South Koreans scoring four goals, we'll likely have to beat England to reach the final. They beat Italy as well and won't want to go home with two losses, so both teams will be highly motivated.

[Joe MacCarthy]

RHIAN SOCCER JOURNALS

VICTORY OVER ITALY AT CYPRUS CUP March 3, 2011

We defeated Italy this evening by a score of 1-0, the win coming from a great goal by Jonelle Filigno.

The game was definitely one of two halves. We completely dominated the first half, but we let down a little in the second and allowed them back into the game.

The first half was a great performance from everyone with players stepping to the ball, finding teammates, running for one another, and getting in good shots on the opposition net. Even though we only put one goal away, we really should have had at least one more and probably more. I don't think they left their half more than three times.

In the second period we were a little more disjointed and for some reason we allowed Italy more time and space on the ball; not good enough from us.

I thought that all of us in the backline did well in the first half holding the defensive line like a wall. But, we struggled more in the second.

Even though I was disappointed with our second half performance, we were still the better team and we had some good spells of possession. They did have one good scoring opportunity in the second, which Steph Labbe, our goalie, did a great job of coming out to clear away. She mentioned that she was thankful to her big feet. So, thank you Labbe genes for her giant feet. They came in very useful today.

We will count today's victory as another in the win column. However, once again, this was not the performance we expect from ourselves. The only real positive is that this was a better game than the one we played against Scotland. And, I was very pleased that we could win for our coach and coaching staff tonight. It must have been an odd game for them lining up against Italy.

[Blackdude]

With the Dutch having two wins and the South Koreans scoring four goals, we'll likely have to beat England to reach the final. They beat Italy as well and won't want to go home with two losses, so both teams will be highly motivated.

According to the CSA site, this is how the Final day will work. So, we only need a draw to get through.

1st/2nd place - Group A winner v Group B winner

3rd/4th place - Group A runner up v Group B runner up

5th/6th place - Group A third place v Group B third place

7th/8th place - Group A/B fourth place (higher rank) v Group C winner

9th/10th place - Group A/B fourth place (lower rank) v Group C runner up

11th/12th place - Group C third place v Group C fourth place

[raknrev]

Tie break procedure from 2010 Cyprus Women's Cup:

a) If two teams have the same points, the one best placed shall be:

1 The one with more points obtained in matches played against each other;

2 The one with the greatest difference between the goals for and against in all the group

matches;

3 The one with more goals scored in all group matches;

4 The one defined by draw made by the representatives of the Organisation.

If more than two teams have the same points, the one best placed shall be:

1 The one with the greatest difference between the goals for and against in all the group

matches;

2 The one with more goals scored in all group matches;

3 The one defined by draw made by the representatives of the Organisation.

[Vic]

Thanks very much for the clarification. It seems all groups are not created equal. Well, sometimes like A & B. Great news. Having a one goal cushion can sometimes be a curse but it sure beats none. The equally good news is the Netherlands beating the French Wednesday. If we can hold against England and the Dutch get past the Swiss Monday that means avoiding the French until the end of June in Bochum. And it was a B team, but we put the Dutch down bad in Rio.

[mtlfan]

It would be nice to know: why Belanger is not in the line-up and the status of Parker.....she has a WPS contract. Also is this the end of Timko? She has not had many minutes in 2010: 27 against poland and 45 vs Brasil.

[mtlfan]

England vs Canada on twitter http://twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN

Starting 11 McLeod, Booth, Chapman, Zurrer, Wilkinson, Stewart, Matheson, Moscato, Scott, Schmidt, Sinclair

0-0 on 38 minutes

#canWNT - Min 45+ - GOAL! Great run by sincy and she feeds a pass to Matheson, she shoots hard and Bardsley bobbles, Sincy rebound 1-2-goal

0-0 HT

46' Timko in Stewart out

Min 55 - Timko's got the touch! Chapman spots Timko and Timko delivers perfect volley with GK off the line.

CAN 2-0 ENG

[Vic]

46' Timko for Stewart

55'... 2-0, breathing room

Took Timko 9 minutes. Sounds like Chapman had a well-earned assist too.

If we don't let in three goals in the next half hour, we play the Dutch who BOMBED the Swiss 6-0

65' Gayle for Scott

66' Nault for Booth, closing the door

78' rain getting bad, still 2-0

This is a big win - this English lineup beat Italy 1-0 and they are really motivated. Would be nice to see the game and the run of play but the result shows we can stand up tall when we have too. We'll need that in Germany and then some. The final will be tremendous.

86' Julien for Sinclair

And the whistle blows. Final placement matches are Wednesday.

[mtlfan]

Min 83 - Schmidt comes off and Kaylyn Kyle comes in

so there Vic

highjacking my thread @#/>(*&^

- Min 86 - Sincy comes out of the rain, Christina Julien takes over up front

just kidding Vic

Glad to read Timko gets to play. I remember how nasty she was against England in Lachine.

Can 2 Eng 0 FT

And to Vic for some post games thoughts please

[Vic]

Love it. Thanks Steve, I totally missed the Schmidt/Kyle. Yes, really glad about Timko too. I've got to spend some time putting out some fires so will raincheck on the thoughts for a bit, but it really is a strong result. Beating teams in the top 5 in the world is very difficult when they lock and load everyone and play life or death. Anyone will always need the hand of God to send one of them to hell. Beating well-stocked and motivated teams in the 6-11 range is a step up from our past, and is something we're going to have to do to medal in the summer. So Italy and England is a pretty significant step, possibly one the women's program has never taken before. The Dutch may be lower on the ranking scale, but they're playing like in the 6-11 range, so we'll get a third test at a quality opponent, which is quite fortunate. The French cleaned the Kiwis out today too, I think what we're seeing is some of the well-run programs that don't spend a lot of time together gelling and advancing quickly over their camps.

[Alex D]

Will these results be factored into the updated FIFA rankings that come out this month?

[mtlfan]

Will these results be factored into the updated FIFA rankings that come out this month?

I would say yes based on the fact that they included the WWC qualifiers that they played in November for Nov 2010 rankings

http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=can/ranking/gender=f/index.html

[The Ref]

I truly believe that Morace has definitely proven the ineffectiveness of old Pellerud who insisted that his kick and run direct style was mandated because our women didn't have the skill to play otherwise. Morace in just a short period of time and using mostly the same players plus a few rejects of Pellerud is showing the world we have skill and class and we are not a fluke.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Morace is experimenting again. Good to see my faves McLeod and Timko coming back from injury to play a big part. Timko is too good not to be playing (starting) and Erin is back in the picture. It's an embarrassment of riches in goal (I have confidence in all three) - JM

CANADA 2 - ENGLAND 0

Cyprus Women's Cup March 7, 2011

Canada won its third-straight match at the 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup, this time a 2:0 victory over England in the final match of the group phase. Christine Sinclair and Brittany Timko both scored for Canada while goalkeeper Erin McLeod kept the clean sheet with the help of a strong defensive line.

"All our players sacrificed to win this match," said Canadian national head coach Carolina Morace. "They did exactly what we asked them to do just yesterday (before this match). It was the first time we played in this new way."

Coach Morace was impressed with her entire squad from the back to the front. Canada and England, both ranked amongst the top-10 nations in the world, have faced each other in each of the last three Cyprus Women's Cup competitions. Unlike the previous two encounters, Canada this time held a tactical advantage because it needed a win or a draw to finish first in the group whereas England had to win the match to surpass Canada in the standings.

Along with that statistical advantage, coach Morace explained that Canada was still an improved team from a year ago against England.

"This year, we are more confident," said Morace. "We believe more in ourselves that we can do it."

Both sides played well in the first half with the defence winning most of the battles. If there was half a chance, the opposing side would shut it down. England's Anita Asante tried a shot in the 23rd minute, but fired high above the net. Canada's Diana Matheson tried a shot of her own in the 30th minute, but that shot too was well above the target.

In the 33rd minute, a deft through ball by Matheson put Sinclair on the run, but three England defenders were there to close the space.

Finally, in the last minute of the first half, Canada found the back of the net after another pressing run by captain Sinclair. Coming up the left side, Sinclair forced the English defenders back on their heels. Just as she pushed her way onto goal and drew the defenders to her attack, she made a pass to Matheson on her right who unleashed a quick shot from the opposite top of the box.

Goalkeeper Karen Beardsley stopped Matheson's shot, but could not hold on to the ball tight enough. Sinclair jumped on what turned out to be a pair of quick rebounds and a ball in the back of the net.

In the second half, it was the fresh legs of substitute Brittany Timko that gave the English defenders their early problems. Just a couple of minutes after her entry, Timko took advantage of combination play between Sinclair and Matheson. Timko was sent on the run and pressed her opponents for a Canadian corner kick.

Timko was at it again and again until she was finally given a gift of a pass from defender Candace Chapman in the 55th minute. Timko timed her run perfectly, caught the pass, and then without a moment of hesitation sailed a quick shot over Bardsley who was off her line by just a telling few metres. The ball went over Bardsley, under the crossbar, and into the goal for a 2-0 Canadian lead.

England did not give up its spirit and continued to attack with the hope of scoring a goal or three against the Canadians. Captain Faye White thought she had the first marker in the 76th minute with a header off the England corner kick, but a foul had already been called by the Lithuanian referee Ausra Kance.

For the last 21 minutes, the rain came down hard and then harder, but to no advantage of either side. England's last chance came in the 89th minute off a cross and a header, but McLeod was there to make the save.

Canada's starting XI featured Erin McLeod in goal, Melanie Booth, Candace Chapman, Emily Zurrer and Rhian Wilkinson at the back, and Desire Scott, Sophie Schmidt, Diana Matheson, Carmelina Moscato, Chelsea Stewart and Christine Sinclair. Booth, Scott, Moscato and Stewart were all starting their first match of the competition.

In the second half, coach Morace replaced Stewart, Scott, Booth, Schmidt and Sinclair with Brittany Timko (46th minute), Robyn Gayle (65'), Marie-Eve Nault (66'), Kaylyn Kyle (83') and Christina Julien (86').

England's starting XI featured Karen Bardsley in goal, Stephanie Houghton at left back, Faye White and Sophie Bradley at centre back, Dunia Susi at right back, and Alex Scott, Anita Asante, Fara Williams, Rachel Yankey, Kelly Smith and Ellen White from the midfield up through to the attack. Coach Morace said England played a 4-2-3-1 formation with dynamic players in the midfield who could interchange their positions throughout the match.

England was forced to make one substitution in the second half. Bradley was hurt and replaced in the 66th minute by Casey Stoney.

Canada advances to the 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup championship final. Canada will face Netherlands, the winner of Group B, on Wednesday, March 9th.

[terpfan68]

Read the BBC account of the match. It seems they think Canada had two chances and scored and England had many chances.

"Credit to Canada, the two chances they had they scored from. We had numerous chances but couldn't score."

I guess that's putting a positive spin on the loss. I hope the Germans are able to do the same.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/women/9417566.stm

[Vic]

That's a great way to put it.

And if they say we only had two chances, they did add "England hit back but despite Ellen White clipping the bar with an 82nd minute cross-shot, they rarely threatened to score the goals they needed to save the game."

Timko is a good finisher. If we were only going to have a few chances, I'm glad the ball found it's way to her.

Ellen White has been called their striker of the future, and I believe the correct pronunciation of a cross-shot from an announcer is "It's a crrrrrrssssshot."

A couple of interesting pieces of info circulating after the games today.

"Morace was happy with the performance, given her team succeeded in its strategy of clogging up the midfield when the English had the ball." [Canada played a 4-1-4-1 formation]

"We've learned some lessons about counterattacking football on this tour," New Zealand coach John Herdman said [after their 5-2 loss to the French]. "We're trying to attack and be positive in our play, but we're realising that if you are not tidy on the ball in midfield, opposition will put centre backs under pressure."

And from the CBC: Canadian coach Carolina Morace also noted that England has a "very strong" women's league. "And they are in the middle of their season and so they are more prepared than us. It was an important win."

Perhaps something was lost in translation there though, because their women's league is no longer run during the winter like Italy, France, Spain and Germany. It kicks off in about a month (like the Scandinavians). The lower level English leagues run over the winter, but moving to the summer was one of the decisions for the new Women's Super League. They wisely changed to avoid the competition with the men's league for attention.

Final is 5:00pm Wednesday in Paralimni (10am EST, 7am PCT). We haven't played there this year and didn't play there last year either, but we've been there a few times in the past. We tied the Ferns there in 2009 on a Christina Julien goal, and beat Russia 2-1 there in 2008 on goals by Julie Armstrong and Kara Lang.

[Joe MacCarthy]

RHIAN SOCCER JOURNALS

Canada Wins Through to Finals March 7, 2011

We won our game against England tonight 2-0, and it was a big win for us. The day leading up to the game was a quiet one, with nothing much happening except for mental preparation. We knew that England was going to be a stern test not only of our fitness, but also of our mental toughness, and we were quite right to think this.

In the first half of the game, especially the first 20 minutes, England were all over us. They dominated us in almost every aspect of the game. We seemed to be continually running and their passing made us feel as if our heads were on swivels. That being said, we kept our cool. We dealt with a couple of decent chances on our net from them, and we stayed organized. As the game wore on, so we seemed to find our feet a little more, and we started to gain confidence in our own ability to attack.

Our goal came late in the first half, when the ball was played down the field for Sincy to run onto. She carried it forward before crossing to Diana at the top of the box. D just took a touch and then shot it low and hard towards the bottom left of the net. The goalie made a good stop on the initial shot, but she was unable to gather in the rebound. Sincy had two cracks at it before slipping it home. We were thrilled to go into half time 1-0 up, even if the score did flatter us somewhat.

We played much better in the second half. We absorbed their runs well and we had our own attacking movements. I thought we looked dangerous on a number of occasions and we ended up scoring about 10 minutes into the half. Brittany Timko, who tore her ACL at this same tournament last year, came off the bench and scored a great goal.

Chappy got the ball in the back, and switched the field in behind their backline. Brit took one touch in the air and then volleyed it home. The ball just sailed over their goalie’s head. We were thrilled to have a two goal cushion, but we were even more excited about having Brittany back on the field and kicking butt.

We have now got a day off before we face the Netherlands in the finals next Wednesday.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Canadians win in Cyprus

Glenn Lavery in Nicosia, Cyprus March 7, 2011

Hope Powell's side fail to reach Cyprus Cup Final after 2-0 defeat.

England failed to reach their second Cyprus Cup final in three years after they went down 2-0 to Canada in their last Group A match on Monday afternoon.

A 2-0 victory over Italy last Wednesday and a defeat by the same scoreline to Scotland on Friday meant an England victory over the Canadians would seal their place in the showpiece, but a goal either side of half-time put paid to England's hopes of Cyprus Cup glory.

Canada captain Christine Sinclair put them ahead on the stroke of half-time after Karen Bardsley failed to hold Diana Matheson's drive and substitute Brittany Timko sealed the win ten minutes into the second half with a well taken half-volley.

England had started the game brightly and were by far the better team in the first 45 minutes, but they failed to recover after conceding the second goal and Canada will now face Holland in the final on Wednesday.

Hope Powell was able to give Sophie Bradley her first slice of Cyprus Cup action as the centre-back had recovered from an adductor injury and she partnered Faye White in the centre of the defence. Unfortunately, the injury appeared to resurface midway through the second half and Bradley had to be replaced by Casey Stoney.

England were on top from the first whistle though and they fashioned two early chances courtesy of some positive play from the impressive right-back Dunia Susi.

The Birmingham City Ladies player dashed down the wing twice in the first six minutes and crossed for, firstly, Ellen White and then Rachel Yankey. White perhaps should have done better than to guide her right-foot shot wide of the far post while the latter slid in and prodded over.

Then came a scare as Kelly Smith inocuously caught her studs in the turf and lay stricken for a few moments holding her hip. Luckily for England, after a quick bit of treatment, she was able to continue.

Alex Scott, playing in advance of Susi down the right, was the next England player to have a shot at goal when Canada failed to properly clear Yankey's corner, but Erin McLeod held comfortably. Ellen White then came close when she chased down the 'keeper from the subsequent goal-kick.

Anita Asante tried her luck from distance before Canada had their first effort on the half hour mark, as Matheson sent her left foot attempt over the bar after being found by her captain.

However, that duo made amends in added time at the end of the first-half and punished Powell's side on the counter-attack. An England foray forward petered out near the Canadian 18-yard line and Sinclair broke at pace. Approaching England's area she played the ball square to Matheson who struck firmly at goal. Bardsley was unable to hold the shot and Sinclair pounced on the rebound to score.

Things got even worse for England just ten minutes into the second half when Timko, on for Chelsea Stewart, doubled the Canadians' advantage. She met Candace Chapman's deep cross on the half-volley and dinked the ball over Bardsley from 20 yards to make it 2-0. England now needed three goals to progress to the final.

Similar to the Scotland game on Friday, England lost their way a bit after conceding the second goal and it took five minutes before their next sight at goal, Ellen White heading Yankey's cross straight at McLeod.

Two more Canadian substitutions and the injury to Bradley stemmed the game's flow and neither 'keeper was overly tested in the second period, though Smith came close to reducing the deficit as her shot landed on the roof of the net.

As the rain began to pour down, England did have the ball in the net on 76 minutes but Faye White was adjudged to have been illegally leaning on Emily Zurrer as she headed home Alex Scott's centre and the goal was disallowed.

Ellen White clipped the top of the bar with a cross shot and, in the 90th minute, Yankey headed Kelly Smith's centre straight at McLeod. They were to prove England's final opportunities of the game and they now have to prepare for one final game on Wednesday against, as yet, unconfirmed opponents.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Three goalkeepers going into the World Cup. Who plays?

[Blackdude]

Three goalkeepers going into the World Cup. Who plays?

I would say Labbe. But that is probably Morace's toughest decision for the Women's World Cup. I think this and the third midfielder to complete D-Money and Kyle.

[Joe MacCarthy]

I would say Labbe. But that is probably Morace's toughest decision for the Women's World Cup. I think this and the third midfielder to complete D-Money and Kyle.

Timko

[Vic]

We're very fortunate to have an abundance of people who can and have been getting runs in the middle. If Kelly Parker can get healthy she adds a whole new dimension to the attack. She thinks and acts quick and is very good on the break with the ball. Sinclair is too and if you have a couple of others to play off them, you have the danger that's needed to play a defensive posture against very good teams.

Both goals were two touches. I remember hearing someone talk about two touch goals once and ended describing it as "the way it's always been and always will be." It was very poetic.

Another positive is we gave four players their first starts (a very interesting move) and it was a shaky beginning to the game but they managed to get it done.