Women's World Cup 2011 - General comments

[The Ref]

I missed the Colombian game, can anyone who saw it post some comments. From the FIFA highlights it appears Sweden dominated the action. The score being so close I wonder is Colombia looked too out of place being this their first world cup.

[garbuckle]

I missed the Colombian game, can anyone who saw it post some comments. From the FIFA highlights it appears Sweden dominated the action. The score being so close I wonder is Colombia looked too out of place being this their first world cup.

Yes, Sweden dominated the game... they could've had more goals, if they were more on target. That said, the Columbians did have their chances. They did look a little out of place, and I'd still put them towards the bottom of the tournament

[mtlfan]

I missed the Colombian game, can anyone who saw it post some comments. From the FIFA highlights it appears Sweden dominated the action. The score being so close I wonder is Colombia looked too out of place being this their first world cup.

The Swedes are going nowhere in this WWC if they play like that against a good team. The attatckers were pathetic for Sweden.

Meanwile today Norway proved that they are worse than Sweden as they won 1-0. If not for the poor shooting of EQ's #10 they would have been beaten.

Norway should go home now

[navycyr]

That equatorian #10 with the green hair, WOW !!! How can she spread panic in the other team defense. Really unfortunate she can't finish ! She could have scored more than three goals in that game !

On the equatorian defense # 4 Carolina, what a good solid middle defense !

When lower ranked teams (here #61) get closer to the higher seeded ones (Norway #9), you can tell the sport is progressing. Even if Norway hit three posts, I think a tied result would reflected more adequately what happened on the field. Norway will have to play lot better than that against Australia if they want to go further in this tournament

[Trillium]

When you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Poor Even his mentor the dear Minster of everyting.. ( h left out on purpose ) Jack Warner... is out of a job and so we have Even in Singapore... handicapping women's teams for the Asian betting syndicates...tis to laugh that he can think his direct route soccer is going to ever return.

[Vic]

Norwegian men are 11th in the world. Women just beat USA 3-1. Tactics are not good/evil, right/wrong, positive/negative. They're neutral. All tactics have a time and place. It depends entirely on the opposition's weaknesses.

Still 0-0 at the half and Brazil look surprisingly flat. The young Australia team on the other hand look very good. As opposed to the morning game played at the front and back, this is a midfield game. Very surprised at Australia's ball movement. It's first rate.

Brazilians are through the back so much it's surprising they escaped the half without a card. Marta is a complete non-factor.

The Australians ran a lot more than the Brazilians. It will be interesting to see how fatigue factors into the second half.

The 16yr old Australian outside back just played like a 100-cap veteran for 45 minutes. But young players tire in the mental skills before the physical. If Brazil are smart they'll go after her until she breaks.

Australia 53% / Brazil 47% !!!

[navycyr]

Deceiving game from Martha's. Agree with Vic. Completely a non factor not only in the first half but for the whole game. Brazil win on two great individual efforts : First Christiane to get the ball to Rosana who got rid with great skill of a defender (who would have been better off to play the offside) to fire a great shot the Australian couldn't do anything against.

What impresses me so far in this tournament is the narrowing gap between the highest ranked teams and the lowest ones. Every game I watched so far was interesting. Women soccer is definitely moving forward.

[The Ref]

Deceiving game from Martha's. Agree with Vic. Completely a non factor not only in the first half but for the whole game. Brazil win on two great individual efforts : First Christiane to get the ball to Rosana who got rid with great skill of a defender (who would have been better off to play the offside) to fire a great shot the Australian couldn't do anything against.

What impresses me so far in this tournament is the narrowing gap between the highest ranked teams and the lowest ones. Every game I watched so far was interesting. Women soccer is definitely moving forward.

From what I remember group games always tend to be low scoring and defensive. I expect to see some higher scoring in the second round.

[navycyr]

From what I remember group games always tend to be low scoring and defensive. I expect to see some higher scoring in the second round.

That does not correspond either to 2007 stats nor to what I have seen so far in this tournament. After first round, in 2007, teams in the plusses (+1 for a goal scored and -1 for one given) where +44 after first round. We have now one third of first round gone by and teams in the plusses are +8. If it continues like that we would end up at +24 which is close to half the gap there was in 2007.

Second, games I have watched were not overly defensive, each team attacking and creating good scoring opportunities. Really good soccer to watch. I find the level of play lot better of what I can remember of 2007.

I'm also very proud of this year national team which I find improved over the 2007 edition as well as their ranking confirms.

[terpfan68]

I know I am going to be very nervous tomorrow. They need to win against the French. A tie still keeps them alive depending what they do against Nigeria and the Germany - France result, but I want a win and it is going to seem like a long 4 years till the next WC if they are knocked out.

[The Ref]

Scoring in group stage this year has been very low. With the exception of the USA-Korea game all others have been won by a difference of only 1 goal. Mexico-England was even a tie. 5 teams have yet to score a single goal. So sorry but I see that as being defensive.

[navycyr]

Depends, on what you call a defensive game. For me it's a game where you first and almost only objective is to prevent the opponent to score a goal, like France men's team playing a 4-5-1, or when you see a team packing up in their own end waiting an opponent's mishap to play the counter-attack.

Today I had a day off and I could watch both games. Have you looked at the games ? Since, both games ended by a 1-0 score you say they were defensive games. For me not at all. In the Norway - Equador game, Equador # 10 could have scored at least 3 goals if she would have had a finishing touch. On the other side, Norway hit 3 posts and scored a goal. In the other game of the day, altough Brazil has been well contained by Australia, Australia has been constantly attacking and have generated numerous threathening opportunities but were unable to capitalize.

I have'nt seen all, but for what I have seen so far, nobody has shown little offense to concentrate on defense. All teams have shown in my opinion decent offense. In my mind, low scoring and good defensive work don't equate defensive game.

[elmateo]

World Cup 2010 was a defensive world cup, with lots of coaches thinking they were Jose Mourinho at Inter against Barca. There you had team pack the defence in the final third. So far at this world cup, scoring has been low because most teams are packing the midfield making it a battle for possession to attack. There is, in reality, a lot of flow back and forth - even when the higher ranked teams play the lower ranked teams. In the 2010, it would be dominant possession by a higher ranked team, against a packed defence of a lower ranked team. Low-scoring does not mean defensive styles are being played...

[Vic]

Sweden's official team video:

[terpfan68]

Have to agree with navycyr for the most part there has been lots of offense. Just not very many goals because of posts, crossbars, good goaltending and a lack of finishing. As long as the matches are close it has been exciting. No first game blow-outs shows some parity. Of course the favourite team has come out on top so far. Which team will pull off the first upset or will we have to wait for the second round for that. Going to 24 teams at the next WWC seems like a good idea.

[amacpher]

World Cup 2010 was a defensive world cup, with lots of coaches thinking they were Jose Mourinho at Inter against Barca.

WC 2010 was defensive through the first set of games only. Then things opened up and it was one of the higher scoring world cups in the last 20 or so years I believe (if you exclude each team's first match). Would be interesting to see if the WWC 2011 follows the same pattern. I expect it will.

But good to see all the games being close affairs so far. Certainly better than the Gold Cup. With the WWC expanding to 24 teams in 2015 (still too early to do that IMO) it is important that the second and third-tier NTs close the gap on the top teams.

[kj52]

World Cup 2010 was a defensive world cup, with lots of coaches thinking they were Jose Mourinho at Inter against Barca. There you had team pack the defence in the final third. So far at this world cup, scoring has been low because most teams are packing the midfield making it a battle for possession to attack. There is, in reality, a lot of flow back and forth - even when the higher ranked teams play the lower ranked teams. In the 2010, it would be dominant possession by a higher ranked team, against a packed defence of a lower ranked team. Low-scoring does not mean defensive styles are being played...

That's why the men's WC has become such an incredible bore. There are never more than 3 or 4 teams that have a hope of winning so for the most part teams play in fear of their opponents. It's too bad that FIFA is more interested in collecting as much money as possible as opposed to providing a real world championship of the best national teams. Sports like Rugby, Cricket, Hockey provide more entertainment at their world championships than the men's FIFA World Cup. I'm enjoying the WWC so far and don't have a problem overlooking any technical deficiencies - it's all relative anyway, there isn't a men's game going on right beside to compare to. The women's game continues and will continue to improve over time as more countries become involved. Eventually even nations with a misogynistic outlook will succumb to the desire of females around the world to play football.

[Vic]

^ great post.

To give an idea of how quick you can rebuild an entire program - Australia just subbed a 17yr old for a 17yr old.

[CoachRich]

^

That's fantastic and it's amazing what the Crawford Report and a domestic league has done for them.

[amacpher]

That's why the men's WC has become such an incredible bore. There are never more than 3 or 4 teams that have a hope of winning so for the most part teams play in fear of their opponents. It's too bad that FIFA is more interested in collecting as much money as possible as opposed to providing a real world championship of the best national teams. .

Maybe I'm missing something, but aren't the best NTs competing in the men's WC? I agree that FIFA is run by a bunch of crooks who put money above all else, but none of that nonsense is on the player's minds when its time to get to business and a WC kicks-off.

Also "never more than 3 or 4 teams that have a hope of winning" = huge exaggeration. That's actually more true for the WWC than the men's WC.

[amacpher]

The France-England quarterfinal should be a good one. It's time that UEFA get handed a 6th WWC spot. To think France almost didn't qualify...

(Yeah, I know the WWC is expanding to 24 teams anyway, but in terms of %age allocations, UEFA needs to get a higher share)

[red card]

That's why the men's WC has become such an incredible bore. There are never more than 3 or 4 teams that have a hope of winning so for the most part teams play in fear of their opponents. It's too bad that FIFA is more interested in collecting as much money as possible as opposed to providing a real world championship of the best national teams. Sports like Rugby, Cricket, Hockey provide more entertainment at their world championships than the men's FIFA World Cup. I'm enjoying the WWC so far and don't have a problem overlooking any technical deficiencies - it's all relative anyway, there isn't a men's game going on right beside to compare to. The women's game continues and will continue to improve over time as more countries become involved. Eventually even nations with a misogynistic outlook will succumb to the desire of females around the world to play football.

The women's world cup has been more than a bore until this one. The quality of play has ranged from pitiful to atrocious to only at times decent. And only USA 99 and possibly China 07 had anything resembling a world class event atmosphere.

But I like what I'm seeing so far - less players getting injured simply because they're in weak physical shape or a shot hit them, more great goals and less obvious weakling goalkeeper mistakes, less goals off set pieces a taxi cab ride away from the net, more speed, better passing and no surprise, other than for today's light show, the Germans are putting on a good world cup.

[DJT]

The only winner-take-all game of the last round of group stage games, Australia vs. Norway, will not be live on CBC or Sportsnet East/Ontario/West/Pacific or on repeat/delay on any of those channels, but instead will be only on Sportsnet One. :mad:

Well, it will be on Telelatino, too, though with Spanish commentary and not in HD.

[CoachRich]

^

That's fantastic and it's amazing what the Crawford Report and a domestic league has done for them.

Here we go the Australian Crawford Report. We share a lot of similarities with them -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Report_of_the_Independent_Soccer_Review_Committee

http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2003/soccerinquiry/content.asp

http://www.sportpanel.org.au/internet/sportpanel/publishing.nsf/Content/crawford-report

[Vic]

The only winner-take-all game of the last round of group stage games, Australia vs. Norway, will not be live on CBC or Sportsnet East/Ontario/West/Pacific or on repeat/delay on any of those channels, but instead will be only on Sportsnet One.

Thanks for the info and that's brutal. Lucky I have One. Otherwise I would be hooking a HDMI cable to justin.tv or something similar.

NH, Crawford worked for the Australians and I've wished for it in the past, but it's almost a decade and perhaps now we need Crawford v2, or Crawford on steroids, or the next evolution of the exercise, whatever that is...