2016 FIFA U20 Women's World Cup Papua New Guinea ( Nov 13- Dec 3 )

[tc-in-bc]

Results of official draw ( Canada in Group B ) :

Group A
Papua New Guinea
Brazil
Sweden
Korea DPR

Group B
Spain
Canada
Japan
Nigeria

Group C
France
USA
Ghana
New Zealand

Group D
Germany
Venezuela
Mexico
Korea Republic

[shorty]

Oof.  No easy groups really, are there?   C looks the hardest to me.

[red card]

Canada is in the Group of Death. Nigeria is the seeded team in the group and were runners up in Canada in 2014. Japan is top Asian qualifier and won u17 in 2014. Spain were 2nd best European qualifier and lost to Japan in 2014 u17 final.

France & USA should beat Ghana & NZ - though it won't be easy. Germany has the easiest group in relative terms but not easy in absolute terms. PNG is the only weak team in the field in absolute terms.

[tc-in-bc]

This is confusing and unclear.   Mexico is stating that  today's  close-door friendly ( the first of two )   between U20 Canwnt and  U20 Mexico ( femenil ) ended in a  0 - 0 draw:

http://miseleccion.mx/la-seleccion-nacional-mexico-femenil-sub-20-empato-canada-duelo-preparacion/

But on social media (instagram) ,  Indigo Gibson claims that she and her  room mate both scored goals in today's game? Note.  Gibson is actually an American and currently a sophomore defender for the University of California ( Golden Bears).

http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209537065

[tc-in-bc]

It appears that  U20 Mexico won the second closed-door  friendy  2 - 0  over U20 Canwnt , on Saturday. It's a little bit worrying that Canada was shut out in both matches, but it should be noted that the roster did not include Jessie Fleming, Deanne Rose and Gabriele Carle.    Taken From twitter:

 

   "  May 21 National Team @miseleccionmx

# Sub20Fem With 2-0 victory over @CanadaSoccerEN culminated a successful concentration ..."

 

    " FEMEXFUT @FMF May 21

With a 2-0 win against Canada, the Women's U20 Team Celebrates Women's Day Football  "

[tc-in-bc]

 

Anthony DiCicco ‏@DiCiccoMethod 3h3 hours ago Los Angeles, CA

US u20 WNT loses 0-5 to Japan 20s in PNG, site of the YWC in fall. Maybe we'll get some details later. http://www.ussoccer.com/matches/u20-wnt/2016/160527-u20wnt-v-jpn#tab-2 …

8 retweets 6 likes

 

 

[ note ]  U20 Japan  in Group B with  U20 CANWNT.

 

UPDATE. video of Japan U20 wnt :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhTJteMUciY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tc-in-bc]

[  1  ]  U20 CANWNT roster:

http://canadasoccer.com/canada-soccer-releases-21-player-roster-for-fifa-u-20-women-s-world-cup-papua-new-guinea-2016-p160054

[ 2 ] 

Canadian U20s --  C U R R E N T   N C A A    stats:

Marie Levasseur    sophomore  forw     Memphis      13gp   13gs     4G   6A      14 points   68 min/game

Sarah  Feola             freshman    mid     Louisville     15gp   10gs     2G   2A     6 points    52 min/game

Alex Lamontagne        junior       forw    Syracuse       16gp   11gs     1G  2A     4 points            -----

Sarah Taylor                  junior      mid     Boisie State  16gp 15gs      0G   2A    2 points   84 min/game

Bianca St-Georges   sophomore  def      WVU             11gp               0G  1 A    1 point

Marike Mousset          freshman   def    Ohio State      10gp    0gs     0G   0A    0 points   33 min/game

Ashley Moreira            junior        mid     Pittsburgh         red shirt?

 Sura  Yekka              sophomore  def    Michigan          red shirt?

Victoria Pickett          sophomore  mid    Wisconsin         red shirt?

Richards plays for a Canadian university  :

Mika Richards    York ( CIS )  7gp 7gs  0G 1A   1 point

Some very notable ommisions  ( NCAA stats ):

Jessie Fleming        freshman    mid      UCLA             13gp    10gs    10G  2A    22 points   75 min/game

Sarah Kinzner        sophomore   mid     Colorado         17gp  17gs     4G   3A    11 points    79min/game

Jessica Lisi               freshman    mid     Memphis       16gp    16gs     6G   6A    18 points    78 min/game

Evelyne Viens       freshman    forward   USF               15GP           13G   4A     30 points

U17 WWC stats for  players   who made the U20 team :

Deanne Rose            3gs  270  min    1G 0A     2 point

Sarah Stratigakis       3gs  270 min   1G 0A      2 points

Hannah Taylor            3gs  270 min  1G 0A      2 points  

Vital Kats             3gp 2gs  203  min  0G 1A     1 point

Anyssa Ibrahim   2gp 1gs    48 min   0G 1A      1 point

Emma Regan               3gs   270 min 0G 0A      0 points

Lauren Raimondo   3gp 1gs 128min 0G 0A       0 points

 

Strange that Grosso was ommitted ( she looked good in the U17 WWC) :

Julia Grosso                3gs 270 min  0G 1A     1 point

 

[ 3 ] Thoughts:   It's a shame: no Fleming, Kinzner, Lisi, or Viens. While players like Moreira, and Lamontage were a little disapointing in attack  during last year's U20 CONCACAF qualifiers. Stated differently: the nine  NCAA outfield players on the U20 team have a combined total of 7 NCAA goals scored in 2016. Whereas  the four omitted NCAA players have a combined total of 33 NCAA goals scored in 2016. It's a bit disappointing. Obviously they're  going to need a lot from Gabrielle Carle and Deanne Rose  ( perhaps Levasseur ) if they even HOPE to get out of group stage

 

[carolynduthie]

Obviously I don't know what's in the heads of the players, but I'm not sure 'omission' is the right word so much as "starting outfield players for good NCAA teams want to stay with their NCAA teams because they think they can win the College Cup". (It's worth noting that both Pickett and Yekka redshirted the semester so this wouldn't be an issue; the US actually had all of their players decide over the summer whether they wanted to go to PNG and redshirt or stay back with their college teams and a good number of them [of note, a serious chunk of Stanford's roster] decided [or were gently nudged by their schools] to stay back with their college teams). It's easy to say "oh well playing for Canada should come above that" but given that even a full strength Canada probably was going to struggle to get out of the group I don't think it's a ridiculous decision for some of these players (especially Fleming and Kinzner who played in the last WWC) to want to stay with their college teams (and it's not impossible some colleges not so subtly asked players to maybe not leave).

[tc-in-bc]

^[  1  ]  It s true, ‘ omission’  is not the best word here: the school and/or the individual player may have some say on whether that player  participates in the U20 tournament.  I understand that Jessie Fleming probably doesn’t have much to gain here and it might be  in her better interest to stay in UCLA and to focus on her education;  and to get an opportunity to play in the College Cup .

[  2 ]  The NCAA College Cup is an annual tournament for student-athletes whereas the FIFA U20 WWC  is an international tournament held every two years where quite a few of the participants are semi-professional or even professional athletes. Stated differently, the U20 WWC  is a higher tournament than the NCAA div 1 College Cup. Some players may have their reasons for staying in college and declining an opportunity to join a  U20 national team but in general, the natural ambition would be to go for the higher honour:  national duty  over and above  college play.

   [ 3 ]  That said, any player who red-shirts and commits to a  U20 national team  is  sacrificing a college year and possibly a shot at the College Cup.  Given this sacrifice, all players who red shirt probably want to go and win the U20 WWC . Thus, it’s a bit of a slight to redshirt players like Sura  Yekka and Victoria  Pickett ( maybe Ashley Moreira ? )  when the federation doesn’t bring their strongest team and admits that they’re going to use the U20 WWC as a teaching tournament. ( I do understand their ‘ big picture’ thinking though. )

[  4  ]   To me, Worthington’s  U20 team  knows how to defend  ( they only lost 0-1  to  U20 USA in the 2015  CONCACAF qualifiers)  but scoring was bit of an issue for the team (  this U20 CANWNT has been  shut out by U20  Mexico  three times in under a year) . But if one adds some dangerous attacking pieces ( like Fleming  or others ) to this good defense ;  I think that team would definitely be competitive in this upcoming tournament. Instead, there are some good players ( difference makers)  who are not here;  and few questionable selections who are on the team . No disrespect intended  to Alex Lamontage, but she didn’t score in CONCACAF qualifiers and her recent NCAA form with Syracuse   doesn’t  seem  impressive. 

[carolynduthie]

I don't think this team is going to be any sort of powerhouse at the U20 WWC anyways, but they did add some scoring prowess compared to last December's tournament - Carle, Rose and Levasseur were all with the senior team in Brazil during that tournament and in Carle and Rose's case were with the senior team all of this year. (Levasseur, as I understand it, was with the senior team until January until she got hurt and then missed awhile and took the semester off of school? So I'm not sure when she got back with the U20 team for any of the friendlies or how much training time she'd had.)

Also, I'm not sure that it was the CSA telling players to redshirt vs. Pickett and Yekka (and maybe others) deciding on their own/with the help of their schools that it would be better for them, given that leaving school for a month at the end of a semester could be tough academically. I can't imagine the CSA trying to enforce that on people, they don't have nearly the depth in the  player pool the US does. 

There's also the case of Indigo Gibson who was in the Canada U20 camp in September but isn't on this roster and part of me wants to think it has to do with Cal looking really good and her starting every game in their defence. (Given that I've never heard how she is actually eligible to play for Canada, there is also that. I have no idea, just speculation.)

But it's not unprecedented for people to turn down U20 WWC spots to stay with their college teams - I have no idea about Canada's roster in 2008 (when the tournament was held in December in Chile), I'd have to look more into it, but Tony DiCicco coached that US team and said he had players drop off his roster because they wanted to stay with their college teams. You only get so many chances at the College Cup and it's something that people do really want to win (ask Sinclair about winning it in Portland), especially when you're talking about players who've already been to several youth World Cups (in Fleming and Kinzner).