Road to Colombia - 2024 u20 World Cup

[narduch]

It's showing up on One Soccer's schedule 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Rose and Allen with a goal each but we fall 5-2 to the Yanks.

We will play Mexico on Friday, they will have an extra rest day.

[red card]

Same old story line vs the US. Can't match their energy and can't handle their press especially in the first 30. 

Back line passing is too slow and too errant to work around the press. Midfielders sitting in front of back line are easily closed down and aren't strong enough with the ball. This time the keeper Lallier got into the act with a bad touch leading to the first goal along with about 4 errant passes to start the match.

Individually, especially on attack, the team has more talent than previous iterations. 2 goals seems to be most vs the US u20 since 2006. 

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Highlights are here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GfMHEv_0UU

[Kent]

So am I right thinking a win against Mexico on June 2nd qualifies us for the World Cup? And if we lose that game, we play the loser of the other semi-final (likely Costa Rica) and the winner of that game qualifies for the World Cup?

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

So am I right thinking a win against Mexico on June 2nd qualifies us for the World Cup? And if we lose that game, we play the loser of the other semi-final (likely Costa Rica) and the winner of that game qualifies for the World Cup?

Correct.

[Kent]

Canada vs Mexico started a few minutes ago. Canada has already had a goal called back on a dubious offside call. The goal was Olivia Smith with a powerful shot from outside the box, given plenty of space by the Mexican defenders. The offside player was Chukwu who just laid the ball off to Smith.

P.S. The video above is the game itself on Youtube.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Kent

[lamptern]

Our forwards can always create threats as long as  the ball delivered to them. But the ability of Canadian midfielders connecting with forwards is so hard to watch.

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

And we fall to Mexico at the U20s once again.

1 hour ago, lamptern said:

the ability of Canadian midfielders connecting with forwards is so hard to watch.

Agreed. It felt like we didn't have a coherent midfield sometimes.

[red card]

2 hours ago, lamptern said:

Our forwards can always create threats as long as  the ball delivered to them. But the ability of Canadian midfielders connecting with forwards is so hard to watch.

 

The 6 & 8s do a recent job of recyling the ball but rarely do anything to advance the ball even against the minnows. Midfield passing vs the US was awful with most being intercepted and they were often pushed off the ball.

There are no box-to-box midfielders. There are no real 10s. Since I see this across the squads, I wonder if it is a top down direction tactically and determines player selection. Some of it is also because the Canadian football system/culture don't know how to develop certain type of players in the women's game like a 10.

The winning goal today started with McBride passing back to the keeper from just beyond the half line even though nobody was in front of her. Fenwick rushed her kick out of bounds even though nobody was near the box. 

I should also add these editions of US and Mexico were weaker than previous teams. US didn't bring any of their eligible 4-5 NWSL players. Mexico did the job in group stage play but nothing was really noteworthy ex Soto's ball striking which produced the winning goal today.

Edited June 2, 2023 by red card

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 6/2/2023 at 3:12 PM, Kent said:

Canada vs Mexico

Highlights are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw-jH0fyC78

- - - - -

Today's crucial 3rd place match vs Costa Rica is live here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLxVVOxSxvQ

Edit: Costa Rica leading 3-2 at halftime with an absolute Golazo of a free kick right in the dying moments of the first half.

Edit 2: Olivia Smith ties it up 3-3 in the 2nd half.

Edit 3: Still 3-3 so we have a 120 min game in the heat of the D.R. on our hands; it's going to extra-time!

Edited June 4, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[narduch]

Chukwu scores in ET

[narduch]

23 minutes ago, narduch said:

Chukwu scores in ET

Scores another to ice it.

[narduch]

Classic Concacaf ref blows the whistle while Costa Rica was taking a corner 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

7 minutes ago, narduch said:

Classic Concacaf ref blows the whistle while Costa Rica was taking a corner 

Hard to comeback from two goals down but that wasn't classy at all.

- - - - -

Well, we did it the hard way, but we qualified!

No idea who will host the U-20 WWC in 2024. Given that we just played qualifying now, does that mean it will be earlier in the year in 2024, like even Jan/Feb/March ?

Edited June 4, 2023 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[rkomar]

Phew!  That was a little too close for comfort.  I thought we would be more dominant, but kudos to Costa Rica for generating so many chances.

[red card]

Even with missing some of the u17 cycle due to covid, Smith is the closest to approach Sinclair's goals. Though, of the next 3, two have disappeared and we're waiting for one to fulfill her potential.

Mexico wins title for the first time since 2018. Unde the current US u20 manager, the US have failed to get out their group twice at World Cups and now lost a Concacaf title. 

 

[Kent]

That's awesome for Smith. Maybe I didn't watch Huitema much in youth tournaments, but Smith has impressed me more. Huitema is tall and does well on headers, but Smith just seems like a strong, no nonsense finisher and a great shooter. I'm hopeful her game will translate to the women's level very well. My one concern (if I'm not confusing her with Maalouf) is that her style of play could leave her injury prone. Collisions and less than graceful changes of direction could cause her injuries... but hopefully not.

Congrats to the U20s for qualifying!

[rkomar]

Mexico beat the US 2-1 in the gold medal game.  I didn't expect the US to have so few chances to score in the game.  It's a strange game.  The US dominated us, we lost to Mexico in a close game, and then Mexico beats the US.  I'm not soccer-savvy enough to figure out how this plays out that way.  Maybe it's just kids playing with different levels of confidence.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Just a reminder that the U20 WWC will:

- Now be a 24 team tournament instead of 16 (like for the Men)

- Hosted by Colombia from August 31st to September 22nd 2024

https://diariodelhuila.com/24-selecciones-jugaran-el-mundial-femenino-sub-20-de-2024/

On 6/4/2023 at 2:57 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Well, we did it the hard way, but we qualified!

CONCACAF gets an extra slot for a total of 4? That 3rd place match may not have mattered in the end.

[red card]

Canada Soccer announced 24 players that will travel to Verl, Germany from 1-10 April to play against the USA on 7 April and Germany on 9 April as prep for FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Colombia 2024 taking place between 31 August to 22 September.

15 are returning players from the 2023 Concacaf u20 Qualifiers, along with 7 familiar u17 players. Two new faces are Waco, Texas raised Charlie Codd and Arsenal Academy's Maya Hindson. No Chukwus.

Over 60% of the players are from Ontario. BC continues to underperform with only 2 players which is same as Alberta, 1 less than Quebec and 1 more than Nova Scotia & USA. There is 1 pro player & 1 at Arsenal Academy, 4 play with NDC-ON, 2 with Whitecaps and the rest are at US colleges. 

 

 

20 teams out of newly expanded to 24 teams have qualified for Colombia: Australia, Austria, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Fiji, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain, USA. Conmebol will send another 4 teams based on qualifiers from 11 April to 5 May in Ecuador.

Colombia will be hosting a FIFA tournament for the third time. Matches will be played in 4 stadiums in 3 cities: Bogota, Cali and Medellin. 

https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/womens/u20womensworldcup/articles/three-colombian-host-cities-fifa-u-20-womens-world-cup

Edited March 27 by red card

[red card]

Some additional colour from Davidson article:

Annabelle Chukwu is injured.

Olivia Smith was also noted as missing (likely to be selected for SBC) which implies she could be playing in the u20 World Cup if Sporting releases her. Since unlikely to play both, she wouldn't also be part of the Olympic squad.

Charlie Codd's mother is Charmaine Hooper. Codd is also eligible to represent the U.S. and Guyana. She had 4G/2A at Notre Dame last year.

The youngest played called up is 16-year-old forward Kaylee Hunter of Calgary.

There is hope for another camp before getting together for the tournament.

https://www.timescolonist.com/national-sports/canadian-u-20-womens-squad-to-face-elite-opposition-in-us-and-germany-next-month-8516822

Edited March 28 by red card

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

@jordan , would you mind merging this thread and this one:

https://www.canadiansoccernews.com/forums/topic/79033-road-to-2024-u20-world-cup/

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 3/27/2024 at 2:48 PM, red card said:

Canada Soccer announced 24 players that will travel to Verl, Germany from 1-10 April to play against the USA on 7 April and Germany on 9 April

The American squad:

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2024/03/us-u20-wynt-roster-announcement-vs-germany-and-canada

The German squad:

https://www.dfb.de/u-20-frauen/news-detail-u-20w/peter-beruft-u-20-kader-fuer-spiele-gegen-usa-und-kanada-259903/

[red card]

Nothing so far from CANWNT account.

 

Edited April 8 by red card