Group A : Germany , Norway , Denmark and Japan 6. March : Germany - Denmark 8. March : Germany - Norway 11. March : Germany - Japan http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=12354 Group B : Iceland , Sweden , USA and China 6. March : Iceland - USA 8. March : Iceland - Sweden 11. March : Iceland - China http://www.ksi.is/landslid/nr/10640
Wales confirmed they will play in Group C. Portugal will also play as hosts, so that leaves 2 teams to be decided.
Had Mexico ever been at Algarve before? I thought they would have put the two finalists of last year (Germany and Japan) in two different groups: apparently they took the 4 semi-finalists instead (so adding USA and Sweden) and they made a casual draw to put two of them in each group...
Yes, they've been at least once. However, now that they've brought their national team to the next level, they shouldn't be in Group C.
Mexico may have improved, but they are still not quite at the level of any of the teams in Group A or Group B. China and Iceland are the worst of the teams in those groups and I don't think Mexico is quite at the stage where they could expect to beat these 2 teams regularly. At the 2006 Algarve Cup, Mexico beat hosts Portugal 6-0, drew 0-0 with Ireland and lost 4-3 to Finland in the placement matches (Finished 8 out of 11). In 2005 they again beat Portugal (2-1) and beat Northern Ireland 2-0 before losing 5-0 to England. They went on to beat Finland 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the placement matches (Finished 9th out of 12). Since a C Group was added in 2002, these countries have participated (apart from Portugal, including this year): Wales has been the most invited team, while Faroe Islands was the lowest-ranked team to be invited. In 2013, Mexico become the 3rd team to have more than 2 invites to Group C (after Wales and Ireland). Africa is the only continent not to have had a team competing at the Algarve Cup (Australia competed when they were an OFC member). Wales (7) Ireland (5) Mexico (3) Greece (2) Northern Ireland (2) Poland (2) Iceland (2) Austria (2) Romania (2) Hungary (2) England (1) Italy (1) Faroe Islands (1) Chile (1) Canada (1) Scotland (1)
Just so everyone knows: apparently WSU just published 2013 Algarve Cup schedule (although with still no venues and times of the matches): http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/group/algarvecup/forum/topics/algarve-cup-2013-schedule For my part, I guess the scheduled days basically mean that I can't go in Algarve to watch some match like I did last year.
No, the winner of group C play-off for 7th place. If they win it they have made a good argumnet for playing in the A or B group next year. They play-off is like this: 1st: A1 vs B1 3rd:A2 vs B2 5th:A3 vs B3 7th: C1 vs best 4th team from A/B 9th: C2 vs worst 4th team from A/B 11th: C3 vs C4
Yes, there r actually supposed to webcasts this year but I believe I saw this in a forum as opposed to a news source so take it for what it's worth. If I can find it again Ill post a link.
OK, it was based on a tweet actually but here's the press release. http://www.albannmedia.com/algarve-cup.html
This was the case in 2007 (Italy won and were promoted for 2008) and 2008 (Iceland won and were promoted for 2009). However, Romania were not promoted for 2011 despite beating Finland in the 7th place match in 2010. They played the C Group in 2011 as well.
No, it is not initself a gurantee for promotion. But paried with a good general perfomance (so that the win isn't considered a fluke) it tend to happen. Paired with nothing else at all itis unlikely to happen.
I'd switch them w/ Norway or Iceland. Why was there a contest giving away free viewing packages? Sounds like this won't be free streaming. If the price is reasonable, I don't mind paying.
According to All Bann Media facebook page, they have prices for watching singles games $3.49 and $9.99 for a four game package. http://www.facebook.com/AlBannMedia
From what Ive read, Al Bann will be offering the game on demand beginning about 90 minutes after the game is completed. So the bad news is u cant watch them live but the good news is u dont have to worry about the time difference. If u buy the service u can cue the game up whenever u want. Not sure if u get more than one viewing tho. Apparently the country ur in doesnt matter as there r no region bans.
I think the Scandinavian countries are always in it because they help organize it. They were founders of the tournament. So Iceland is in the A or B group every year. So apart from Mexico being behind those teams in the FIFA rankings there's also that to consider.
Really? Never heard that. I don't think Iceland has a regular place. However, both Norway & Iceland are in the Euros, so, it's hard to choose. I think all 3 may be about equal. And, perhaps, that is why Mexico is in Group C this year.
It's true that Algarve Cup was born as a way for Scandinavian National Teams to have a tournament to play in a place that was warmer than their countries in march, and so to keep the pace with other nations. But I guess that the countries that founded it included Sweden, Norway, Denmark (possibly Finland), but not Iceland. Iceland (that, after all, can be considered Scandinavian by a stretch, since, although it shares lingustic and historical ties, it's mostly different and geographically quite far from them), was added, if I am not wrong, way later, when their National Team's results begun being on a higher level. So, I guess it's true that we just can't have an Algarve without Sweden, Norway and Denmark in group A and B, whatever their levels, because of their right of founding members (I guess Finland was in Algarve Cup at the beginning, but later, because of their lower level, they preferred to play Cyprus Cup). I don't think Iceland shares this "untouchable" status: it's just that they reached a quite high/decent status lately, to the point that they were finalist in Algarve Cup 2011! (by beating Denmark, China and Sweden ) Please, since I wasn't sure of everything I wrote, If anyone knows better than me about Algarve Cup's history, please correct me.