Denmark drawing against Serbia, is huge news for Switzerland. Switzerland beat Iceland (in Iceland), and now Denmark has a poor result (draw) against Serbia. If Switzerland can beat Denmark at home, at least draw against Iceland at home, and win the ones they're supposed to, then they can afford to lose at Denmark (even if they lost in Denmark by a score of 50-0), and Switzerland would still win this group without having to rely on goal differential. Switzerland currently leads this group as of right now by 5 points. It would be great to see Switzerland's players (including Bachmann) in a WWC.
I will look out for her on Wednesday when Norway play Holland. I wonder if she is a typical penalty box striker or a creative type that also likes to set up plays and be involved in the build-up. Anyway, here is highlights from Norway v Albania (7-0): http://www.tv2.no/sport/fotball/landslag/norge-slo-albania-med-sju-maal-4145208.html
A few eyecatching results yesterday. The imperious Germans march on. Sweden look vulnerable. Euro semifinalists Denmark held by Serbia. Netherlands uncover a new star in Miedema. Norway continue their resurgence. An impressive campaign so far by Scotland, too. Has Julie Fleeting retired from international football? She's still active at club level (Celtic) and I imagine she still has some goals left in her. If Scotland could edge Sweden and win Group 4 it would be a tremendous achievement.
Caroline Graham Hansen is a fantastic player - the technical, creative type Norway have often lacked over the years. And only 18 years old! Nice to see Gulbrandsen and Stensland still going strong as well.
Scotland is definitely winning goal differential over Sweden (Scotland is +14, Sweden is +3). Sweden's 1-0 victory hurts them in that battle. Looks like Sweden will have to draw Scotland (in Scotland), and then win at home against Scotland. Or else, they might be doomed. And we can't have that. The WWC is not the same without Sweden.
Today's results: Spain 6-0 Estonia Israel 2-0 Malta Go Spain! =-) I still think the scheduling is a joke, but w/e.
Being new to catching the WWC qualifying rounds, I don't know much about the strength of all the teams which I don't see in WWC's of the past. But it seems to me several of these teams, like Germany, have an excellent shot at qualifying automatically for 2015 before they finishing playing all their games.
I watched the Scotland-N.Ireland game , the Scots looked impressive again , I really love watching this team full of technical player from defence to attack , well coached . However , the win wasn't easy as many expected as N.Irealand had a good game ,well organized defensively and ready to counter attack , captain Julie Nelson was very good at commanding the defense . For Scotland very good all but special mention to Beattie , Sneddon , Evans and LB that I didn't knew before the game Hayley Lauder , very good at going forward . Then comes Kim Little position .....Kim is one of the best AM in europe , a fantastic player who could provide assist and goals against any teams so why don't let her express her immense talent ? Why she has to play as CM with Scotland too? ..At Arsenal she occupied that position only because Nobbs can't play CM for the moment....but in Scotland , with all my respect to Ross and Lappin , to renounce to Little offensive abilities could be crucial (in negative) against Sweden . For Fawcettfan , Julie Fleeting said in an interview not long time ago that she didn't renounced to the NT and I think she plus Little upfront is scarier than Jane Ross and Suzanne Lapin who are talented don't get me wrong but less than Julie and Kim .
I'm rooting for these teams to Qualify: Germany (group winner) Sweden (group winner) France (group winner) England (group winner) Norway (group winner) Spain (group winner) Switzerland (group winner) Italy/Netherlands (either of these 2nd place teams are fine). I want the 2015 WWC to be as competitive as possible. Would rather have teams like Spain, Switzerland, Italy/Netherlands, than Denmark, Finland, Iceland, etc. Spain and Switzerland have more flair and offensive firepower, and are more intriguing to watch. But for the Scandinavian nations, I would like to see Sweden and Norway get in at least. I'm rooting for South Africa out of CAF. New Zealand out of OFC (although it would be a big LOL if they didn't qualify) Go Australia in AFC. We need them as strong as they can be, to keep the Aussie pipeline flowing in NWSL. I like South Korea better than North Korea, and am lookin forward to seeing South Korea at the 2015 WWC. Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina, should qualify from CONMEBOL. USWNT, Mexico, and Costa Rica from CONCACAF (Canada as Host). It's about time this tournament is at 24 nations. I do think they picked the right time to expand. The parity at the 2011 WWC (over 2/3 of the matches decided by one goal or less) confirmed that.
To add an info on Julie Fleeting, a couple of seasons ago, I got told about a complex operation she had and basically she had no more cartilage in an area in the bottom part of the leg. The person explaining it to me was Swedish with a Scottish accent, so I didn't understand everything. Can Scotland beat Sweden ? The gap has obviously closed and they now have a few players abroad which helps but that would be a huge surprise.
The match Holland-Norway will be streamed here: https://sumo.tv2.no/sport/live-spor...rnasjonale-kamper/nederland-norge-764626.html, but looks like geoblocked (at least from Italy)..
Miedema scores for the Dutch! Was wondering how she'd handle herself against more difficult opponents.
Norway has won the group. Netherlands will not beat Norway (in Norway). Netherlands needed to at least draw this match on their home turf. Norway = already Qualified, in my book.
Norway could lose at home against Netherlands, and they should still win the group on goal differential. They will blow out the other teams by bigger scores than Netherlands will.
Netherlands vs Norway 1-2 A very important win of course and we're now in control of the group. Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the game which was only broadcasted on a pay channel on the web anyway. The new Dutch teen star Vivianne Miedema presented herself with a fine goal, as did Hansen once again. Goals here: http://www.tv2.no/sport/fotball/lan...tscoringene-som-senket-nederland-4147778.html
Well, after what the two teams showed at last Euro, who could doubt that Norway would finish 1rst of its group, and not The Netherlands ? But yes, as long as games are to be played, everything can happen... but such surprises are rare in WF, aren't they ? The three goals are great ! Hansen and Miedema have both something that could be called genius.
I only saw the game vs Germany on the Euro which Netherlands could, maybe even should have won. The draw was not undeserved in any case. I don't know what happened in the other games, but the Euro was a bit of a story of missed chances and opportunity's IIRC and properly read some reports. Maybe Norway was much stronger than Netherlands in their game on the Euro. Don't know. Here some highlights of the game vs Norway: http://nos.nl/video/569116-noorwegen-wint-van-leeuwinnen.html Many more chances for Netherlands. The field play is probably better than that of Norway and there were also more chances for Netherlands. I was told that Miedema has 18 goals in Eredivisie, while the number 2 has only scored 7 or 8. Dutch NT might have found their finisher of chances. All she needs is more maturity and experience maybe. 3 goals against The Portuguese and a beauty in this game. I don't see any reason after this game for the Dutch girls to feel without chance in this group with Norway.
A quick point on the regulations : 5.15 If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order): a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question; b) superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question; c) higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question d) higher number of away goals in the group matches played among the teams in question. There are other criteria as well but it will be unlikely to go beyond d) If teams are equal on points, head to head is the tie-breaker.