An update from the camp in Florida - here's the result of the first friendly: U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team Beats Germany 2-0: The US used 6 subs while the Germans used 5 (no switch-out times given). The teams will play again on the 9th.
Here's the German perspective on Monday's match (DFB.de) with a couple quotes from Germany's coach, Anouschka Bernhard: Rough translation (based on Google Translate): "Today, we did not lose to a better opponent, but to a physically stronger one. Especially, in the first half, we were playing as the better team," Bernhard said after the match. Rough translation: "Two individual mistakes in defense were exploited by the Americans for their 2-0 lead. Fundamentally, however, I am very satisfied with our performance," Bernhard added.
Interesting quotes... in many ways. I don't think i've ever heard a women's coach say we lost because of two defenders who made to individual mistakes...
So how strong a team's players are has nothing to do with how good the team is? I guess that means German coaches don't believe in their players doing weight training? If the US wins game 2, will she say, "Today, we did not lose to a better opponent, but to a better conditioned one?"
here are the match statistics...Germany had 3 shots on goal... Stats Summary: USA / GER Shots: 7 / 5 Shots on Goal: 5 / 3 Saves: 2 / 2 Corner Kicks: 5 / 5 Fouls: 6 / 6 Offside: 3 / 2
Correction: Here's the proper link to the US Soccer article about the first match versus Germany -- U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team Beats Germany 2-0. (The link in the earlier post pointed to the wrong article.)
Looks like the U-17'ers will be playing another test match this week, according to this press release from Florida Gulf Coast University's Athletics Department: The U-17 WNT should have played its second match against Germany on Thursday afternoon, so hopefully we'll see a US Soccer match report for that, sometime on Friday. (For early-risers or late-stayer-uppers, here's the DFB.de page for their women's U-17 team. I suspect they'll have something up before it's daylight on the East Coast.)
According to DFB's website (with the help of Babelfish and Google Translate), the second match ended 1-0, in favor of the US squad. The only goal was scored by Summer Green in the 36th minute, after the Germans lost the ball in the middle third.
US Soccer match report for the second test match against Germany. Germany had more shots (9 versus 7) but both teams were even on shots on goal (5 a piece). The USA had more fouls (14 vs 9), with Morgan Andrews collecting her second yellow card in as many matches. The USA also had 5 offside calls against them.
Re: The test match against the FGCU Women's Soccer team. The final scoreline was 1-0 in favor of the U-17 WNT. The only goal was scored off a penalty kick in the 12th minute. (FGCUAthletics.com)
Here's an update on the squad and some pretty good dialogue with Montoya. Seems like they're headed in the right direction with those two wins against Germany. U17 Soccer update/Montoya Interview
not sure, but montoya may have the same idea that pia has re women's teams. i wonder what he will do if he finds better players between now and qualifying. he seems to like the close knit nature of the team he has right now.
U.S. won 2-0 over France on Sunday: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/u-17-wnt/2012/03/u17-wnt-defeats-france-2-0.aspx They play England today.
U.S. draws 1-1 with England: http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-17-W...s-with-England-at-Ten-Nations-Tournament.aspx
