Whenever NRK has bought the rights to a woso friendly or a non-qualifier, it always ends up on stream, never on TV. Today's match against Denmark will go largely unnoticed in Norway. The kick-off time collides with the World Championship in Nordic skiing in Seefeld - the men's 15 km.
really can't tell, at least nice camera angle. it's one sided shlock from Canada so far, but just don't got the finishing touch. Beckie seems to be the best attacker, But that's not neccesarily a good thing, since her pro clubs don't seem to want to play her much(so does that reflect on the rest of the Canadians?) definitely prefer former coach Herdman's pro wrestling style over Moeller's more clinical approach(which isn't getting them any goals so far)
🇸🇪 🆚🇨🇭💻 LIVE STREAM 17:45 👉 https://t.co/itfhLvJIXL#SWESUI @Algarve_Cup pic.twitter.com/YYS3tBC6u1— 🇨🇭 Nati (@nati_sfv_asf) February 27, 2019
Norway, with pretty much a reserve team, beat Denmark 2-1. Nadia Nadim lobbed the Danes in front early in the game. Norway equalized on a free-kick from Therese Åsland after 77 mins, before Lisa-Marie Utland scored the winner in stoppage time, knocking in a goalkeeper rebound from close range.
Canada dominated again in the 2nd half without scoring. They need to either bench Sinclair or sub her early, as she looked a tad to slow in this one at least the Iclandic GK might get an offer ~~ if there were any pro scouts at the game any decent live streams for the Dutch game will be mighty appreciated!(hopfully a twitter one as it came with no spam)
Impressive defensive performance by Iceland, who showed again that, despite a dearth of attacking talent, they are no pushover. They are well-organized and well-coached. Canada had the ball in Iceland's attacking half every time I checked in on the game, but in the end could manage only 5 shots on goal (16 shots total) compared to 2 shots on goal (4 total) for Iceland. Canada most definitely has some talent but couldn't find the back of the net. The final stats showed them with 61 percent possession for the game; I would have thought it was more than that. Tip the hat to Iceland on this match.
Statements made by Spain and Sweden! I don't think Switzerland was going to make a deep WWC run anyway, but should Netherlands start to worry?
Some highlights: - Canada-Iceland 0-0. Looks like Canada had many chances, but Iceland anyway hit a crossbar: - Norway-Dennark 2-1. Apparently Harder-fuelled Denmark dominated most of the game, but they lost to two late Norwegian goals (where Danish defense looked quite awkward): - Sweden-Switzerland 4-1. With 2 assists (one with a step over and one with a back-heel) and 1 goal, it was quite a Kosovare Asllani's show! Amazing technique. Ok, Larsson scored three, so it was of course also her game, but Asllani really left me awe-struck. - Spain-Netherlands 2-0. From that match, we already had excellent Dutch highlights, but I'll post the Algarve official ones anyway, for the sake of completeness (and also because of the obsessive "Vamos!" from replays of second goal! ):
To take nothing away from Spain, who gave the U.S. problems and are going to be a difficult opponent for most everyone in France (barring a bad day), The Netherlands seemed only half- to three-quarters serious about yesterday's game. The Dutch started a reserve forward at outside back--a position I've never seen her play in three years (maybe I missed it), then had a centerback who is coming back from 12 months of injuries and was playing in only her second game back. Neither Dekker nor Van de Sanden (both starters) did not make the trip, and Van de Donk and Miedema only played a half. Maybe Spain had similar lineup issues, I don't know--they did substitute a lot starting at 65'-70' mark. Overall, the Dutch created more chances/half chances than Spain, but Spain put the ball in the net twice and that's all that counts! The Netherlands do have some issues that should worry their coaches and fans. First, the coaches have to figure out who their starting centerbacks will be. That is a position where you don't want to be unsettled with the WC approaching--and their centerback position is a little unsettled. Another issue is that Dutch lack quality depth. The starting group is strong, especially in attack, but there is falloff when they substitute--and at just about every position. We saw that yesterday. The third concern is that while the Dutch are European champs, they've not really played any top opponents in a year and a half. So I'm not sure they are battle-tested. The last top opponent they played (and beat) was England in the semifinal of the Euro Championship, in August 2017. Since then they've had a heavy diet of middling teams--Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Slovakia, South Africa--most part of qualifying for the WC. So they've still got a lot to prove.
Even if it wasn't against a full strength Holland, I'm just happy to see Spain play some tough opponents and get results against them. This past year has been good for Spain in that they have scheduled good opponents for friendlies or tournaments like this and have showed reasonably well. With the previous coach, Spain wouldn't play any friendly and wouldn't do any preparation. The talent is there and the future is looking good as long as they can get the support and organization to back them. And it has been improving, so good signs I think.
Yes, when they managed to kick out Quereda and they put Vilda at the helm instead, what had been a stagnant program for years (decades?) finally turned on its head and Spain is now a force to be reckoned with! Don't particularly root fot them, but I am happy they can now fully express their potential.
Some results from Algarve afternoon... Portugal 2-1 Sweden Sweden played 10 from 42nd min Norway 3-1 China China gifted opponents all three goals and twice missed open net https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=298157637542970 Poland 3-0 Spain Spain started with only 4 players from first XI but after falling 2-0 before halftime they subbed back team-A for 2nd half.
Well, one can't say that this Algarve Cup doesn't look very interesting! After seeing their brilliant first match, I would have never predicted that Sweden and Spain would have lost to Portugal and Poland! I'll sure enjoy highlights from the matches, later.
I saw China gift Norway two goals, but the second Norway goal was just a sweet strike, no? The first Norway goal was an absolute howler by the Chinese goalie who went charging out to get the ball but not only missed the ball but managed to plow into her own player in the process, leaving the Norwegian with a tap-in. Oh, my. The Chinese goal was a nice play.... One had to think that Spain would sub a lot today against Poland--but even so 3-0 to Poland is a surprising result, and Poland won the 2nd half against the Spanish A team, after it was inserted into the match, as well. And let's not forget Portugal upsetting Sweden. But it's also true that Sweden and Spain were not given enough rest time after their first match, which was what, two days ago? Three? Not enough.
Mmm, as it was mentioned on the Norway thread, actually there was a clear header-deflection from a Chinese DF that basically made it an own-goal.
https://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetbal/worm-vervangt-pelova-bij-oranje~aa40ce7e/ Siri Worm © Getty Images Worm vervangt Pelova bij Oranje
Oh Sweden, where to start....Poor play, poor coaching and clearly poor squad depth. l can't remember the last time all players were so bad at once, red card didn't help of course. Well deserved win for Portugal but this was not an enjoyable match, so many interuptions. I don't know what's happened to Blackstenius and Jakobsson at Montpellier but looks like they have lost all their confidence. Blackstenius back in Sweden now thankfully. 21 year olds Björn and Zigiotti both playing out of position as CM pair, turned out to be a very bad experiment. Lately Sweden only play good football with Seger, Asllani and Rubensson all on the pitch. Without them we have no possession and everyone just run around like headless chickens.
Some more highlights: - Canada-Scotland 1-0. Canada win from PK: the only big news are that with this goal Sinclair is even closer to the international goals' all-time record: - China-Norway 1-3. We already had other highlights: worth watching these ones anyway because of different actions being show. And the deflection making Norway's 2nd an own-goal looks even more obvious: - Portugal-Sweden 2-1. Swedish goal was actual a gift from Portugal.