didn't get to watch but just going with this game page.......never a good thing when your down to 10 with the majority of the match still to be played nor never advertise that your going to play a 3-back! lol Portugal vs. Sweden - 1 March 2019 - Women Soccerway trying to get Sinclair that scoring title could be a problem for Canada, as in this game they really needed more wide, attacking options one memoriable play missing form the highlights; do to a perfect pass, Huitema got far behind the Scot's defends............had all the time & space to side trak the GK, but failed misereably in her final shot, making me wonder if she's really "the real deal"???
Well not sure what happened in our game vs Poland. Anyone could give me a synopsis? The games aren't televised here and their is only a small paragraph write-up in the spanish daily.
From the highlights, #9 Ewa Pajor went on three long individual runs with sheer speed, getting 1 corner kick, 1 assist, and 1 solo goal. Spain's fullbacks couldn't handle that 1-v-1 match-up. I don't know how Poland's defense stopped Spain's offense for 90 minutes. Anyways, it seems like a one-off result. Poland can't repeat this in every match, and if they played again, Spain would keep 4 back and smother Pajor 1-v-2.
Let's see how they fare against Netherlands. Pajor and Kamczyk are in top form as is Matushewski so no real worries upfront especially when van der Gragt and Dekker are out injuried which leaves Wiegman with Bloodworth + rookie (Snoejis?) as CB's (unless she decide to move DMF at CB?) I'm rather curious how Poland's defense will manage the Dutch fast wingers after only 2 days of rest. CB Dudek's reliable so is RB Sikora but other two defenders in line aren't exactly demons of speed and beside that stamina issues may come to play for them. I'm only guessing here: Poland will push for a goal or two in first half and in 2nd half they'll drop deep in 4-5-1 and gonna defend looking for a chance to brake with speedy Pajor, Grabowska or Wiankowska. CM Balcerzak and Daleszczyk - if they will stay fit till the end...then the biggest surprise of this tourney may happen: Poland vs, Norway in final.
Poland might fare OK against the Netherlands because the Dutch centerback situation is such a mess. I think the team was hoping to get Van der Gragt a lot of playing time this tournament to get her match fit--and now she is injured yet again, which means that Bloodworth, who is a strong player but doesn't have that much centerback experience, will be paired with someone who has little or no international centerback experience. Not a good situation.
The Netherlands have one starter in the lineup, with everybody else a reserve--including 3 players getting their first caps and probably three others, at least, who probably have fewer than 5 caps. Should be interesting! Glad to see the starters resting, really.
Poland shoud be 3-0 at HT but they didn't finish their chances. Some ref calls were dubious as well for both sides. In 2nd half Poland will struggle though - only 2 days rest are taking it's toll - and PL bench isn't deep enough especially if Wiegman decide to sub in her Team-A players.
Are you a soothsayer? This will be the final of the tournament indeed, since Poland won by 1-0 vs Netherlands (who had a player sent-off). FPF didn't upload all of the highlights yet: I am going to post what we have at the moment. The results: Iceland 1-4 Scotland (57' Gunnarsdottir - 13', 66' Arnot, 32' Cuthbert, 55' Little) Netherlands 0-1 Poland (42' Winczo) Denmark 1-0 China (60' Harder (PK)) Soft PK for Denmark, if you ask me. And maybe China would have equalized, with goal-line technology available. (Ok, in Vila Real de Santo Antonio? Not so much...) Switzerland 3-1 Portugal (60' Crnogorcevic, 66' Kiwic, 86' Müller - 27' Norton) Poor Portugal: they were winning quite in style, then they fell apart at the hour mark.
Holland's centerback problems continue. They start Kerkdijk at centerback, who has maybe two caps--not sure, but very few-- and she seems to have some potential, but she gets red-carded in the first half! So in the last four matches Dekker got a red card in one, Kerkdijk gets a red car today, against Spain reserve centerback Van Dongen made a bad mistake that cost The Netherlands a goal, and meanwhile Van der Gragt is injured yet again. Their best centerback, Bloodworth, was pushed into the position by necessity as she normally plays outside. back. It's a mess! Did not see match but saw that late in game the Dutch had 19 shots, despite being a player down, but only 3 on goal. Uggh. Wiegman, the coach, put in 3 starters around 70-75' to try and get a result but no luck. What we've learned at the Algarve Cup is what we already knew--The Netherlands reserves are not very good. It's a good thing that the current starting group, except for Dekker, is fairly young.
Funny enough in pre-tourney article for PL WoSo site I foresaw most of the current tourney finals right...except Algarve. (I was betting for China - Canada)
These are the official FPF highlights. As it's usual for them, they're quite short and they don't include the scene of the player sent-off. It's anyway something, for the moment :
guess, it's all set, Poland will play Norway for the championship on Wednesday. Canada vs Sweden for 3rd place. Poor Netherlands only plays for 11th place vs China/or last place & will suffer even more humiliation when new FIFA rankings come out later this month
The young Dutch forward gets in behind, gets a nice through pass, has a clear shot on goal inside the box and surely could have scored but instead decides--for reasons unknown--to dribble literally all the way into the legs of the keeper. Just looking at the highlights (lowlights?) Worm, who seldom plays and was playing left back today, looked slow and was beaten a few times, and the starting centerbacks, Nouwen (first cap and maybe her last) and Kerkdijk were caught out of position a few times--and Kerkdijk was sent off. Somebody posted a 6+minute highlight tape--thank you--and yet it didn't include the rather important red-card penalty. Oh, well. If the stats are any guide, the Dutch reserves had the better of play--shots, possession, etc. were pretty heavy in favor of Oranje, but still the group seems slow, not very athletic and rather pedestrian overall.
Not sure what the lineswoman had in mind. Maybe it was a Polish player off-side at the center of the box at the beginning of the action, but if it was that one: 1) the player wasn't actually influencing the action, since she didn't make any run towards the ball, on the contrary she was quietly coming back on-side; 2) it was anyway signalled with unexcusable delay. The action of the Red Card wasn't shown in Polish highlights either: did anyone see it? At least that one was a legitimate call?
Does anyone know the title of the song going on in the stadium while Poland's coach is being interviewed? Reminds me of a place I've been this summer.
Kerkdijk was the last defender when Grabowska was sprinting past her. She brought her down so ref decided it was a DOGSO.
it's pretty much set Summary - Algarve Cup - World - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Women Soccerway defense isn't their only problem, as they haven't scored any goals either against not even top ten teams. Trying to find something that might work, Wiegman switches to a 4-2-3-1 to no avail
The only video we were missing from latest match-day. Last goal, by Arnot, was quite funny, if you look at it: she ended heading the ball against her own feet and having it rebound in goal anyway. She laughs a lot about that.