There was 3 FIFA matches today. u20 men's final was on today in between the women's matches. I can't believe how ignorant this thread is about men's football. For Canada, this was again typical of their performances in 2019. Possession domination, total team defense limited chances and not enough quality in the final third. They have subs who have shown to be more dynamic but manager KHM has been stingy in subs and not playing Sinclair. This style is well-suited for tournament football. But Canada hasn't been easy on the eyes unless they get a dance partner who is also willing to contribute.
I’m predicting the semis unless somebody figures out how to score on them. So far, nobody has come close.
Sinclair had an awful game. Her touches were so poor. I honestly think Canada would be a far more exciting team to watch if a faster player were in Sinclair's spot.
2-0 felt right. Prince was dangerous and pacy. Agree with others that Sinclair maybe stayed one WC too many (that header was impressive, tho). I don’t think NZ is bad. They’re just competitive and not much more. Canada and Netherlands will be a fascinating battle of the underwhelming. Maybe they combine for a barn-burner.
By the way, for a while, in the far past, I had thought that Prince's name was Michelle, until I discovered it was actually Nichelle. Is Nichelle an existing name or they invented it just for her?
It's an existing name. Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Dell Nichols) was Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek A quick search suggests that she popularized the name, so maybe she invented it ... like how I invented mine
CA & NZ might be the two best defending teams in the tournament, NZ's GK, Naylor, possibly the best goalkeeper at the WC. Same thing can be said of Ercig in her CB position. CA's best players are Buchanen & Lawrence, but their mainly defensive players(so don't get the write ups usually reserved for goal scorers). Upfront, Sinclair is a goal scorer, but more of the poacher type variety(you really got to spoon feed her the ball for her to score). Otherwise you saw how decent Beckie & Prince were, yet so far they've had checkered pro careers, languishing most of the time in sub roles. Poor Beckie couldnt even start last year for the atrociously bad, Sky Blue(only won 1 of 22 games last year in the NWSL). Leon(CA's top sub fwd) onl ymanages 1 goal an year for watever pro club team she plays for. They got a much herladed 18 year old striker named Huitema(hasn't played so far) but somehow think her tall lanky body(with room to grow even taller at that age) will not suit her when playing into adulthood. the CA/NED final group battle could be a barn burner, but both 1st & 2nd place group winners will stay in the easier side of the playoff bracket, so hence, they might just take it easy & give their starters a much needed rest instead
What I want to know is, why a praying mantis for your avatar? Although, for a long time, I thought it was an ant. LOL!
True enough, but while Jill Ellis may have the guts and leverage to sit a national legend on the bench as a sub, I’d bet not a lot of other managers would.
It would have been exiting if Canada had realized they needed to win 3-0 in order to be in first place but instead they seemed to be quite satisfied with winning a low score game against of a very weak NZ. Atmosphere in Grenoble in that small stadium was great until the audience realized there would not come much more
If Canada finish second they will likely run into Sweden and then Germany before the semis. If they win the last game and finish first they will run into Japan and then Italy.
Ah, don't tell me you've never heard of Nichelle Nichols before. She's a legend as the first ever Lt. Uhura.
All beatable. But there will be teams Intentionally dropping games also. Other teams have tougher runs to the semis.
While they are all beatable for sure, I dont think barely scraping by two bad teams will make Canada favorites against any of the mentioned teams. On the contrary, which is why mission semis is endangered.
The FIFA ranking doesnt mean a thing to me, sorry. What matters in a tournament are so-far performances and form. NZ and Cameroon have been one of the weakest teams I have seen so far and Canada could not manage to run the score up on them. Germany are vulnerable but had to fight off Spain after all, not NZ or Cameroon.
Uhh, you’ve got to be kidding me! Cameroon and NZ have NOT been the two weakest or close to it teams. I would propose that Canada’s group is one of the toughest and most balanced
NZ and Cameroon looked weak because they ran up against a good defense. Canada had 65% possession in the first match and 70% possession in the second. Spain is hardly a world power, as perfect record of never winning a WWC match until S. Africa shows. I’m betting Spain has never scored a WC goal before that, and let one of the weakest teams score on them. And Spain controlled the ball 61% against Germany. What does that say about Germany’s ability to control a game? 39% possession is approaching a bunker mentality.
Beckie got even less respect when she played for Man City(which was there for a full season) according to the stats, 283 min. 2 starts 10 times came in as a sub, 12 times she just sat on the bench Canada - J. Beckie - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Women Soccerway compare that to how she's got carry Sinclair & Canada on her back. She got a bit of revenge when CA beat England(with usually 8-10 MC players) in a friendly a few months back
NZ for sure would not qualify in UEFA and are weakened by losing key players. The difference between you and me seems to boil down to me actually expecting Canada to roll over teams like those. Well, what you consider "success" always depends on your benchmark for success. Germany did completely the right thing in holding back and absorbing the Spanish attacks. If Germany had went into the game with a more attacking attitude that would have played right into Spain's hands. I mentioned in the according thread that 61% possession falls flat when you managed two shots on goal in 90 minutes. Thats abysmal for a team like Spain when half of them played the CL final this year. Possession actually, just like FIFA rankings, is a pretty useless stat for determining performances. Especially when winning it vs minnows.