"Starters" does not mean "stars", and even the use of "host of" is a stretch considering only five of the twenty-four even play in the FAWSL. Ireland aren't really that deep; even if Greece have no players of note, you can't expect Ireland to run rampant. Don't forget, too, that the game was in Greece, so Ireland had home field advantage working against them.
double checking Ireland's starting lineup; the GK, Houlinan, started for Braga(Portugal) this season, but had over a decade of experience previously in the FA Quinn & McCabe got plenty of starting time for for the virtual all star team named Arsenal Fahey > Liverpool Keenan > West Ham Caldwell & Barnet play in the Bundesliga(which is still proving to be the better league than the FA) add O'Sullivan & that's makes 8 out of 11 pretty decent creds. One notable missing though; Megan Campbell home advantage? didn't you see, there were no fans in the stands!
Poland 0 - 0 Spain HT Spain could've been one up around 11th min but AR made error signaling offside. White-and-Reds are looking good in their 4-5-1, they're defending well and make it very hard for Spain to have clear chances.
A) You're moving the goalposts - by a lot - versus what you said earlier B) Many of those not-currently-FA players aren't on great teams. (And the GK wasn't on great teams during her time in England) C) "Home field advantage" is much more than fan presence. In fact, recent studies have shown it's more familiarity with the field, travel fatigue, and ref bias.
Probably yes, but remeber she's 22 and so were 5 Polish players on the pitch today. This team has potential and future ahead of them. Also there are some youth players comming thru the pipes, like 17-year old Achcińska (debut today) or Kozak. Polish WoSo is in need of success - like playing at EURO21 - that's the aim, after that the money will flow even more.
Tonight's summary: GROUP A Netherlands 4 - 1 Slovenia Spitse 34(p), 53(p), Miedema 58, 71 - Erzen 30 GROUP B Italy 5 - 0 Malta Cernoia 27, 37, Sabatino 42, Giugliano 45, Greggi 90+3 RC: Giugliano 71 (ITA) Israel 1 - 3 Bosnia Herzegovina Efraim 3 - Krajsumovic 28, Spasojevic 37, Aleksic 80 Denmark 14 - 0 Georgia Nadim 4, 36, Larsen 16, 19, 53, Sutidze 26(og), N.Sørensen 27, 39, Svava 28, Harder 34, 45, 73, N.Christiansen 82, Madsen 90+1 GROUP C Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Wales GROUP D Poland 0 - 0 Spain GROUP E Portugal 1 - 1 Finland C.Neto 32(p) - Sällström 90 GROUP F Hungary 4 - 0 Latvia Jakabfi 13, Zeller 36, Fenyvesi 55, Pusztai 77 Vago (HUN) missed penalty 31 Miksone (LVA) missed penalty 86 RC: Papp 85 (HUN) GROUP G Austria 9 - 0 Kazakhstan Hickelsberger-Füller 7, 19, 48, 90+1, Billa 11, 57, 69, Feiersinger 18, Zadrazil 50 GROUP H Switzerland 6 - 0 Romania Bachmann 26, 45, 74, Crnogorcevic 65(p), Humm 81, Fölmli 88 RC: Ficzay 65 (ROM) Belgium 6 - 0 Lithuania De Caigny 14, 34, 46, 66, 73, Mikutaite 29(og) GROUP I Greece 1 - 1 Rep. of Ireland Spyridonidou 90+3 - Barrett 13
Well, Denmark sure wanted to assert something! They have beaten up Georgia worse than a Thailand! Ok, we get it: goal difference is theirs. So, Group B will be decided by the two direct Italy-Denmark clashes, in April and September 2020. And anyway, "goal difference in all group matches" is only the 6th tie-breaker: an away draw with goals in Denmark could be enough for Italy to get 1st place even with all the 14-0s of this world.
Somewhat surprising, though not very much so: only one away win in this bunch of matches, despite a fair number of higher-pot teams away. In all of those matches, though, the higher-pot team wasn't *that* much higher-rated, which is why I say it's not very much surprising - only slightly so. =-)
Massive late equalizer for Finland away at Portugal. Who knows.. that could well be the decisive qualifying goal when we sum up in September next year. I also can't understand how Wales again drew against Northern Ireland. They had such high ambitions before these qualifers started.
Can we safely say that, for a team like Wales, having or not having Jessica Fishlock on the pitch can make quite a difference?
Fishlock out, Harding out as well due to injuries, Wales were short of two key players. Both teams created many chances actually. High intensity game overall, very congested midfield area.
A brief summary of standings in the groups. No matches until March 2020 now. GROUP A Netherlands .. 6 ... 18 Slovenia ......... 5 ... 6 Russia ........... 3 ... 6 Kosovo .......... 3 ... 6 Estonia .......... 4 ... 1 Turkey ........... 5 ... 1 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 10-03-2020: KOS - SVN - 10-04-2020: KOS - NED 10-04-2020: SVN - EST 10-04-2020: RUS - TUR - 14-04-2020: TUR - KOS 14-04-2020: RUS - SVN 14-04-2020: NED - EST - 05-06-2020: EST - RUS - 09-06-2020: RUS - KOS 09-06-2020: EST - TUR - 18-09-2020: KOS - EST 18-09-2020: SVN - TUR 18-09-2020: RUS - NED - 22-09-2020: TUR - RUS 22-09-2020: EST - SVN 22-09-2020: NED - KOS - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP B Italy .............. 6 ... 18 Denmark ....... 5 ... 15 Bosnia & H ... 5 ... 9 Israel ............ 4 ... 1 Malta ............ 5 ... 1 Georgia ......... 5 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 05-03-2020: MLT - GEO 05-03-2020: BIH - ISR - 10-03-2020: MLT - BIH 10-03-2020: ISR - GEO - 09-04-2020: BIH - DEN 10-04-2020: ITA - ISR - 14-04-2020: MLT - DEN 14-04-2020: BIH - ITA 14-04-2020: GEO - ISR - 03-06-2020: GEO - MLT 04-06-2020: DEN - ISR - 09-06-2020: ITA - DEN - 22-09-2020: ISR - MLT 22-09-2020: DEN - ITA 22-09-2020: GEO - BIH - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP C Norway .................. 4 ... 12 Wales .................... 4 ... 8 Belarus .................. 3 ... 3 Northern Ireland .... 4 ... 2 Faroe Islands ........ 3 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 10-04-2020: WAL - FRO - 14-04-2020: WAL - NOR 14-04-2020: BLR - NIR - 05-06-2020: NIR - BLR 05-06-2020: NOR - FRO - 09-06-2020: WAL - BLR 09-06-2020: NIR - FRO - 18-09-2020: NOR - BLR 18-09-2020: FRO - NIR - 22-09-2020: NOR - WAL 22-09-2020: FRO - BLR - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP D Spain .................... 3 ... 7 Czech Republic .... 3 ... 6 Moldova .............. 2 ... 3 Poland ................. 1 ... 1 Azerbaijan ........... 3 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 07-03-2020: POL - MDA - 11-03-2020: AZR - POL - 09-04-2020: ESP - MDA 10-04-2020: POL - AZR - 13-04-2020: ESP - CZE 14-04-2020: MDA - POL - 05-06-2020: CZE - AZR - 09-06-2020: ESP - POL 09-06-2020: CZE - MDA - 16-09-2020: AZR - MDA 19-09-2020: MDA - ESP - 22-09-2020: POL - CZE 22-09-2020: AZR - ESP - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP E Finland ........ 4 ... 10 Scotland ..... 2 ... 6 Portugal ...... 2 ... 4 Cyprus ........ 2 ... 0 Albania ....... 4 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 11-03-2020: CYP - ALB - 09-04-2020: CYP - SCO 10-04-2020: FIN - POR - 14-04-2020: CYP - FIN 14-04-2020: SCO - POR - 05-06-2020: SCO - ALB 05-06-2020: CYP - POR - 09-06-2020: FIN - SCO 09-06-2020: POR - CYP - 18-09-2020: ALB - CYP 18-09-2020: POR - SCO - 22-09-2020: SCO - FIN 22-09-2020: POR - ALB - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP F Sweden ........ 3 ... 9 Iceland ......... 3 ... 9 Hungary ....... 4 ... 4 Slovakia ....... 4 ... 4 Latvia ........... 4 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 10-04-2020: SVK - LVA 10-04-2020: HUN - ISL - 14-04-2020: SVK - ISL 14-04-2020: SWE - HUN - 04-06-2020: SVK - SWE 04-06-2020: ISL - LVA - 09-06-2020: LVA - HUN 09-06-2020: ISL - SWE - 17-09-2020: SWE- LVA - 22-09-2020: SWE - ISL 22-09-2020: HUN - SVK - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP G Austria .................... 4 ... 12 France ..................... 2 ... 6 Serbia ..................... 4 ... 6 North Macedonia .... 4 ... 3 Kazakhstan ............. 4 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 06-03-2020: SRB - MKD - 10-04-2020: FRA - MKD 11-04-2020: SRB - KAZ - 14-04-2020: AUT - FRA - 03-06-2020: KAZ - MKD 05-06-2020: FRA - AUT - 09-06-2020: FRA - KAZ 09-06-2020: AUT - SRB - 18-09-2020: SRB - FRA - 22-09-2020: MKD - FRA 22-09-2020: KAZ - AUT - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP H Belgium ........... 4 ... 12 Switzerland ...... 4 ... 12 Romania ......... 3 ... 3 Croatia ............ 4 ... 3 Lithuania ......... 5 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 10-04-2020: CRO - LTU - 14-04-2020: BEL - SUI 14-04-2020: CRO - ROM - 05-06-2020: LTU - ROM - 09-06-2020: LTU - BEL 09-06-2020: ROM - SUI - 18-09-2020: BEL - ROM 18-09-2020: CRO - SUI - 22-09-2020: SUI - BEL 22-09-2020: ROM - CRO - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - GROUP I Germany .............. 4 ... 12 Rep. of Ireland ..... 3 ... 7 Greece ................. 3 ... 4 Montenegro ......... 3 ... 0 Ukraine ................ 3 ... 0 Remaining matches: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler 06-03-2020: IRL - GRE - 11-03-2020: MNE - IRL - 10-04-2020: MNE - UKR 11-04-2020: GER - IRL - 14-04-2020: MNE - GER 14-04-2020: UKR - GRE - 03-06-2020: GRE - MNE 05-06-2020: UKR - IRL - 09-06-2020: GRE - UKR - 19-09-2020: GER - GRE - 22-09-2020: UKR - MNE 22-09-2020: IRL - GER - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - OTHER STATISTICS Top scoring teams 32 - Norway 31 - Germany 29 - Denmark 28 - Netherlands 19 - Italy Most goals conceded 30 - Georgia 25 - Faroe Islands 19 - Ukraine 19 - Kazakhstan 19 - Turkey Top scorers 10 - Caroline G. Hansen (NOR) 9 - Sherida Spitse (NED) 8 - Linda Sällström (FIN) 8 - Vivianne Miedema (NED) 7 - Tine De Caigny (BEL) Top assists 6 - Kosovare Asllani (SWE) 6 - Tessa Wullaert (BEL) 6 - Caroline G. Hansen (NOR) 6 - Nicoline Sørensen (DEN) 5 - Shanice van de Sanden (NED)
Highlights from the match vs Georgia somehow got lost in the web, but the ones from the match vs Malta were published (don't ask why Italy plays in green! ):
I like your classic blue shirt better, but at least it seems the men's four World Cup stars have been removed from the jersey. Progress!
but she gets to take all the PK's & free kicks so part credit can go to the Dutch fwds getting those fouls with penetration moves. They get more fouls called than most cuz of a faster atyle offence with 3 fwds as well as even the outside mids trying to penetrate so much.
Attendances for this week of Euro qualifiers: 23120 - Netherlands v Slovenia (4-1) 21211 - France v Serbia (6-0) 7500 - Poland v Spain (0-0) 6709 - Norway v Northern Ireland (6-0) 3948 - Belgium v Lithuania (6-0) 3741 - Switzerland v Romania (6-0) 3500 - Italy v Georgia (6-0) 3085 - Denmark v Georgia (14-0) 3000 - Italy v Malta (5-0) 1857 - Finland v Cyprus (4-0) 1200 - Austria v Kazakhstan (9-0) 1195 - Moldova v Azerbaijan (3-1) 1177 - Northern Ireland v Wales (0-0) 892 - Israel v Bosnia Herzegovina (1-3) 500 - Hungary v Latvia (4-0) The rest of the matches had less than 500.
When you're a player of a nation with attendances of around 1000-4000 and you have to play against the Orange team with 24,000-30,000 in the stands I guess it's a bit intimidating.