here's all the goals of the semis one very bad news, Catlin Foord will be out of the finals, out of the Algarve Cup & possibly out of the NWSL(depending on the recovery time) where she did just sign an contract with the Portland Thorns https://www.instagram.com/p/BfFJaZ6FfB8/
Australia: SBS Viceland, SBS Live, Foxtel Now, Fox Sports 501 Ireland: BT Sport 1, BT Sport Live United Kingdom: BT Sport 1, BT Sport Live BT Sport 1 livestream (watch out for pop-up adverts)
THREE. IN. A. ROW! 🏆🏆🏆🎥: @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/zdnGFFPjP6— Liberty A-League (@aleaguewomen) February 18, 2018
Fishlock's talent is undeniable. She seems to be in the best shape of her career and can't stop scoring important goals. Seattle will hope she can carry this over into NWSL season.
I am thrilled by the fact that Seattle Reign have in their team 5 players from champions of Melbourne City FC (Williams, Catley, Barnes, Fishlock, Taylor). But Blaze20 says that historically Westfield W-League's performances don't use to transfer well into NWSL.
I am less than pleased from this weekend. Well, we certainly have to include MCFC in any conversation of "top W-League teams" moving forward, with their fourth major honor in just three seasons. I'm also curious now..... (Well, for one, I shouldn't have gloated. For two: ) I wonder if this is the first time a team has gone from bottom of the table at any point in the season to Champions? I'm guessing not, but I'd have to comb through all the past week-by-weeks to see for sure.
I want to put a plug in for the Liga MX Femenil (Mexican women's league), now in its second season and doing well. The championship match in 2017 drew more than 30,000 spectators. Women and girls were admitted free. There are 16 teams in the league and the quality from team to team varies substantially. Some of the players are teenagers and they are mixed with old pros. The website of the Liga is impressive and youtube videos of highlights of the matches are frequently posted. Often the highlights are 10 minutes long. Videos of a few full matches are also available on youtube. Need I say that Mexican announcers are more animated than English-speaking announcers! It helps, of course, to understand Spanish. I've developed affection for several players, especially Tania Morales of Guadalajara (team nickname "Chivas"). She's the team captain and attacking midfielder with a head of bushy black hair that makes her just about as recognizable on the pitch as Rapinoe and her blond thatch. Tania is 31 and has been on the Mexican National team -- and is training again with the NT this spring. Maybe we'll see her in the upcoming match with the U.S. Another favorite is Blanca Felix, goalkeeper for Chivas. She is 21 years old and fearless, throwing her body into the job, maybe a little too short at 5 51/2 to be an international quality goalkeeper but she's got a lot of pizazz. She may also be in the US for the upcoming friendly. Lucero Cuevas with America (Mexico City) is a goal scoring machine. She's also 21 years old and she wears a wide black headband that gives her a Darth Vader-like look from a distance -- although up close she has a sweet smile. Cuevas has also been called up to the Mexican National Team. The league only allows players who were born in Mexico, an error I think, but one which hopefully will be rectified this year.
by the end of the season, MC did look the strongest on paper. my theory is that thanks to couple of stars like Taylor & Luik joining them mid season helped them(along with Devanna & Foord at Sydney) have a strong ending. in a league that doesn't go all that deep. The domestic players seemed handicapped vs the year rounders like Fishlock & Kerr, as the season is kinda short(less than 4 months) & even shorter training/pre season. So getting Euro golden boot winner like Jody Taylor really helped. anyways, I heard a lot of controversy in this game(as a MC player stepped on the GK right before Fishlock scored) & that Fishlock was very conceited in an interview right after the game is Lucero part of the Cuevas family?(Leonardo, coach of the Club America, son, Chris, head of both the youth & senior NT's). the league has both pro's & cons. The big crowds seem more like a novelty, thanks to woso being so suppressed for so long in Mexico/ Keep on eye out for the CB, Miriam Garcia(Pumas) as she won the Concacaf u20 MVP over likes of Davidson & Huitema. The league still has a long way to go as only about half of the usual Mexican NT is playing in it(& their only rated at #26 in FIFA rankings) & right now seems like them most popular player in it is Norma Palafox(over 1 mill views on some of her youtube vids) more known for her cheeky dancing(after scoring a goal) than for being a top tier talent.
Lucero Cuevas mentioned in an interview that her relatives all play soccer -- but I didn't get the impression that any of them are prominent. With regard to Mexican woman, I've been predicting (wrongly) for many years that Mexico would soon have a world class women's national team. Maybe with a new coach now -- and the Liga MX Femenil to develop talent that will happen. Or maybe it will be that "Mexico is the country of the future -- and always will be." (actually, that's an old joke about Brazil.)
Answering my own question: Seems like it's only happened once before, back in the '13-'14 season. Then, like this year, a Melbourne side (then the Victory) lost the first game of the season badly enough to land at the bottom of the table but fairly quickly climbed back into competitiveness and then won the championship.