Group B Germany Italy Russia Sweden 17th July 18:00 ITA – RUS (Sparta Stadium, Rotterdam) 17th July 20:45 GER – SWE (Rat Verlegh, Breda) 21st July 18:00 SWE – RUS (De Adelaarshorst, Deventer) 21st July 20:45 GER – ITA (King Willem II, Tilburg) 25th July 20:45 SWE – ITA (Vijverberg, Doetichem) 25th July 20:45 RUS – GER (Galgenwaard, Utrecht)
My prediction easy win for Italy against Russia , I say 3-0 , and a boring 0-0 at Sweden vs Germany because the Swedish will refuse to attack.
same old debzy with her poor choice of words, lol. I don't think anybody will "refuse" to attack, but they might lay back more of their players & counter attack. The better term might be 'park the bus', and that's what the last 3 teams did vs Germany in friendlies(the higher ranked Canada & Brazil, plus Norway). There's two reasons for this; 1) Whether it's Neid or Jones as coach, Germany like to take control of the midfield through a patient /disciplined, short passing game, while bringing numbers into the attack. Furious counter attacks(like we've saw out of the Dutch) is not their norm, but they will high press to get the occasional turnovers on the opposing team's deep end. We saw similar tactics used by Lyon in the CL final where Maro, Kumagai & Abily used the triangle, short passing technique to take command of the midfield. I got to question, with a team with so much superior talent want to do this, Why, why, why? It just slows down the game(which you would think a team with superior talent will eventually win anyways). Another reason to pull back is of course the sort of tug-of-war between full backs & the German FB's of love to move way up, but that obviously can expose the flanks. 2) Jones starters on defense might just be her weakest link; she keeps on insisting on especially using Josephine Henning at CB, when most observers will tell you that she's very mediocre. Jones keeps on starting Schult at GK, when the latter has been caught sleep walking in her last games; you got to see the goal she let in vs Brazil, or the bomb she left in from Freiburg, to know what I'm writing about. Opposing team will surely want to isolate those defenders(as the other usual starting CB, Peter, isn't all that good either). Of course Jones could nullify the situation by putting better defenders back, ans she's got plenty to choose from like Hendrich & Demann. So the big drama in the German camp is, will Jones finally figure out how bad Henning, Peter & Schult are, or won't she? on offence; look for some newbies to sparkle for Germany. Magull is an even better AM then the more taunted Marozsan. Kayikci gives them much needed speed upfront. But the one I really love is Dallmann. She's especially good vs park the bus teams. She's so small, she's seems to fly under radar! She scored against Canada & hit the crossbar as well, with such top defenders like Lawrence & Buchanen right beside her. With such quality players at her disposal, the only question will remain; will Jones use them, or go with more experienced veterans like Mittag, Dabritz & Kemme upfront?
Mittag is a sure starter I read. I've seen some "possible" starting line ups in German media and I've seen no Henning or Kerschowski in any of them. I hope Steffi starts Dallmann and Magull today. Still waiting for it to be announced.
I like both teams. It's hard for me to root against Sweden's #5. Although I don't care for their manager, I'd like to see Sweden get over that Germany hump eventually. I think this match ends in a draw.
Lol...well Cowards is a very strong word, I would choose cautious....Anyway, a draw at this stage of the competition is clearly the best result for both teams as this group, pardon me Italians, have clearly two teams too strong for the other two so need to attack that much and consequently loose precious energy today. Russia is arguably the weakest and Sweden face them next...a draw today and three points next will allow Schelin and co to face Italy with serenity while losing will not allow them to do so...I don't think Sweden have what it takes to beat Germany. Anyway, the game just started Forza Azzure!!
Well, just finished watching 1st half. It's depressing that Russia basically had 2 shots and 2 goals (one from a CK we shouldn't have conceded), but the real problem is that coach Cabrini actually didn't bring the best team in Netherlands. Two FWs as Bonetti and Giacinti would have been useful right now! Also, refereeing is too much soft: everytime Gabbiadini gets the ball she's fouled and we had Gama butchered out (Russia scored when she wasn't able to mark and was going to be subbed out for her injury) but the referee didn't feel the need to card any of Russian players!
Nah Norway ain't that bad, they just miss some prominent players on the midfield and against the Netherlands they just played on the defense with Thorisdottir kicking out every ball. I guess in more open matches against for instance Belgium, Norway will flame on the counter.
I am sure you are being sarcastic If not, Italy would have beaten Sweden and England earlier in the year by bigger margins than Norway, in friendlies, would have beaten the USA and France in friendlies recently (since they are better than Norway) and of course, would have beaten the Netherlands yesterday, since they are better than Norway. Norway game was a disappointment yesterday, for sure, but do not disrespect them P.S. I mean no disrespect towards Italy, btw.
Only 5 international friendlies (4 of them in Algarve Cup) this year for Italy, equals - I guess, poor team cohesion as shown by their players in this game. Russia lost most of their friendlies as well but played 10 int. matches since January this year and against teams like USA, Sweden, Canada, Denmark and Netherlands. Russia work better and look better on the field in this game, if their stamina levels will hold till the end they will win it.
The ref that is woman soccer at its best. Why wasnt it a penalty? Yes Of course it was a foul of the italian girl lol. Maybe the ref decided the game. A 1:2 at halftime is much better than a 0:2.Russia is playing very intelligent. Italy is better in therms of technics and style of play. Russia they are playing what they can. Fighting,defense and dangerous at the few attacks. 20 Minutes to go.