http://www.concacaf.com/page/WOQ/NewsDetail/0,,12813~2362019,00.html Vancouver will host Concacaf January 19-29. I hope they have a dome http://www.concacaf.com/page/WOQ/NewsDetail/0,,12813~2389684,00.html Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti will represent the CFU. Not sure when the Central America tournament will be.
A ticketing announcement is up at the CSA site http://canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=4940 for the CONCACAF final qualifying tournament.
Japan, North Korea & South Africa have now joined Great Britian(hosts), Brazil, Colombia, France & Sweden as qualifiers for the Olympics.
Cameroon qualified. Cameroon lost 1-2 away and won 2-1 at home in their playoff series with Nigeria. They prevailed 4-3 on penalties after the home leg to win the qualifying spot.
I guess there's a change going on in Africa as Nigeria no longer seems to be the powerhouse and Ghana has dropped off quite a bit. Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon & South Africa all seem to have stepped up their games in the past few years.
Probable field in 2012 Olympic Games (12 teams) Sweden France Great Britain (host) New Zealand Japan North Korea Cameroon South Africa Brazil Colombia USA Canada *This tournament doesn't feel the same without Germany, Norway, China, and Australia. I wish those four could have gotten in over one of the African teams (Cameroon perhaps) and over North Korea, Colombia, etc.
Unless there's a major upset, New Zealand is off to the Olympics. This leaves just the CONCACAF spots to be determined in January. QUALIFIED: Great Britian France Sweden Brazil Colombia Japan North Korea Cameroon South Africa [New Zealand] [Two from: USA, Canada or Mexico]
Now that they have qualified for the Olympics, I wonder if Cameroon will be able to entice the Banecki sisters. It doesn't seem like Silvia Neid has any interest in them.
It is a safe bet, unless they some way lose pretty much the entire first team I can't se how they could fail.
Ticket on sale today in Europe for the tournament. They have only released the team GB dates. Luckily the stadium are quite big so no risk of selling out before the draw .
Cameroon I found video from the second leg of the Cameroon-Nigeria Olympic Games qualifier on YouTube. Thanks to a user named FootCameroon for uploading these -- it's a treat to see Cameroon for the first time. Here is Cameroon's first goal. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGsXrHAcJtI"]Cameroon-Nigeria 2nd leg Olympic qualifier -- Zouga Edoa goal[/ame] Here is Cameroon's second goal. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znf_FGhuwAI"]Cameroon-Nigeria 2nd leg Olympic qualifier -- Manie penalty goal[/ame] Here is the first half hour of the 2nd half of the match [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PF0KeqmhpA"]Cameroon-Nigeria 2nd leg Olympic qualifier 2nd half beginning[/ame] Here is the rest of the second half. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIqH-uGiRdI]Cameroon-Nigeria 2nd leg Olympic qualifier 2nd half conclusion[/ame] Some comments: Their system looks like a 4-2-3-1. Mihalme (12) Aboudi Onguene (7) - Zouga (6) - Ngono Mani (9) Ejangue Siliki (5) - Feudjio (18) Beyene (10) - Sonkeng (15) - Manie (2) - Meffometou Tcheno (13) Ngo Ndom (1) The wide attacking players, Madeleine Ngono Nani (9) and Gabrielle Aboudin Onguene (7) have exceptional pace. In the play that leads to the penalty and second goal, both of them outrun the Nigeria back line to a long clearance -- not something I see very often. Ajara Nchout Njoya (3), who played wide to the right as a substitute (pushing Ngoni Nani to the slot position behind the central striker) is also fast, but not quite in the class of the others. All three are crafty dribblers who are eager to take on defenders. They always look to cut in with the dribble, and not to cross. When Ngoni Nani moved to a central role, she held the ball well under pressure. Cameroon play narrowly and often persist in trying to dribble or pass the ball through tight spaces up the middle. There is little width since the wide attacking players always cut in and the fullbacks do not get into the attack much. Nigeria used their width better even though they were a women down for the 2nd half. Iven Mihalme is a natural target player -- she seems big and strong, but with an outstanding ability to control difficult long balls played up to her. I have no idea if she is any good heading the ball, since Cameroon didn't produce a single good aerial cross. Francine Zouga (6), who began the half in the attacking central midfield role, and Gaelle Enganamouit (17), who came on as a substitute for her, both have the ability to create chances seemingly out of thin air. Although both are skilled with the ball, Enganmouit has better vision -- she really seems to know where everyone is on the pitch all the time -- and is the team's best passer. Enganmouit has an especially hard shot, and she is willing to take her chances from well outside of the area. Enganmouit dropped into a more holding role when Nchout Njoya came on and Ngono Nani moved into a central attacking position. The holding midfielders, Augustine Ejangue Siliki (5) or Raissa Feudjio (18), do not appear too comfortable with the ball at their feet, and they tend to be hasty and over-ambitious with their passes. Ejangue Siliki was badly beaten on the Nigeria goal. The right fullback, Claudine Meffemotou Tcheno (13), is confident on the ball and gets into the attack a bit more than her counterpart on the left, Ariane Bebey Beyene (10). Beyene was the only player consistently willing to cross the ball from wide positions, but her crosses lacked accuracy and purpose. The defenders sometimes appeared not to have worked out who was covering which space, and Meffemetou Tcheno seemed to drift all over the back line.
After plenty of carry-on at a political level, the OFC Olympic Women's Football Tournament qualifying process has finally been resolved. The first phase of qualifying for London 2012 will take place in Tonga from March 1 - 9. Two groups - one of four teams, the other of three, will play a round-robin format, with the top two in each progressing to cross-over semi-finals and a final. The teams involved in this phase are American Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. The phase one winners will then take on the Football Ferns home and away to determine Oceania's representatives at London 2012. The first leg will take place in New Zealand on 31 March, with the first phase winners hosting the second leg on 4 April. The Football Ferns are playing the USA in Dallas, Texas, this weekend (11 February), and follow that up at the end of the month with Cyprus Cup group games against Northern Ireland, South Africa and Korea Republic, plus a placement match. Should the Football Ferns qualify for London 2012, their plan is to play at least three matches in Europe prior to their Olympic commitments, i.e. play a minimum of ten internationals prior to kicking a ball in anger at the Olympics. Cheers, JR
The official FIFA document. Team GB is playing in group E as previously announced which means France and Sweden will be in Group F and G. Interesting to note there will be only 3 women's games played in London actually. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tou...ympicgames_matchschedulemix_fifa_14022011.pdf
I can't read that link. It is not there. As far as London is concerned, I imagine they want the tourists to go to other cities and spend their money. There are too many of them in London already.
You are right, it did work when it was new. Not sure about that, it is over a month old newsnow but the hotels in London did actually (in early January) have fewer bookings for the summer of 2012 than a normal summer. Probably due to the facts that they jacked up the prices to much.
Any informations about the drawing procedure? Last tournament all pots were divided by confederation (more or less). We had Asia China (hosts) Japan North Korea Europe Germany Sweden Norway Americas USA Canada Brazil Rest of the world Argentina Nigeria New Zealand This year it looks different: We can make Europe Team GB (hosts) Sweden France Americas USA Canada Brazil But then we're left of with two Asian teams, two African teams, the second South American team and New Zealand. My guess would be "Asia" Japan North Korea New Zealand Rest of the world South Africa Cameroon Colombia Problem is, that in the "Asia" pot there is a huge difference of strength between the best and the worst team. I would prefer to switch Canada and Japan and then just ensure no two teams from the same confederation get in the same group.
I think there will be a pot with the seeds (Great Britain, Japan, United States), a pot with the three best remaining non-UEFA sides (Brazil, Canada, North Korea), a pot with the other two UEFA sides (France, Sweden), and a pot with the rest (Cameroon, Colombia, New Zealand, South Africa). They will have the usual rules to prevent having more than one team from the same federation in a group, of course.
What if they use the FIFA ranking as procedure for the draw ; using the same system of FIFA avoiding teams of the same confederation by setting it in the next group : Fifa Ranking : Pot 1 : USA - ****** - GB (HOST) pot 2 : BRA- SWE - FRA Pot 3 : CAN - PRRK -NZ Pot 4 : SUF- CAM - COL Groups : A) USA- FRANCE - RPD KOREA- CAMEROON B) JAPAN- SWEDEN- NEW ZEALAND - COLOMBIA C) GREAT BRITAIN- BRAZIL -CANADA - SOUTH AFRICA
I think those pots look fine. In "Asia" pot, if you think New Zealand is weak, you are mistaken. They lead the US until the 88th minute and lost 2-1. They looked as good as any team I've seen playing the US, even Japan.