The match France-Italy will be broadcasted by RaiSport only at 10.30 pm...if somebody has a direct streaming please let me know...
Thanks very much for the link, Lechus7: I came home late, this evening, and I didn't have the time to check if any Italian TV channel was broadcasting the match. I only managed to watch the last 5-10 minutes of first half, and it seemed to me France was pushing to score, but the score suggests that the match is anyway closer than I had predicted, as @shlj had correctly foreseen instead. Not sure I'll be able to fully watch 2nd half, because I have some work to do, but I am going to keep the streaming open and I'll listen to it. Well, we all know Sarah Bouhaddi very well, don't we? I couldn't watch the goals (did I miss anything? I didn't see any highlights at HT ), but I suppose Italy's goal had to be due to some "collaboration".
Well, I honestly didn't believe it was possible for Italy to stop France on their home soil, but the match ended 1-1 Yes, in 2nd half there was a scramble in the box ending with a shot that was pulled out by Italian GK Giuliani after it arguably could have gone completely beyond the goal-line, so France could have deserved 2-1, but, on the other hand, in the second part of 2nd half Italian pressing seemed to work quite well and Italy began camping more and more in French side of the pitch. No really dangerous actions, but lot of CKs and FKs, that somehow justify the draw as the final result. Italian style was of course more physical (Bonansea got a well-deserved Yellow Card towards the end of the match), but nothing actually very blatant, I'd say. And I saw some nice actions from Rosucci and especially from Bonansea on the left side of Italian offensive front: her speed and ball controll impress me more than any Italian player did in the last 10-15 years.
I only saw 1st half. In my view beside gift from Bouhaddi it was one way French traffic there that should've ended with few more goals for them and at least one Italian send off with red. From what you've said I assume that in 2nd half France get tired and Italy was finally able to string some passes.
Four Nations Tournament China 2 - 1 Thailand (Wang Shanshan 30', Ren Guixin 48' - Kanjana Sung-Ngoen 21') https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=820315268175882
I watched some of the first half of this game. "Uninspired" play may be giving the game more credit than it deserves. I turned it off, very disappointed.
Vietnam 0 - 2 Colombia (Four Nation Tournament) (Gonzalez 18', Usme 36') South Africa 0 - 3 Sweden (Mbane 10'(o.g), Kullashi 47' 69')
Considering Holland, I wonder if Wiegman (and Veurink) didn't went too complacent lately trusting that they will win games on their players quality alone. With Poppe De Haan (I consider him behind the curtain "father" of Oranje success) gone after EURO, Netherlands playbook is starting to look a bit transparent under those two. WWCQ game last year against Ireland shoud've been first warning for their Fed. Bell found a key to Netherlands tactics and an average Ireland team draw the match. Vilda did the same yesterday but having better quality players he was able to win with them. I do hope that Oranje Fed will do smth to adress the issue cuz it could prove huge blow for WoSo in Europe would Netherlands didn't qulify to WWC in France.
Jill Ellis didn't have to worry about Pernille Harder; the Danes did a pretty good job of not passing the ball to her. The only highlights I could find is from the this Euro based site & in typical fashion, refuses to acknowledge the real star of the game; the US intense, high pressure that made the play-from-the-back Danes give up one ball after another.
@hotjam2 lol, I said this exact kind of result would happen post Euro's.... While everybody was cheering the demise of the more established wnt's during the Euro's, I posted about how loudly the US girls would be laughing at the clear mediocrity of Europe's best attempting to compete them in the next few months... and here we are lol.
but what are you saying; is there no one in Europe that can step up to the plate? cuz right now, thanks to their horrid coaches, the big 3(Germany, England & France) don't inspire much confidence, Despite an array of great league coaches, Germany decided to give it 's head coach to a complete novice. England got right now a 250 pound lady named Mo Marley, who looks like she spends her time everyday at the local McDonald's than in training with her squad & it's obvious that France's disaster in Germany was no fluke as their win less in their last 3 games. Surprisingly. Jones looks like the most promising as she did seem to make a 360 degree reversal in her coaching skills last match, but hmm......,most likely had secret 'horse whisperer' feeding her on what to do. She still has a hard road ahead of her with a must win on the return bout in Iceland. England has a rather easy group to qualify for the WC, but they sacked the one major NT coach that understood the importance of using strong, high pressing game. Their thinking of hiring Phil Neville, but now he's stuck in controversy after the FA found out that he tried once to sponsor a lingerie soccer league. France is in a driver's seat in that don't have to qualify for the WC. but then their playing with no real competitiveness in their souls. They seem to be more about wish full thinking that their up coming youth players will Katoto somehow be the stars of next year, even though every promising tyke out of France over the last few years has flubbed in the senior stage. Their previous coach at least had the right idea.........a good defense is a good offence(heck, even Neid knew that with her attacking FB's, even if she let the flanks go defenseless) & knew the key to unlocking the US high pressure game(and that's get rid of the ball from the danger zones as humanly fast as possible!) but all this was forgotten by the Danes with their constant back passing, as they seemed clueless on what was going to hit them. Harder must of been thinking how much she missed Wolfsburg with Hansen & Pajor on each side, Popp behind her with a coach that believed in attacking soccer!
germany are awful not only because of the coach but because they have the worst CB(s) in the women's game called Peter and Henning lol. Ellis is a similar poor coach but her choice of defensive players are at least great I don't get it with France though, I'm sure they would love to win the world cup on home soil or?
The coach is rebuilding the team after a 2013-2017 era where Bergeroo and Echouafni moved away from the traditional French football and moved towards the american way of playing but the experiment failed. Back to square one.
Fun fact: with the lone exception of the USA-hosted tournaments, every single WWC host has been eliminated at the QF stage (and China, who should have hosted in 2003, was eliminated at the QFs in USA03). And every country that has hosted at one point did better than the QFs at least once.
LOL... no. Without some serious improvements, I feel like the European sides who qualify for the WC should just be pleased FIFA actually decided to increase the number of participating teams; this making it near impossible for them not to escape the group stages in France.
@hotjam2 I'm not quite sure about how or why it's happening, but I'm starting to think the wider evolution of the pro club scene within Europe may have played some role in the general stagnation of the quality showcased between the confederations top international programs. And while it may sound strange to say, it comes from me looking at the global status of the games top clubs, and seeing them being filled with increasing numbers of foreign talents, in turn halting the more established old cycle of the women's game that would once favored one or two faux wnt's/domestic clubs aggregating all the nations top domestic talents. I know long held amateurish attitudes towards coaching is likely the real answer here lol, but I also feel like the new elites of the club scene already being able to produce tactically, and technically, better contests of football outside of anything witnessed on the international scene, accentuates the deficiencies of current wnt coaches.