World Cup Anticipation News, Feb–May 2019

Discussion in 'Women's World Cup' started by sbahnhof, Feb 9, 2019.

  1. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
    April internationals

    Who on earth will actually win this Women's World Cup? Only you can tell us :eek: And it's OK to get it wrong. It's less clear than ever!

    The U.S. and Australia played out an entertaining 5-3, but... they both would've preferred a 0-0? :coffee:
    (Highlights: U.S. Soccer, Youtube)
    [​IMG]



    France beat Japan with goals by Gauvin, Le Sommer and Diani, and recent debut Rikako Kobayashi scored for Japan, highlights here:
    [​IMG] (Youtube)


    Canada beat England and Nigeria, Brazil lost to Spain and to Scotland:

    (Highlights: Scotland 1 - 0 Brazil, in Spain)
    [​IMG]


    England got a 2-1 win at home to Spain.


    Germany won in Sweden - and then Nadeshiko Japan and Germany drew 2-2, both losing goals from errors. The Netherlands were impressive in a 7-0 win v Chile, who'll play Sweden and the USA in World Cup Group F. And Norway felt the force of New Zealand, :confused: you don't know your own strength sometimes.

    (Highlights: Sweden 1 - 2 Germany)
    [​IMG]

     
  2. Fun is that the candidates are plenty, so entertaining it will be.
    But which team is going to win? I've no idea.
     
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  3. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    I think that, while there are many teams that theoretically have a semi-realistic shot at winning, depending on having good days and a good knockout draw, I think betting on anyone outside the top 4 teams is gonna be a long shot. 538 said something similar about the previous WWC and I bet they'll say the same this time if they repeat the analysis for this cycle. The problem, of course, is that while the rest of the top 10 can probably defeat any one of the top 4 on any given day, getting two or more such victories is highly unlikely.

    That said, three of the top four are slated to be on the same side of the knockout bracket if they win their groups, and if Germany's recent performance run falters (e.g. a regression to the mean of sorts, though of course TBD where the "mean" actually is) and they get runner-up in their group, then they could also land in the same half of the bracket as the other three, which would guarantee someone outside the top 4 making the final - in which case I'd say all bets are off.
     
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  4. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I was asking myself if there was any historical evidence against your claim, but I guess that even Japan's win in 2011 (the most unexpected World Champion in the history of WWC, I'd say) happened when they were 4th-ranked in the world, if I remember well. Is my memory serving me well indeed? :cautious:
     
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  5. BarryfromEastenders

    Staff Member

    Jul 6, 2008
    I’m not sure there is a real formidable fave for the tournament this time. If I had to pick a team that could go on a streak of wins in the knockouts it would be Japan. It will be a great tournament regardless. Looking forward to it starting :cool:
     
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  6. SiberianThunderT

    Sep 21, 2008
    DC
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    They were either 4th or very close to it (i.e. 5th) before the 2011 tournament, yes.

    However, it's less a statement of ranking and more a statement of rating. There's a gap of over 33pts between 4th and 5th, and another such large gap between 7th and 8th. (This is looking at the official rankings and not the "performance" ratings.) Basically, even though we're seeing higher parity now that at any time in the past, the gaps are still juuuust big enough that it's unlikely for a weaker team to beat multiple "top teams" in the same tournament.
     
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  7. lil_one

    lil_one Member+

    Nov 26, 2013
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes, they were 4th coming into the WWC.
     
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  8. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I am not sure how popular Panini stickers are outside of Italy, but they are anyway an official licensed product, so I suppose they somehow sell overseas also.

    Anyway, it was a lot of years I wasn't buying a stickers' album, but I did for WWC 2019! :D Talk about growing anticipation and excitement! :p

    I had even thought about opening a thread about it, but I am not sure if there is anyone interested on these boards. Any other stickers' collectors, guys? :giggle:
     
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  9. :ROFLMAO:How many little nephews and nieces do you have? If you have any you know you wouldnot stand a chance to keep them for yourself. Supermarket chains from time to time launch a "voetbalplaatjes" collecting campaign in which you get a sealed how do you call that thing with a little picture card of a player or club in it.
    Wonder if one of those chains is going to launch a women soccer cards campaign this summer. It would be a first.
     
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  10. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I actually fell for it and made a thread for the sticker album! :p
     
  11. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    it might be only a 3 tourney winning streak, but one thing i noticed that the team from the toughest group, ended up winning the tournament(2015 WC, 2016 Olympics, 2017 Euros). Possibly cuz playing tougher opponents at the start(or in group play) better prepared them for the playoff/elimination games.

    based on this theory. I would predict the winner will come from the England, Japan, Scotland, Argentina. This isn't a group of death(since I don't expect the low ranked Argentians to compete), but(with me feeling that Scotland is a lot stronger than their #20 ranking suggests) definitely a battle between the top 3 as well as important to win th group to stay on the easier half of the playoffs.

    but it's not like it is the strongest group I've ever seen/ or at least lnot like the US 2015 WC group that had 3 top ten teams in it, as well as germany's 2016 OG's, so my theory/winning streak might just come to and end!
     
  12. soccernutter

    soccernutter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Tottenham Hotspur
    Aug 22, 2001
    Near the mountains.
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Seriously.
    Yea, up until that past couple of weeks, I've been thinking US or Germany, and maybe England who were on form.
    But now?...Yeah, that team.
    You know, them.
     
  13. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
  14. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
    Ah, y'know, lots of reasons. He's the proud father of Ettie. His smiling face reminds everyone of a fine footballing summer. AND he isn't very popular in France, shlj told me. People are angry at a cartoon character. :confused:
     
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  15. shlj

    shlj Member+

    Apr 16, 2007
    London
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    yes, the mexican wave, footix, all those kind of supporters are welcomed at games lol
     
  16. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
    Not like the true supporters, who thought the height of wit was calling the other team's fans paedophiles.

    About PSG, @shlj, you posted about their fan bus turned away from the Chelsea match in London. L'Equipe had a subscriber-only article, unwittingly titled "The truth" (© Kelvin MacKenzie 1989), I paid a full €1 to read it at the time.

    From memory, they spoke to the police and PSG ultras/staff, and said a knuckle-duster was indeed found, and one small (small!) bag of cocaine :confused: hence "drugs". And that article said the knives were to cut sandwiches, although other sources had said saucisse... And rather than graffitiing, it mentioned stickering at the ground. It's all a bit less than was reported at first. Probably not enough for police to refuse 60 people entry, but PSG were really reaching to call it a great injustice.
     
  17. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
    #42 sbahnhof, May 10, 2019
    Last edited: May 10, 2019
    And yeah, it's that rare time, when USWNT forumers remember that the other teams exist.

    WWC - Who has the best team, and who is likely to win?
    - https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/wwc-who-has-the-best-team-and-who-is-likely-to-win.2103612/

    Can't believe no one else thought of that question.

    Re: Overconfidence – a few months ago I may have implied that Australia weren't overconfident, because of the team's coaching crisis. In fact, it's given them their overconfidence back, and maybe they "might just have found the coach to give Australia their best ever shot at winning a World Cup", perhaps, allegedly.
     
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  18. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
    Gilmoy, feyenoordsoccerfan and cpthomas repped this.
  19. JohnPaulJones

    JohnPaulJones Red Card

    Celtic Glasgow
    Jan 15, 2019
  20. CoachJon

    CoachJon Member+

    Feb 1, 2006
    Rochester, NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have been watching a variety of the national teams' roll-out videos on twitter and it makes me massively charged up in anticipation.

    I believe the European-centered aspects of this WC will make the whole event fairly explode worldwide. To re-state the obvious, women's football is far, far beyond what it was for Germany in 2011. In 2015, there was a big time zone difference between Canada and Europe and the US pretty much had home field advantage. This 2019 WC builds on the European Championships in 2017 and the home team is one of the teams favored to win it all.

    I was curious about which teams the wagering community favored to win, as a different point of view from the multitude of soccer pundits who have and will be making predictions. I observed the following:
    USA (+300 to 350); France (+333 to 350); Germany (+450 to 550); England (+600 to 700); Netherlands (+1000 to 1200); Japan (+1200 to 1400); Australia (+1400 to 1800); Brazil (+1600 to 1800).

    After the US, I will be cheering for England, Australia, and the Netherlands.
     
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  21. Lechus7

    Lechus7 Member+

    Aug 31, 2011
    Wroclaw
    Chile sendoff match vs. Colombia
     
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  22. sbahnhof

    sbahnhof Member+

    Nov 21, 2016
    Aotearoa
  23. hotjam2

    hotjam2 Member+

    Nov 23, 2012
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    I fast fwd most of the game, but from what Ive seen, Colombia was the better team. Considering COL haven't played in nearly an year, it's scary how poor Chile has become, as well as the other two South American squads(ARG & BRA), as they've lost most their friendlies during the year.
    So taking it; the world has not caught up?(or at least SA)

    Abby Wambach's old nemesis, Lady Andrade, was pog(though they were missing Rincon)

    Endler looked like a giant walking among bean stalks, woner how tall she is?
     
  24. MiLLeNNiuM

    MiLLeNNiuM Member+

    Aug 28, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
     
  25. Lechus7

    Lechus7 Member+

    Aug 31, 2011
    Wroclaw
    #50 Lechus7, May 20, 2019
    Last edited: May 20, 2019
    Colombia wasn't the better team that night, the hosts created more and had better chances, but what is of more importance Chile has now depth in their squad, especially if you compare this team to one from year ago they had in Copa America.

    Chile starting XI's:

    2018 vs. Brazil (Copa Am.)
    Endler, Soto, Guererro, Galaz, Saez, Araya, Lopez, Lara, Aedo, Rojas, Leyton

    yesterday vs. Colombia
    Endler, Soto, Lara, Soto, Araya, Galaz, Toro, Saez, Zamora, Urrutia, Balmaceda

    Guerrero, Lopez, Aedo, Rojas started on the bench yesterday while Leyton wasn't even in the squad
     

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