The tournament is starting soon, and so I'm opening some group discussion threads. I decided to go with the same format as in the past for the Olympics: threads for each group during the group stage and then we'll do individual match threads in the knockout rounds. All times are local. 21 July 2021 16:30: Great Britain vs Chile (Sapporo Dome) 19:30: Japan vs Canada (Sapporo Dome) 24 July 2021 16:30: Chile vs Canada (Sapporo Dome) 19:30: Japan vs Great Britain (Sapporo Dome) 27 July 2021 20:00: Chile vs Japan (Miyagi Stadium, Rifu) 20:00: Canada vs Great Britain (Kashima Stadium)
Lol, we can count on you, @lil_one, both here and on the US boards, hmm? I'd say that, for what concerns Japan's matches most of the live discussion about the single games will happen on the Nadeshiko Japan thread, but probably some of us will drop here to discuss the group in general.
Are these Olympics matches going to be televised or live-streamed anywhere in the U.S., does anyone know? I'm certainly keen to see Japan v. Great Britain, which should be an excellent match--and Canada versus both of those teams should be competitive as well. This is quite a strong group.
In my opinion there is no doubt whatsoever that this is the toughest of the three groups at these Olympics and the only one where I'd say that each team, even Chile (especially because of Christiane Endler), have a shot at advancing.
In the US? The NBC family of networks is televising all of the opening day matches live. So, the Great Britain vs Chile game will be at 3:30 am ET on the Olympic channel, and the Japan vs Canada game at 6:30 ET on NBCSN. All matches will stream live on the NBC Olympics website. https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-watch-soccer-tokyo-olympics
Refs appointments Great Britain - Chile Referee (RWA) MUKANSANGA Salima Assistant Referee 1 (MAW) KWIMBIRA Bernadettar Assistant Referee 2 (KEN) NJOROGE Mary 4th Official (NGR) MADU Ndidi Video Assistant Referee (VAR) (QAT) AL MARRI Abdulla Assistant VAR (AVAR) (SGP) BIN JAHARI Muhammad Japan - Canada Referee (BRA) ALVES Edina Assistant Referee 1 (BRA) BACK Neuza Assistant Referee 2 (ECU) AMBOYA Monica 4th Official (MRI) RIVET Maria Video Assistant Referee (VAR) (BRA) REWAY Wagner Assistant VAR (AVAR) (POR) MARTINS Tiago
I must admit I would have preferred for this group some of the "big names" that will referee the other groups, the likes of Venegas, that I always found excellent. Although it's true that I tend not to remember many of the referees standing even just below the very top-ones. For instance, it's the Rwandan referee assigned to GBR-CHI a debutant in a big senior-level tournament? I don't remember her from previous ones.
No, she was at the 2019 WWC. She only did one match as a center referee (Sweden-Thailand game) though in addition to one 4O appointment.
Small note on the 2 fourth officials here. They are both listed as support referees on the full referee list, so we'll only see them as 4ths (and the women's tournament needs the support officials because otherwise the center referees will be run ragged). Also Ndidi Patience Madu is from Nigeria, which is NGA not NGR (so as not to be confused with Niger, I guess).
Using the FIFA (Elo-ish) Ratings Japan (rating 1942 +100 homefield advantage) expected win pct (.613) over Canada (rating 1962) Great Britain (using England's 1974 rating) expected win pct (.884) over Chile (1622) Using performance ratings since 1/1/2020: Canada (performance rating 1960) is ever-so-slight favorite (. 526) over Japan (performance rating 1842 + 100 homefield advantage) Great Britain (using England's performance rating 1854) expected win pct (.788) over Chile (performance rating 1626) I've been calling Group E the Endler-Times because the big wild-card factor which could end a team's hopes for advancing as a 3rd place finisher is, of course, Chile's goalkeeper, Christiane Endler
I agree Alves is generally excellent. She wasn't firm enough when confronted with a cynical, even dirty team like China in the 2019 World Cup, but of course we don't expect that kind of problem in Japan vs Canada. Janine Beckie only looks like she's going to do mean things (tee-hee!)
🔴⚪🔵 Team news is in. Your #TeamGB starting line-up for the opener against Chile ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/83kAFLJbmT— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 21, 2021 🇨🇱⚽️ Damas y caballeros: el 11 histórico.📋Formación confirmada para enfrentar a Gran Bretaña en el debut olímpico de #LaRojaFemenina #VamosChile pic.twitter.com/tWxeNn5CLd— Selección Chilena (@LaRoja) July 21, 2021
GOAL!!!@ellsbells89 reacts quickest in the box to score from close range.🇬🇧 1-0 🇨🇱#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/jHXdanrpuv— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 21, 2021
GOAL!!!A second for @ellsbells89 who turns in @LucyBronze's cross from the right hand side!!🇬🇧 2-0 🇨🇱#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/eico4SthOD— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 21, 2021
6' | GOAL! Who else but Christine Sinclair to open the scoring at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for Canada! #CANWNT 🇨🇦1:0🇯🇵 #JPN#Tokyo2020 #RiseHigher pic.twitter.com/R66UONHsps— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) July 21, 2021
54' | AMAZING PK save from Labbe after being down for an extended period with an injury. #CANWNT 🇨🇦1:0🇯🇵 #JPN#Tokyo2020 #RiseHigher— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) July 21, 2021
What was the Canada player doing? The Japan keeper is miles from her goal, and it's a goal if the Canada player just lofts the ball at the goal. Instead, she decides to pass the ball and the opportunity for a second goal is lost--and this after a 2nd goal by Canada is called off by an offside call--and no replay is seen.
⚽️GOAL⚽️後半39分10 #岩渕真奈🏆#Tokyo2020 GS 第1節🇯🇵#なでしこジャパン 1-1 カナダ代表🇨🇦⌚️19:30KO📺#TBS/NHK-BS1にて放送中🔗https://t.co/fs4hlTQHYQ#jfa #daihyo #nadeshiko pic.twitter.com/4sE0zjnQ7n— JFAなでしこサッカー (@jfa_nadeshiko) July 21, 2021
Canada-Japan ends 1-1. Neither of the two teams did impress me, but everyone should admit that Sinclair and Iwabuchi sure make for a high quality scoreboard.
GB team lineup is quite interesting. Playing Stanway in that role might work with Bronze on that side. Will be intriguing to see how they do against Japan.