Agreed all the way around. But as I have not seen much of Portugal, I was really impressed with their defense/tenacity. I really thought that if they were able to get a couple of counter attacks they might be able to a goal. Hard to determine with the after seeing the highlights v. Nigeria as Nigeria's defense was atrocious. That said, at least from the highlights, going forward Nigeria were much more energetic and much more reminiscent of how the US played at WC19. I also really like Pereira as a shot stopper. She might not be have a good kick, or be a sweeper-keeper of sorts, but she was solid between the posts.
Isn't fielding 6 attackers (4-0-6) vs. 51st ranked team just rude but the result's only 4-0 so perhaps (3-0-7) would'vee been better btw Lloyd looks offside on 1st goal. VAR will sort this out at Olympics.
-------------------------------Summer Series 2021---------------------- Portugal 3 - 3 Nigeria (full match) (Okeke 22(og), Costa 34, Telma 48 - Alozie 44, Gomes 51(og), Ajibade 90+4) USA 4 - 0 Jamaica (full match) (Lloyd 1, Horan 7, Purce 21, Morgan 90+1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 14th Poland 5 - 0 Czech Republic (full match) (Pajor 26 34, Achcińska 43, Zawistowska 68, Buszewska 87) Austria 2 - 3 Italy (full match) (highlights) (Bila 12, Wenninger 68 - Soffia 3 53, Linari 76) Canada 0 - 0 Brazil (fullmatch) (highlights) Belarus 1 - 1 Uzbekistan (full match) (Alkhovic 14 - Karachik 70) Slovakia 3 - 1 Romania (full match) (Hmirova 29 33, Surnovska 41 - Rus 6) Hungary 2 - 3 Serbia (Vago 1, Pappai 72 - Blagojevic 26, Cankovic 40, Poljak 55) Russia 1 - 0 Finaland (Smirnova 61) Georgia 0 - 0 Azerbaijan Turkey 3 - 1 Bulgaria (Uraz 23, Cumet 25, Karabulut 47 - Popadinova 78) Morocco 3 - 2 Mali (full match) (Sacko 12(og), Senhaji 14 35 - A.Diarra 29 43)
Netherlands v Norway in progress, Spitse just scored a great freekick to make it 2-0 (gk looking into the sun but didn't stand a chance anyway) . Miedema scored the opener from outside the box with an excellent strike into the far right corner... Very open game so far, Norway came to play.
Great 5-0 goal by Miedema! Norway took an in-game time out after the 4-0 [emoji16]. Team huddle on the pitch... If it doesn't get uploaded on YouTube as usually the case I might do it myself... Rampant, this could end up 10-0 [emoji39] Farewell game for Moe Wold apparently. Will be substituted in the 78th minute I hear...
Martens was electric, Miedema combined excellently with two high quality finishes, and Roord was great with a goal, an assist, and a secondary assist. Van de Donk was great with a goal, two assists, and the free kick win, Spitse was steady with a fantastic free kick, and Groenen got around the pitch well repeatedly getting stuck in and starting the sequences for the 4th, 5th, and 6th goals. Nouwen had a number of great passes and was secure defensively, and I thought Folkertsma was excellent in tandem with Groenen. Janssen had some iffy moments, but she had goal involvements on the 4th and 5th goals (not sure if she ultimately gets credited with a goal and an assist). I thought van der Gragt was the least impressive starter, but she was still largely fine. Van de Sanden (a nice finish and a great cutback for van de Donk), Pelova, and Beerensteyn (great play on the 6th goal) all impressed off the bench. A few good but routine saves from van Veenendaal. Note: L'orange, does van de Sanden's goal count as a chipped shot? Thought you might have been happy to see that.
Yeah, Norway played like the season has already ended some time ago and players are thinking now about booking tickets for holidays
sad, sad, sad Have Norway ever lost 7-0? WTF I cannot believe the coach has no responsibility for this. Are the players really giving it their best? I know Caro, Maren and Guro were not playing but still. Jensen hardly played. Get rid of the coach and maybe Ada comes back? Play more direct? This is disgusting. Rock bottom hit? I will tell you how I really feel ASAP.
According to their Wikipedia page*, Norway has never lost by more than 5 before, which they've done twice - once to Sweden and once to China (in the '99 WC semifinal!) *take the record of a non-English-speaking WoSo team with a grain of salt, some old games could have easily been missed; that said, their 5-0 loss to Sweden was back in 1985, so there's definitely some level of thoroughness here
Tks for the analysis. I've seen only the highlights and hope to see a replay. Encouraging result for the Dutch, to say the least, but a shocker for Norway. No doubt some weak defending. Yes, any time Van de Sanden puts one in the net you know the day is going well, and delighted to see the chip! So many goals are squandered because players do not chip when they can see--or should see (or know) that the keeper is going to be charging out low. Van de Sanden seemed emotional after the goal--probably because her dad died recently, but maybe too because she spent the last two years on the bench for club and country after playing so well in the last Euro for the Dutch. She is still capable of doing good things. I like having Janssen at fullback--she's just a more confident player and better athlete than Van Dongen. Happy to hear Folkertsma played well.
Norway missing Graham Hansen and Reiten explains their lack of quality offense, and missing Mjelde most certainly didn't help their defense. However, I believe Boe Risa and Engen are routine midfield starters with Engen particularly highly regarded, and they just couldn't cope with the Dutch midfield and Martens and Roord when they drifted inside.
Watched that match (thank you for the link). Was a really fun match as far as back and forth. If Nigeria are able to get their defenders to concentrate/focus on positioning all match long they are gonna be dangerous. On the flip side, Portugal are a team to watch. They may not have a natural striker (or one I've seen in the last two matches), but they are a solid squad. And Jessica Silva has some real skill on the ball. (full match) By contrast, watched about the first 40+ minutes of this, and what a difference versus the Nigeria/Portugal match. The team skill, formation, passing, positioning, etc. was a world difference. Still, I think the gap is narrowing quickly.
15th June Germany 0 - 0 Chile (full match) Sweden 0 - 0 Australia (full match) (highlights) Armenia 0 - 3 Kazakhstan (full match) (Kirgizbaeva 5, Bortnikova 13, Tulibekova 81) Costa Rica 4 - 1 Guatemala (highlights) (Cruz 15, Blanco 32, Granados 36, Saenz 83 - Alvarez 75) Netherlands 7 - 0 Norway (full match) (highlights) (Miedema 13 57, Spitse 35, Roord 50, Moe Wold 53(og), vd Sanden 73, vd Donk 84) Iceland 2 - 0 Ireland (Bjorg 54, Vilhjalmsdottir 83) Spain 3 - 0 Denmark (full match) (highlights) (Bonmati 45 86, Patri 67) Wales 0 - 1 Scotland (Cuthbert 59) Uruguay 3 - 0 Puerto Rico (full match) (highlights) (Pizzaro 9, Birizaberri 72, Gonzales 86)
So, basically Iceland played Ireland twice in 5 days? (And won both times!) After all, it's the I*eland derby!
This was essentially Germany's 2nd team v. Chile's first team. Chile made multiple errors at the back and Germany couldn't capitalize. I was not impressed, and it had almost nothing to do with Endler.
South Africa - Netherlands friendly called off. https://www.safa.net/2021/06/28/banyana-banyanas-netherlands-trip-called-off/
Panama hosts a triangular tournament this week (4 to 10 July) at the Estadio Nacional, still in the midst of the Covid travel restrictions. The visiting sides, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic, include their team members who play in the U.S., Spain and Denmark. "It is very difficult to integrate footballers who are not working in the country, players who are working for their clubs or are on vacation, in that sense I take the opportunity to send a message and give loud applause to all those players who come, because they are sacrificing their personal rest between competitions to contribute to the country's football" (Dominican Rep coach, Beni Rubido). Player list for Panama (and interview with Marta Cox) is on Fepafut.com; the coach Ignacio 'Nacho' Quintana has managed them for 3 games so far. Also the squads of Nicaragua and Dominican Republic. First game is Panama v Nicaragua on Sunday, streaming on Fenifut's page.
Panama-Nicaragua just now, with an early goal: Partido Amistoso Panamá vs Nicaragua https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=508468627032895
Great Britain 3 - 0 New Zealand (White x2, Parris) Netherlands 3 - 3 Canada (Miedema 38', Groenen 51', Beerensteyn 65' - Beckie x2, Prince) Japan 1 - 0 Australia (Iwabuchi 54'(p)) 1st half highlight 2nd half highlight