Denmark-Italy 0-0 at HT. Some decent chances from both sides, but a quite even game so far. Italian coach Bertolini deployed a more compact line-up, with Giacinti as the only striker, but Italy sure don't give up offending because of that. In the first game of the head-to-head, in October, Svava was marauding her side also because of a totally wrong marking from Boattin; today, Bergamaschi, who replaced Boattin, is much more aware of the risks Svava poses and the Danish blonde, who has sometimes even problems in turning, often has to stay in her own half. Giacinti is working so much, between attacking and coming back to cover and to retrieve balls, that I predict that in 2nd Half she could be replaced by top-scorer Girelli, who surprisingly didn't start (but I suspect Bertolini had in mind to give the super-sub role to her). Bonansea also has to defend a little too much (and she even risked an own-goal), but she's always dangerous on the Left-Side.
The race for the play-off place in Group I is still open. Ukraine has unexpected problems with Montenegro (1:1 at HT) and Irelands only chance leads to a penalty. Germany leads only 2:1 but it is difficult to imagine that this Irish team will get a draw or even a win.
Denmark-Italy 0-0 FT Fair result. Both teams had chances to score: Harder hit the crossbar and the rebound could have actually been a goal, but without goal-line-technology there was really no way for the referees to be sure to make that call. On the other side, Bonansea had a good chance from a fast counterattack action Giugliano-Giacinti-Bonansea originated from a Danish CK, but she shot on the GK after running for about 80 m. It's good that Italy at least took one point, but I've got the feeling that it won't be enough, unless they bury Israel under an avalanche of goals in February.
🦁 De opstelling! 🦁🕢 18.30 uur📺 Veronica#NEDKOS #AllesvoorOranje pic.twitter.com/CQDUN5ViV9— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) December 1, 2020 So far so bad [emoji28]. 0-0 at halftime, caught offside half a dozen times and no flow whatsoever. Woefull crossing as well and vd Gragt missing a wide open header from a corner kick which was just about the only opportunity. Wiegman still absent... Kosova self-destructing in the second half: missed clearance by their captain directly resulting in goal #1 for NL. Goal #2 by Roord from a direct free kick from the side of the penalty box. Three in the wall for Kosovo opening up a gap wider than Moses. No NL decoys in sight anywhere [emoji1].
Ukraine is in the play-offs. 2:1 against Montenegro and Germany wins 3:1 in Ireland. What is Austria doing? 65 minutes and still no goal?
Update Group A NED 0 RUS 6 Group B DEN 2 ITA 5 ISR(H) Group C NOR 0 FRO(H),BLR(H) NIR 10 FRO(H) WAL 10 BLR(H) BLR 12 WAL(A),NOR(A) Group D ESP 2 POL(H),AZE(A) POL 7 ESP(A) CZE 8 Group E POR 2 FIN(A),SCO(A) FIN 2 SCO(A),POR(H),CYP(A) SCO 6 FIN(H),POR(H),CYP(A) Group F SWE 2 ISL 5 Group G FRA 2 KAZ(H) AUT 5 Group H SUI 2 BEL(A) BEL 3 SUI(H) Group I GER 0 UKR 9 Lost points minimum for second placed team: 4 E 5 ITA,ISL,AUT,H 6 RUS 7 D 9 UKR 10 C Lost points maximum for second placed team: 5 ISL,AUT 6 RUS,H 8 ITA,D 9 UKR 11 E 13 C Goal difference of teams that can finish second: RUS:+10 ITA:+13 NIR:-4 WAL:+9 BLR:-1 ESP:+31 POL:+14 CZE:+15 FIN:+15 POR:+7 SCO:+14 ISL:+20 AUT:+19 SUI:+18 BEL:+28 UKR:-5 No team from Group C,D or Ukraine can finish among the best three second placed teams. Russia has only a chance if Belgium lose by more than 18 goals against Switzerland. Iceland is qualified if BEL vs SUI doesn`t draw. If Italy beats Israel 7:0 they are level with Iceland on 1) points 2) goal difference 3) goals 4) away goals scored 5) wins 6) away wins Disciplinary points would decide between Italy and Iceland. A win by six goals would be enough for Italy to overtake Austria.
For a moment you had me hoping... I seriously doubt Italy can score 6 or 7 goals to Israel, despite their lives on the line: our attack has been quite anemic so far and we barely squeezed a 3-2 win vs Israel in the first leg (although it was the first game of the qualifiers and the WWC hangover hadn't faded away yet). At least they have one job and they know what it is. Let's see what happens.
Even Malta has won in Israel. Maybe it is enough to overtake Switzerland who are 0:2 behind in Belgium. Italy would only need a 3:0 win if the Switzerland result doesn`t change.
Mmm, this is much more interesting indeed. A 2-0 win is feasible: if Switzerland's result stay, no-one else could make top-three second-placed teams, except Iceland, Austria and Switzerland?
It depends on Group E where are still many games to play. If Finland doesn`t win in Scotland (HT 0:0) the second placed team could only get level on points with Iceland, Austria and Italy(if they beat Israel). The Portuguese goal difference is bad (only +7) and they have only difficult games remaining(Finland and Scotland).
Northern Ireland is in the play-offs. 5:1 against Faroe Islands. Belgium is qualified for Euro 2022! Belgium-Switzerland 4:0 Iceland is qualified for Euro 2022! Italy only need a 2:1 win against Israel to overtake Switzerland!
Update Group A NED 0 RUS 6 Group B DEN 2 ITA 5 ISR(H) Group C NOR 0 FRO(H),BLR(H) NIR 10 Group D ESP 2 POL(H),AZE(A) POL 7 ESP(A) CZE 8 Group E FIN 2 POR(H),CYP(A) POR 2 FIN(A),SCO(A) Group F SWE 2 ISL 5 Group G FRA 2 AUT 5 Group H BEL 3 SUI 5 Group I GER 0 UKR 9 Lost points for second placed team (finished) 5 ISL(+20),AUT(+19),SUI(+14) 6 RUS 9 UKR 10 NIR Lost points minimum for second placed team: 4 E 5 ITA 7 D Lost points maximum for second placed team: 8 ITA,D,E Goal difference of teams that can finish second: ITA:+13 ESP:+31 POL:+14 CZE:+15 FIN:+16 POR:+7 If Italy beats Israel 7:0 they are level with Iceland on 1) points 2) goal difference 3) goals 4) away goals scored 5) wins 6) away wins Disciplinary points would decide between Italy and Iceland. A win by six goals would be enough for Italy to overtake Austria and a 2:1 win would be enough to overtake Switzerland.
Big night. Summary of the action. GROUP A Turkey 1 - 2 Russia Arhan 56 -- Belomyttseva 29, Fedorova 45+1 Slovenia 2 - 0 Estonia Kralj 27, Kork 59(og) Netherlands 6 - 0 Kosovo Snoeijs 49, 75, 84, Roord 51, 83, Martens 58 GROUP B Georgia 0 - 3 Bosnia Herzegovina Damjanovic 22, Krajsumovic 64, 77 Israel 0 - 2 Malta B.Borg 15, Bugeja 59 RC: Kuznezov (Isr) 52 Denmark 0 - 0 Italy GROUP C Wales 3 - 0 Belarus Harding 15, Rowe 34, Fishlock 72(p) Northern Ireland 5 - 1 Faroe Islands Furness 6, McGuinness 27, 77, McCarron 56, Langgaard 88(og) -- Torolvsdottir 4 GROUP D Czech Republic 7 - 0 Moldova Staskova 14, 54, Cahynova 17, Petrikova 26, Svitkova 36, K.Dubcova 43, Mrazova 90+3 GROUP E Portugal 1 - 0 Albania Capeta 57 Scotland 0 - 1 Finland Rantanen 90+5 GROUP F Hungary 0 - 1 Iceland Thorvaldsdottir 65 Slovakia 0 - 6 Sweden Angeldal 22, 73, Sembrant 34, Rolfö 44, J.Andersson 49, Blomqvist 54 GROUP G Austria 1 - 0 Serbia Billa 80 France 12 - 0 Kazakhstan De Almeida 5, Diani 7, 17, Katoto 12, 16, Dali 24, Perisset 33, E.Cascarino 50, Laurent 58, Morroni 67, Baltimore 72, Mateo 83 GROUP H Belgium 4 - 0 Switzerland De Caigny 32, 45+1, Wullaert 73, Cayman 85 GROUP I Rep. of Ireland 1 - 3 Germany McCabe 45(p) -- Magull 21(p), Waßmuth 29, 85 Ukraine 2 - 1 Montenegro Basanska 5(p), Kunina 74 -- Djokovic 6 RC: Bozic (Mne) 49
Correct. We have Russia, Ukraine and Northern Ireland in the play-offs. The World Ranking is very close between Russia(24) and Portugal(32). 13.ESP 1915 14.ITA 1889 20.SUI 1815 22.AUT 1792 24.RUS 1708 26.UKR 1692 28.POL 1683 29.CZE 1678 30.FIN 1671 32.POR 1659 55.NIR 1432 Which teams will be seeded if UEFA seeds the play-offs after the World Ranking?
Thank you for saying "without goal-line-technology". I've seen people bring up VAR too much when it comes to deciding if the ball fully crossed the line.
What exactly is up with Scotland? I don't follow them, but I think there's too much talent on that team to be having these results. For example, 7 of their starting 11 vs Finland today, including the likes of Weir, Little, Cuthbert, and Evans, play for WSL teams currently in the top 5, and they also have a player like Lucy Graham on the bench. Throw in that WWC collapse vs Argentina, and I think there are serious question marks about this squad.
What a night for Northern Ireland who got to the play-offs by beating only two different low ranked teams: Belarus and Faroe Islands. They are celebrating with champagne bottles as if they've won the Euros.
I feel like the USWNT should help these teams compete by playing against them as they get ready for the Euros.