Women's League in Italy

Discussion in 'Women's International' started by bzygo, Aug 23, 2008.

  1. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I didn't mention in the previous post that last week has officially been the last one of the market campaign. Before the market was closed some clubs signed sparse players (Pomigliano signed MF Veronica Battelani from Sampdoria, thus re-formimg the duo with Debora Novellino, from the same team; Sampdoria signed Norwegian GK Kirvil Odden Sundsfjord, probably as a 2nd GK behind Amanda Tampieri; Como tried to strengthen their team with Swedish MF Julia Karlernäs from BK Häcken FF), but I guess these are mostly marginal moves and aren't going to change too much about the power of the respective teams.

    Back to the current matchday. :ninja:

    Once again, after it had already happened in the first match-day, Sampdoria come back from behind and win a match by 2-1 after the opponent's early advantage. Amanda Tampieri was initially surprised (on her own post!) by Brazilian Tati Sena's shot, but later she made a key-save on Guatemalan Ana Lucía Martinez who uselessly tried to punish her former team on multiple occasions. In the end, Sampdoria's win came from set pieces: a FK by Giorgia Spinelli in 1st Half and a PK by Colombian Yoreli Rincón in 2nd Half. Antonio Cincotta's team always have to work hard for its points, but at the moment they lead the league along with Roma and Fiorentina.

    Subsequently, Juventus-Inter finally managed to become the big spectacular match it tried to be last season without really making it. The final score was 3-3, with any element of drama you could wish for: Inter coming back to 2-2 in 2nd Half after being 2 goals behind at Half Time, Linda Sembrant being sent-off for a foul on Elisa Polli at 85', Juventus scoring at 90' and Inter equalizing again at 90'+3'!!! :eek:
    Many things could be said about the scorers in this match (young Sofia Cantore's opener, Lineth Beerensteyn scoring again with a solo effort after her brace in the first-match-day, Cristiana Girelli always clinging to any match with her grit, Ghoutia Karchouni's spectacular volley for the final equalizer), but the absolut star of this game was Malawian Tabitha Chawinga: she's so natural and cool that she does amazing things and makes them look easy! She's an outstanding player, able to raise up the level of Serie A Femminile alone. :notworthy:
    It's impressive that Juventus leaves the top of the rankings already, after just two match-days: it's probably early to talk about a crisis, but they'll have to be very carefully with their upcoming schedule (Roma in the league and HB Køge in Champions' League), especially considering that Sembrant's upcoming suspension will make the Center-Backs' emergency even more serious. :cautious:

    It wasn't as easy as it could have seemed on paper for Fiorentina to beat newly promoted Como, who pushed for an equalizer for most of the 2nd Half; but in the end the early goals from American DF Jazmin Jackmon and from Vero Boquete (it seems to me, though, that the FK leading to the goal was taken while the ball was still moving :cautious:) were enough vs the good effort by Estonian FW Vlada Kubassova (who scored the first goal for Como in this league).
    Fiorentina shares the top of the rankings with Roma and Sampdoria, Como shares the bottom with Milan, Pomigliano, Parma and Sassuolo (but at least one of these last two will move from that position tomorrow :coffee:),

    Scores of today's matches:
    Sampdoria 2-1 Pomigliano
    Juventus
    3-3 Inter
    Fiorentina
    2-1 Como

    Highlights:



     
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  2. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    And Alice Benoit decided the last game of the 2nd matchday of Serie A Femminile, that was played yesterday in the evening, by scoring a FK at 90'.

    It's the second consecutive time that Sassuolo, after leading 1-0, allows a comeback and ends up losing by 1-2; coach Giampiero Piovani has a new group of players and will have a lot of work to do to make them a cohesive team and to address mental issues.

    It was some kind of a karmic justice, in my opinion, that Valeria Pirone sent her PK crashing on the post, because it looks like she had at least "embellished", if not plainly dove. :cautious: Anyway, it wasn't needed, because Parma won with the goals of two Sassuolo's former players, Michela Cambiaghi and, indeed, Alice Benoit.

    Yestreday's match:
    Parma 2-1 Sassuolo

    Rankings after two match-days (once again, since there are many tied teams, I'll add the goal difference in brackets):
    Roma 6 (+4)
    Fiorentina 6 (+3)
    Sampdoria 6 (+2)
    Juventus 4 (+6)
    Inter 4 (+3)
    Parma 3 (-2)
    Sassuolo 0 (-2)
    Pomigliano 0 (-3)
    Milan 0 (-4)
    Como 0 (-7)

    Highlights of Parma-Sassuolo:

     
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  3. shlj

    shlj Member+

    Apr 16, 2007
    London
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    Very pleased for Alice, she is a very nice person. Hopefully she can settle in Parma, because she tends not to stay long in a club. She has played for seven different clubs in France.
     
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  4. Lohmann

    Lohmann Member+

    Arminia Bielefeld
    Germany
    Feb 24, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Isn`t this normal in Italian football?:sneaky:
     
  5. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Funny video, but actually Italian women's football often begged to differ, compared to the men's game ;) (although, alas, there sure are some famous divers in Serie A Femminile; but you probably agree with me that, talking in general and not just about Italy, these antics are much less common in women's football than in men's football: of course professionalism, more money and especially men's clubs being involved could quickly change that, but In my opinion we're not quite at this point yet).

    Anyway, can you tell me what you specifically think about Parma's PK? I've given my opinion, but I'd gladly hear others because I could have missed the foul and I don't want to risk being unfair towards Pirone.
     
  6. Lohmann

    Lohmann Member+

    Arminia Bielefeld
    Germany
    Feb 24, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    There was a contact of Pondini`s left foot with Pirone`s right foot. Despite Pirone`s embellishment the PK decision was okay for me.
     

    Attached Files:

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  7. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Yes, it's just that it seemed to me that contact wasn't justifying jumping in the air as if a landmine had exploded. But you're probably right that it was legit.
    And anyway, in the end, it didn't make any difference. :coffee:
     
  8. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    The big match of the next match-day, Juventus-Roma, has been officially moved from next Saturday to next Friday (at 14:30 CET), to allow both clubs to better prepare their respective Champions' League's matches. It was a no-brainer, actually, because this choice is in the interest of both teams and of the Federation itself, who wants to see them advance as far as possible. :coffee:
     
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  9. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Pragmatism, cynicism, coldness, call it as you want, but Juventus once again showed why they've won the Italian League in the last 5 seasons: Roma looked at the peak of their form while Juventus seemed to have their back against the wall, while forced to deploy an emergency Center-Back duo formed by Martina Rosucci (a recycled MF who basically never played that role) and Cecilia Salvai (just back from an ACL injury); Roma dominated 1st Half and the shots in the whole game where in the range of 10 to 2 for Roma or such.
    And anyway, a lonely "shross" by Valentina Cernoia was enough for Juventus to win the match and to get back at 1st place, two points ahead of Roma, while waiting for Sunday's matches. :rolleyes:

    Beyond the goal, Juventus only had to show a shot by Cristiana Girelli stopped by the woodwork and they were quite lucky with the goal itself, since Roma's GK Camelia Ceasar quite clearly misjudged that ball and/or completly missed her initial placement.
    On the other side, you could legitimately say that the player who left the mark on this win, much more than Cernoia herself, was Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, who made incredible saves on shots by Benedetta Glionna, Andressa Alves, Valentina Giacinti, Annamaria Serturini...

    It seems unreal that Roma is leaving Turin with no points after such a game; of course, Manuela Giugliano being sent-off in 2nd Half for a quite harsh second YC didn't help. :cautious:

    All in all, both teams look quite healthy for the upcoming UEFA WCL's games. Roma looked fit, played well and just lacked some more clinical finishing, but they'll be fuming after this game and they'dll probably adjust their aim accordingly vs Sparta Prague. :coffee: Juventus keep having the trademark Montemurro's teams' grit and they will probably play HB Køge with the same attitude and confidence. :ninja:

    Final score:
    Juventus 1-0 Roma

    Highlights:

     
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  10. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Last season had shown that Inter couldn't actually compete yet for the top of the rankings; this season looks very different: the market campaign was very effective and the offensive potential is there to be seen. Pomigliano sure was a pretty weak opponent, but Inter's 6-1 win was quite a statement and allowed them to catch-up with Juventus at 1st-place (while waiting for tomorrow's games, that could give a very unexpected duo, Fiorentina and Sampdoria, the lead, if they'll win their respective matches).

    Elisa Polli scored an hat-trick, Ajara Nchout Njoya a brace and Ghoutia Karchouni her third goal in three consecutive match-days. Also Tabitha Chawinga once again turned out to be basically un-markable. Francesca Durante saved a PK in 1st Half, on a 2-0 score, and I keep thinking that I'd like to see her as the starting GK for Italy NT at the next World Cup (I hope coach Milena Bertolini, who sure saw her potential, tries her as a starter soon :ninja:).
    Not sure if they can actually challenge for the title yet, but Inter are sure in line for a Champions' League's spot (and the level of some teams in Serie A Femminile seems to show that it's about time for Italy to conquer their 3rd Champions' League's berth!).

    It will sure be a long season for Pomigliano. Their much heralded Brazilians showed that they can actually score indeed: Tati Sena did last week and Verena Amorim Diáz followed her today. But this all still amounts to a total of 0 points. Of course, it's not against Inter or Roma (two of their opponents from these first three match-days) that Pomigliano can hope to pick up the points they need to avoid relegation, but they'll anyway have to show something more that what we've seen so far.

    Today's score:
    Inter 6-1 Pomigliano

    Highlights:

     
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  11. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    We indeed have the most unexpected duo of leader teams after three match-days of Serie A Femminile (I had somehow predicted Sampdoria could have done well, but not so much well; I was totally unprepared to see Fiorentina win their first three matches), although their wins sure weren't smooth and easy at all. :coffee:

    Sampdoria in particular managed to grab a win at 93' only and they have to thank a slip-up by Como's GK Mária Korenčiová, who conceded an indirect Free-Kick for touching the ball out of her box, that Yoreli Rincón happily converted (at the moment, Sampdoria mostly owe their 1st-place to her mastery of set pieces: winning PK last week and winning FK today).
    Como were very unlucky: they hit the post twice, with U-19 Chiara Beccari in 1st Half and with Estonian Vlada Kubassova in 2nd Half, and they would have sure deserved a draw. They anyway are a nice little team and, despite their current 0 points, I've got the feeling that they're going to fight until the end to avoid relegation.

    Earlier in the afternoon, Fiorentina had won by 2-1 another closely contested match vs Parma: after Hungarian Zsanett Kaján's PK (her 3rd goal in three match-days) and the equalizing header by Melania Martinovic, it was young Michela Catena (recently called to NT by Milena Bertolini) who ended deciding the match, after she had missed a lob in 1st Half.

    It's early to say if Milan it's out of their crisis (it's much more likely that it's Sassuolo not quite being out of theirs), but anyway they finally had their first win, by 3-1. Scot Christie Grimshaw, who had been out injured in the first pair of match-days, is probably a key-piece of Milan's midfield. It has to be said, though, that at least two goals out of three taken by Sassuolo were on new Austrian GK Isabella Kresche, who did frankly look quite out of her depth in these first displays in Serie A. But all of the Emilian team is actually a work in progress: it was quite predictable, after they had dismantled their team in the summer, but it's clear that their new dimension is now the fight to avoid relegation; Refiloe Jane's performance today (a former Milan's player) can be a ray of hope for them, but I am afraid they'll definitely belong to the relegation pool at the end of the regular season.

    Today's matches:
    Fiorentina 2-1 Parma
    Como
    0-1 Sampdoria
    Milan
    3-1 Sassuolo

    Rankings (goal difference in brackets):
    Fiorentina 9 (+4)
    Sampdoria 9 (+3)
    Inter 7 (+8)
    Juventus 7 (+7)
    Roma 6 (+4)
    Milan 3 (-2)
    Parma 3 (-3)
    Sassuolo 0 (-4)
    Pomigliano 0 (-8, 2 goals scored)
    Como 0 (-8, 1 goal scored)

    Highlights of today's matches:



     
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  12. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    The mid-week Champions' League round wasn't sure easy for Italian teams but in the end it can be considered good and it leaves quite solid chances to qualify to the group stage for both teams.

    Juventus' defense is really shaky these days and in particular they allowed too much space to HB Køge's American FW Kyra Carusa. I only found Danish highlights at the moment and they make it look as HB Køge was much more dominant than they actually were: it's true that they scored early and that they hit a crossbar in 2nd Half on a 1-1 score (after Amanda Nildén had equalized in the middle of 1st Half), but basically they only operated through counter-attacks and it was Juventus controlling most of the game and having some more chances than those that are shown in the video: Danish players are shown celebrating at the final whistle and it's not just for a draw vs a team that reached quarter-finals last season, but also because at that point the game had basically become a siege and they were probably very happy to have kept the draw.
    The qualification is of course still at hand for Juventus, but next week in Italy (the game will be played in Alessandria) they'll have to be much more accurate both in defense and in offense to advance. :coffee:

    Highlights:




    Roma's match, initially, seemed like a replay of the league match vs Juventus from last Friday: Roma dominating 1st half and having most of the chances to score (in particular with Giada Greggi exploting a Sparta Praha's defensive mistake and then badly wasting by shooting wide and Valentina Giacinti having a good header deflected by the GK on the low-side of the crossabar) and then going down in 2nd half from a defensive blunder (Manuela Gugliano's ill-advised back-pass setting up Lucie Martínková). Luckily, the team had enough time to change the script and they first equalized at 77' with captain Elisa Bartoli (born in Roma and having always played for the club) from a CK action and finally, when it looked like the game was going to end like Juventus' one, they scored the winner with Emilie Haavi at 90'.
    The final shots-count was 4 to 23 for Roma o_O and this gives a rough idea both of how much Roma were actually dominating the game and of how much wasteful they were in the final third! :x3: If they put their act together a little better at home next week, they shouldn't have too many problems in complementing this win with another good result allowing them to advance to the group stage.

    Highlights (appreciate the different tone of the announcer when Sparta Praha scores and when Roma scores :coffee:):

     
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  13. Bauser

    Bauser Member+

    Dec 23, 2000
    Norway
    Club:
    Fredrikstad FK
    Roma have made Haavi a better player. She looks like her younger self again. Surging runs with the ball, taking on players, dribbling, crossing and now scoring. I'm not saying she didn't at LSK, but a move abroad was the right thing to do for her at this stage of her career. I don't think Hege Riise can overlook her now for the matches against Brazil and Netherlands in early October.

    Italy now favoured to get two clubs in the group stage. Three clubs in the competition within sight in near future.
     
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  14. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Yes, although for what concerns Juventus, they still have most of the work to do at home: they sure aren't at 100% in this beginning phase of the season and games like this can be quite tricky. I have faith that Joe Montemurro will anyway manage to prepare this match accordingly, but Juventus current state of form doesn't allow anyone to underestimate HB Køge.
     
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  15. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    A very interesting first part of the 4th match-day of Serie A Femminile was played today.

    It's clear that this beginning of the season is very demanding for Juventus, who have to battle on two fronts, the league and the WCL, while missing key-players (Sara Gama was back on the bench today but she didn't play, Barbara Bonansera is still out injured) and while maybe still suffering from the long season many of their players had, having ended with the Euro tournament.
    This match vs a good Sassuolo desperately looking for their first points, in between the two legs of WCL vs HB Køge, was of course very tricky and it showed; Juventus went ahead in the middle of first half with one of their trademark actions: Corner-Kick by Valentina Cernoia and commanding header by Cristiana Girelli. But these days the finishing keeps letting down the bianconere, worsened by the usual fix of woodwork (two crossbars, only one of them shown in highlights from a Girelli's FK in 1st Half, and a post from another FK by Lisa Boattin in 2nd Half).
    So Sassuolo managed to equalize in 2nd Half with a dogged effort by Belgian FB Davina Philtjens (already seen at similar levels of stubborness at Euro 22 vs Italy) assisted by excellent 2nd Half sub Valeria Monterubbiano (coach Giampiero Piovani always has a lot of experience and a good eye for changes). 15 minutes later, Valentina Cernoia was sent-off for a clear foul on Monterubbiano herself, showing how these days Juventus is both defensively unbalanced and quite nervous. Sassuolo had a RC too at 90', but they managed to kept their precious draw until the end.
    Juventus players' were probably already thinking of the match vs HB Køge and all of the Italian women's football movement are rooting for them: having two teams advance to the group stage would be paramount for the good of the whole league.

    Nothing really unexpected in the Parma-Milan match, or at least this match seemed to restore the respective power-levels of the two teams as they were predictable before the start of the league: after that, Parma had conquered a prestigious win at the 2nd match-day vs Sassuolo, while Milan had suffered two consecutive losses in the first two match-days. Now, by easily dispatching the Emilian team (that midweek had suffered an unbelievable comeback from 2nd Division's Cesena in a Coppa Italia's match that ended on a 5-5 score! :x3:), Milan is aiming to the upper-half of the rankings where they should definitely belong.
    Nothing particular to report except the fact that GK Alessia Capelletti confirms her excellent form despite taking 4 goals:she tried her best, she even saved a PK, but what can she do with a so weak defense in front of her? On the other side, Kosovare Asllani looks more like an artist than like just a footballer, while Lindsay Thomas keeps looking royally out of shape. :coffee:

    Despite having lost the direct clash vs Juventus last week, Roma looks like the most brilliant team in this phase of the season. Coach Alessandro Spugna, despite facing then-leader of the rankings of Fiorentina, rested quite a lot of players for the WCL match vs Sparta Praha, even trying a new defense-line with 3 elements instead of the usual 4 (it was Carina Wenninger at the center, supported by Moeka Minami and Beata Kollmats on the wings), probably because of the two injuries in that department (Elena Linari and Lucia Di Guglielmo). What's the most impressive in Roma this season is their depth: they can quite easily adsorb injuries and rotations and anyway deploy impressive line-ups all the time.
    Fiorentina went ahead in 1st Half with young Michela Catena, but Roma managed to reverse the score in 2nd Half, at first by equalizing with Sophie Román Haug and then by sending in the "big guns" in the last 15 minutes (Valentina Giacinti, Elisa Bartoli and Emilie Haavi) who were enough to secure the match (Giacinti scored and Bartoli saved a ball on the goal-line).
    So Roma got back to the top of the standings, along with Sampdoria and Fiorentina, while waiting for tomorrow's Sampdoria-Inter (a draw would be the best result from Roma's point of view, since both teams would take the lead with a win).

    Recap of today's scores:
    Sassuolo 1-1 Juventus
    Parma
    0-4 Milan
    Roma
    2-1 Fiorentina

    Highlights:



     
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  16. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Well, I repeatedly said that I dislike this season's formula for Serie A Femminile, but there is no doubt that the league looks balanced and interesting: Inter just took the lead (by beating one of the two previous leaders, Sampdoria) and there are now five teams in just 2 points at the top. Milan, who are some more points behind, look like they're trying to catch up too and the fight both for the title and for the second Champions' League spot should be very compelling, this year.

    Meanwhile, in a far, far away zone of the rankings, Pomigliano and Como tied their game, so they joined Sassuolo at 1 point and no team remained at 0 points. It was an intense 2-2 draw under the rain, where Como looked like the better team for long phases of the game, but Pomigliano was closer to win it since they were only caught at 89', with a middle-range shot by a late sub, German Vivien Beil (who had been subbed-in just 7 minutes before!), that managed to pass through a thick wall of players from both teams, making nigh-impossible for excellent GK Sara Cetinja to track it.
    There were at least two takeaways from this match: Como's U-19 Chiara Beccari, despite her age, is perfectly comfortable at the professional level and confirms being a very promising prospect for the future of our NT; it looks like Pomigliano's much-heralded Brazilian players weren't bluffs at all: they're actually able to deliver and Taty Sena in particular, not only with her brace but also with her play-making in the middle of the pitch, showed that she could be a veritable beacon for this team.
    It's difficult to imagine Pomigliano and Como not being involved in the relegation fight all along the season, but it looks like they at least have some weapons to put up a fight until the end. :ninja:

    Later in the afternoon, Inter won in Genova vs Sampdoria the way great teams do: it looks like this year they can be an actual contender for the title or, at the very least, they can aim to a Champions' League spot. All of the important positions on the pitch are covered; when it's not Elisa Polli or Ghoutia Karchouni shining, you have the unquestionable power of Tabitha Chawinga or the goalkeeping brilliance of Francesca Durante, as it happened today.
    On the other hand, I don't think Sampdoria actually belong to the fight for the title, but they definitely belong to the upper half of the standings: with Milan coming back fast, there will be one of the 6 top teams who will miss the title pool (while I think the current last 4 teams will remain in the relegation pool for good).

    Today's scores:
    Pomigliano 2-2 Como
    Sampdoria
    0-2 Inter

    Rankings (goal difference in brackets):
    Inter 10 (+10)
    Roma 9 (+5)
    Fiorentina 9 (+3)
    Sampdoria 9 (+1)
    Juventus 8 (+7)
    Milan 6 (+2)
    Parma 3 (-7)
    Sassuolo 1 (-4)
    Pomigliano 1 (-8, 4 goals scored)
    Como 1 (-8, 3 goal scored)

    Highlights:


     
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  17. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Juventus-HB Køge Going to start in Champions' League. Fingers crossed for it. :ninja: (https://www.juventus.com/it/juventus-tv/women-uwcl-secondo-turno-ritorno-juventus-koge, most probably geo-blocked outside of Italy).

    Meanwhile, 24 players were called for the Nationa Team's friendly team vs Brazil scheduled for the 10th of October in Genova at 18:30 CET (finally some clash vs top 10 teams to prepare for the WWC 2023):

    Goalkeepers: Francesca Durante (Inter), Laura Giuliani (Milan), Katja Schroffenegger (Fiorentina);
    Defenders: Elisa Bartoli (Roma), Valentina Bergamaschi (Milan), Lisa Boattin (Juventus), Maria Luisa Filangeri (Sassuolo), Martina Lenzini (Juventus), Beatrice Merlo (Inter), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Alice Tortelli (Fiorentina);
    Midfielders: Arianna Caruso (Juventus), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus), Aurora Galli (Everton), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Giada Greggi (Roma), Martina Rosucci (Juventus);
    Forwards: Agnese Bonfantini (Juventus), Sofia Cantore (Juventus), Michela Catena (Fiorentina), Valentina Giacinti (Roma), Cristiana Girelli (Juventus), Benedetta Glionna (Roma), Elisa Polli (Inter).

    Not much new in these calls: the good moment of Inter in the league brings back Beatrice Merlo and Elisa Polli; young Michela Catena is confirmed from the last qualifiers matches; Cecilia Salvai is finally back from her ACL injury, while other players (Sara Gama, Barbara Bonansea) aren't back yet from less serious injuries (but they're almost back for their club).

    Let's hope it will be a good match, with something to learn for our girls. :ninja:
     
  18. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    #1668 blissett, Sep 29, 2022
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2022
    Well, in the end it was 2 out of 2 in Champions' League: not half bad. :ninja:

    Both Italian teams advance to the group stage of the competition and both did that through a quite dominant home performance, between yesterday and today. Of course, the fact that Juventus and Roma will be respectively in pot 3 and pot 4 of the draw will make their subsequent path quite difficult, but, hey, no matter how it will end, they've just been granted 6 shiny extra WCL matches! :) And most probably it will be enough to gain an additional Champions' League spot for Italy that will go to the 3rd-placed team of Serie A Femminile by next season: yay!

    Juventus arguably had the toughest opponent of the two, since HB Køge is tactically and physically made to effectively pack their half of the pitch and threaten lethal counter-attacks. Juventus anyway managed to score early, at 11' already, with a superb header by Sarah Björk Gunnarsdóttir, assisted by Lisa Boattin, one of the more dependable players in this beginning of the season both for her club and for Italy NT. Køge didn't change much of their set-up, despite the need to equalize that initial goal, so Juventus needed a lot of patience to built some significant chances, but in the end they managed to score their second goal in the middle of 2nd Half with young Sofia Cantore, who had just replaced a Cristiana Girelli who had mostly sacrificed herself in a supporting role.
    Despite the fact that Juventus are currently trailing in the league and that they were less brilliant than their past-season-self even in these matches vs HB Køge, there are at least two good news coming from this match, apart from the obvious positive of advancing to the group stage: 1) Juventus' midfield looked like a perfectly oiled mechanism in this game: Sarah Björk Gunnarsdóttir and Julia Grosso had excellent games, but it was Sofie Junge Pedersen in particular who was just plain amazing both offensively and defensively, retrieving a boatload of balls and seldom wasting any; she's the single player who makes the midfield "click" and she was sorely missed when she was out injured for some games; 2) apart from Pedersen, Juventus are slowly getting back all of their longtime injured players, whose absence made this beginning of the season so grinding: Cecilia Salvai, definitely back from her ACL, started and showed that her defensive technique is still flawless and that she just misses a little speed and the needed energy for a full game (she was subbed-out after about an hour, when the 2-0 score had been secured) and she anyway managed to kept at bay a fast, and very physical (at times even dirty) FW like Kyra Carusa. Meanwhile the two top-players who had missed the beginning of this season to muscle injuries, Sara Gama and Barbara Bonansea, were subbed-in during 2nd Half and they will sure be back ready at their top for the group stage of the Champions' League. :ninja:

    Highlights (including a post-match interview with Joe Montemurro):




    Roma's players, in this season, seem well-versed in the art of complicating what could be much more simple, often by wasting a countless number of chances and by allowing the opponent to score from their single shot on goal (or pair of shots on goal at max), mostly through some flagrant blunder. Today, they dominated 1st Half but they anyway allowed Sparta Prague to score first from one of the few situations where they were known to be very dangerous, a Corner Kick (quite cheaply conceded, to boot). Luckily, Roma equalized just 10 minutes ago, from a Corner-Kick action also, converted in goal by a Carina Wenninger's header. Both teams hit a crossbar in 1st Half, but the 2nd Half was just a Roma's monologue, with three more goals by Andressa Alves, Moeka Minami and Emilie Haavi and a missed PK by Paloma Lázaro (who, instinctively but naively, kicked the ball into the goal after hitting the post: not allowed by the rules! :alien:).
    Most of the players had an excellent game and at times Roma was a veritable pleasure to watch; Moeka Minami was reliable and elegant in her defensive actions, accurate in her long drives towards all corners of the pitch and even effective in offense when connecting to set-pieces; Andressa Alves was a beacon in the middle of the pitch and a constant danger in offense; but the MVP, to me, was hands down Emilie Haavi: her sprints on the Left Wing made you suppose that she had some hidden afterburner, her dribblings and nutmegs made her poor markers look silly (Czech coach had to switch sides to his defenders to try to stop her, but to no avail), her pinpoint crosses just asked to be converted into goals. And when I thought that she couldn't possibly do better than her 1st Half she doubled down in 2nd Half and she even scored with a genuine air-to-surface missile. Unless she secretely declared that she doesn't want to be called to her NT, you have to be nuts to leave her out.
    Roma are likely to get a very tough draw (and in the end they would deserve it for having been so lucky at this round), but they are strong and funny to watch: at their first WCL's appearance, they already went beyond expectations; anything better will be all gravy. :ninja:

    Highlights:

     
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  19. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    This evening's match, the earlier one of the 5th match-day, confirms Inter's lead, although their win vs Como came thorugh a most probably off-side 1st goal and a debatable PK as the 2nd goal; the match ended 3-1 for Inter and Como hit the crossbar thrice. :x3:

    Anyway, Elisa Polli was jack-of-all-trades today: she scored two goals, she won the penalty for Inter's other goal and she caused the penalty for Como; basically she was instrumental to all of the 4 goals of the evening. :alien:

    Waiting for their rivals' results, but it's hard to deny that Inter will be a contender for the title this season (and they were even missing Tabitha Chawinga, who was out for a minor injury).

    Score of today's match:
    Como 1-3 Inter

    Highlights:

     
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  20. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Two games today, where the leader-teams from two weeks ago, Fiorentina and Sampdoria, seemed to take two opposite paths (there are few doubts that Juventus, Roma and Inter will be part of the title pool, so the other two places available will most likely be disputed between Milan, Fiorentina and Sampdoria).

    Fiorentina remain in the top positions of the league, just one point behind the leaders of Inter. The game vs Sassuolo was basically a monologue and it could have ended with a much more substantial score than the 2-0 that had been already secured in 1st Half from the goals by Alice Parisi and by Daniela Sabatino from PK (it was the first goal in these 5 initial match-days of Serie A for the veteran striker and top-scorer from last season). Of course, Sassuolo's opposition was particularly weak: the team's project still looks confused, to the point that coach Giampiero Piovani subbed-out three players in the middle of 1st Half, at 26', a few minutes after Fiorentina's first goal. o_O It will be a long season for Sassuolo; they surely have to prepare for the relegation pool.

    Milan had lost the first two games of the season, but they followed them up with three consecutive wins; Sampdoria, who had won their first three matches instead, now suffered two back-to-back losses vs the two clubs from Milan. So, in the end, the two teams now meet at 9 points, Milan coming back strong from behind, Sampdoria falling down, their confidence quite shaken.
    The team from Genoa had gone ahead at 2' already, but Milan equalized just 4 minutes after and subsequently dominated the game (if the final result was kept on a 2-1 score, it was partly due to the good performance from debuting Norwegian Goalkeeper Kirvil Odden Sundfjord for Sampdoria). Milan's big signings from this summer were finally reliable and effective, with Kosovare Asllani scoring the winning brace and Kamila Dubcová posting an excellent assist.
    We're going to see where these teams are going to go from here: if Milan will keep climbing up and Sampdoria will keep falling down of if they're going to invert their directions again. :coffee:

    Today's matches:
    Fiorentina 2-0 Sassuolo
    Milan
    2-1 Sampdoria

    Highlights:


     
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  21. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Of course, the league matches for the two teams who had played the Champions' League mid-week were scheduled on Sunday; both teams won their respective games, so they keep Inter's and Fiorentina's pace. The top 4 positions of the league look quite well-defined by now, with Milan and Sampdoria some points behind fighting for the 5th spot.

    It's quite obvious that in this beginning of the season Juventus is not the same brilliant team who won the last 5 titles. Of course, it's also the level of the competition from the other Italian top-teams that changed, but Juventus itself looks tired, rusty and not always able to make up for the injured players. In fact the home game vs Pomigliano was looking like a difficult-to-brek 0-0 standstill, until, at 50', the hosts were suddenly down to 10 players: a no-contact shameless dive just in front of the referee while already on a Yellow Card is not the smartest move on earth :cautious:, and Virginia Di Gianmarino found it at her own expense when she was sent off. It clearly was the key-moment of the game, since Juventus had more space to exploit and scored 7 minutes later with Sofia Cantore (who looks quite hot, right now, after her goal in Champions' League 4 days ago). Arianna Cantore and Anahita Zamanian later finalized matters, but Pomigliano had looked hopeless since the Red Card.

    4 Norwegian goals for Roma (braces by Emilie Haavi, who also posted an assist, and Sophie Román Haug) complemented by a wonderful lob from about 30 m by Valentina Giacinti. The level of Roma's domination was almost embarassing: Parma was erased from the game. Emilie Haavi looked preternatural, but by now it's almost old news. :coffee: With Elena Linari and Lucia Di Guglielmo out (Di Guglielmo just had surgery at a tendon in her right thigh two days ago and she will need some months to recover), coach Alessandro Spugna once again chose a 3-women defense-line with Carina Wenninger at the center, Elisa Bartoli on the right and Moeka Minami on the left: I wonder if he's going to play like this vs stronger teams also. Anyway i figure that when Linari will be available again, he will be back to a 4-women defense (and, since both Carina Wenninger and Moeka Minami were excellent so far, he will probably want to keep playing both, having Wenninger play CB alongside Linari, and keeping Minami as a Left-Back, making up for Di Guglielmo's absence).

    The two matches from today:
    Juventus 3-0 Pomigliano
    Roma
    5-0 Parma

    Rankings (along with goal difference in brackets):
    Inter 13 (+12)
    Roma 12 (+9)
    Fiorentina 12 (+5)
    Juventus 11 (+10)
    Milan 9 (+3)
    Sampdoria 9 (0)
    Parma 3 (-12)
    Sassuolo 1 (-6)
    Como 1 (-10)
    Pomigliano 1 (-11)

    Highlights from today's matches:


     
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  22. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    The draw for the UEFA WCL's group stage just happened about one hour ago. As I already discussed in the related thread, Roma got an excellent group (VfL Wolfsburg, Slavia Prague, SKN St.Pölten, AS Roma), giving them a reasonable chance of making the quarter-finals, while Juventus got a much tougher but not completely impossible group (at least judging by what they managed to do last season: Olympique Lyonnais, Arsenal FC, Juventus, Zürich FC).

    I'd say Italy is very well poised to get the third Champions' League's spot for Serie A Femminile. :ninja:
     
  23. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Serie A Femminile had a break for the FIFA international window: mediocre display by Italian NT yesterday vs Brazil in Genoa.

    There were of course many important players out injured (Sara Gama, Elena Linari, Lucia Di Guglielmo, Elisa Bartoli, Manuela Giugliano, Barbara Bonansea, Cristiana Girelli), but one would expect a little more depth from a top 15 nation. There were of course many young, or anyway seldom capped, players in the team and the game looked like the perfect chance for some tactical experimentation (in particular a 3-5-2 that didn't impress much), but apart from that Italy didn't seem to have a clear game-plan and some players looked frankly out of position (namely, Aurora Galli as a winger :cautious:).
    It wasn't a disaster either, just a 0-1 loss, that's quite reasonable vs a top 10 team, but the match vs quite boring: a sterile possession from Italy in 1st Half, that didn't anyway lead to many significant chances, and a more solid performance in 2nd Half by Brazil, who could have easily scored a second beyond the goal at the 1st minute of that half.

    It will be a long way to WWC 2023, let's hope the team will get better in the upcoming months. :coffee:

     
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  24. Lechus7

    Lechus7 Member+

    Aug 31, 2011
    Wroclaw
    Attendance?
     
  25. blissett

    blissett Member+

    Aug 20, 2011
    Italy
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Quite disappointing, there was a reason if I didn't mention it. Women's football didn't have a real breaktrhough yet in Italy: there were 5000/6000 supporters following the match at the Luigi Ferraris stadium in Marassi (Genoa), a mediocre number that looked even scarcer when scattered on the standings of a stadium that could actually contain more than 35.000.

    Of course, it's not so bad, if you look at the starting point from some years ago, but we're anyway far from the numbers of other European nations.

    TV-share was a little better (maybe favoured by the 18:30 starting time), since the match had a 29,3% audience (corresponding to about 6.000.000 viewers).
     
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