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2023 Summer International Thread ... Women's World Cup, Nations League, Gold Cup, Etc.

Sunday roundup ... Jamaica stymied France into a 0-0 draw, but lost Bunny Shaw for their next game thanks to a Charmin soft second yellow in the dying minutes. The Netherlands beat Portugal 1-0 in what was by all accounts a real yawner. Sweden conceded first and left the winner until very late, but survived South Africa by a 2-1 score. That's three prospective European heavyweights looking pretty rough in their opening matches, after England failed to convince the day before. Of the UEFA favorites, thus far only Spain has been what a neutral would classify as good. Early days, but if I'm a fan of Germany I'd be paying very close attention tomorrow.
 
That 2nd yellow was awful and Renard dove like a Brazilian to draw it. But, knowing you’re on a yellow, you shouldn’t put yourself in a position to make the ref make a decision.
 
andyt said:
That 2nd yellow was awful and Renard dove like a Brazilian to draw it. But, knowing you’re on a yellow, you shouldn’t put yourself in a position to make the ref make a decision.
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I really just think Bunny was so tired that she didn't think about the situation. But yeah, Renard is a master of the dark arts. She's really missing out not playing for a CONCACAF nation.
 
Monday wrap up (again, kinda ... there's a game at 10pm but locally that's tomorrow)

Germany and Brazil both did the hot knife through butter thing. Germany hung 6-0 on Morocco, whom I will confess to have never seen with my own eyes. Brazil swarmed Panama 4-0 behind an Ary Borges hat trick, and barely broke a sweat. They're in that 4-2-2-2 stack thing and have an insane amount of attacking skill. Not sure they have the defensive spine to survive teams that will match their on-ball ability, and all of us CONCACAFers know just how bad Panama actually is. Still, positive start for two sides rightly expected to go deep.

In the other game, Italy scruffed one out over Argentina with a late goal. I haven't seen any of this one yet, but possession was split down the middle. Could be dull, could be fun ... we'll see. By this time tomorrow everyone will have a game under their belt and Switzerland and Norway will have two. Time flies when almost everything happens before 8AM. That's a make or break for Norway, since they dropped their opener.
 
Update ... I've got Italy/Argentina playing in the background while I work and I'm leaning towards "mildly entertaining." Neither are first flight sides, but they're pretty evenly matched physically which allows for some flow. At this stage of the development cycle of the women's game, the best games to watch generally feature two teams that are in the same general stage of development. I understand why FIFA expanded the field to 32, but we're probably two cycles away from that yielding results in the form of a deeper pool of A level squads. Still, two B sides can make a decent game of it, as can two C sides.
 
End of the first matches ... Columbia posted a statement win with a strong 2-0 decision over a pretty good So. Korean side. They're well positioned to move on if they can get a result against Morocco. Meanwhile, Group A got their 2nd games done overnight. The Philippines brought New Zealand crashing back to reality with a 1-0 win while Norway and Switzerland slogged out a 0-0 draw. Norway is in bad shape. No goals scored through two games and Hegerberg got hurt in warmups. Crashing out in groups because they can't score goals would be just a terrible result for a team with that much offensive talent. They better figure it out soon because their only way into the knock outs is gonna be beating the Swiss by a healthy margin. Not likely, but we'll see.
 
I caught South Africa-Argentina last night, at least until SA went up 2-0. Both teams went at it with lots of energy and a fair bit of physicality, which made it watchable, but the skills/coaching aren't at a level where they could string together a bunch of passes playing at that tempo. I thought Argentina would be better, which they weren't.
 
HNIM said:
I caught South Africa-Argentina last night, at least until SA went up 2-0. Both teams went at it with lots of energy and a fair bit of physicality, which made it watchable, but the skills/coaching aren't at a level where they could string together a bunch of passes playing at that tempo. I thought Argentina would be better, which they weren't.
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No ... those are B/C level teams and you really have to adjust expectations at the current stage of development of the women's game. I like those kind of matchups, but I know what to expect ... which is basically a high level US college game if they had a couple of pros on each side. And that's fine. This is the first time the women have had 32 teams in the WC. Not everyone is on the same part of the development curve. Watch how bad some of the men's games are gonna be in 2026 when they expand. The quality ends up growing into the opportunity but it takes time.
 
Been gone ...

Wednesday ... US drew with the Netherlands, which has sent the fans and press into some sort of existential panic. In truth, it's fine so long as they take care of business against Portugal. Meanwhile Portugal beat Vietnam 2-0 to put themselves in the conversation. The Dutch and US need a point, and from there it's about the other 2 points and goal diff. Japan took care of Costa Rica 2-0, Spain smacked Zambia 5-0 and Canada hung on against Ireland for a 2-1 win. All three losers are out of contention to move on.

Thursday ... Nigeria with the result of the tourney so far, beating Australia in a tense, exciting 3-2 game. Nigeria is growing into the tournament, which is kinda scary given their offensive upside. The Matildas are stuck in a must win game with Canada for their third, which is frankly not a great place to be even though Canada has been far from convincing. Argentina drew So. Africa 2-2

Friday ... England continue to under-whelm with a 1-0 win over Denmark. And they lost Keira Walsh to injury, which is a big blow. They don't really have a like for like replacement for Walsh, who is a big part of their midfield spine. China got on the board with a 1-0 win over Haiti, who didn't seem half as inspired as they were playing the Lionesses the other day.
 
The US may be bitten but their underwhelming performance against Vietnam. They’re only +2 on goal differential and if the Dutch can hang as many on Vietnam as the US should have, they’ll have to score a bunch against Portugal, who still have something to play for.
 
andyt said:
The US may be bitten but their underwhelming performance against Vietnam. They’re only +2 on goal differential and if the Dutch can hang as many on Vietnam as the US should have, they’ll have to score a bunch against Portugal, who still have something to play for.
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Sure, but the Dutch have been no more convincing in attack than the US have, really. People are acting like it's a guarantee that they hang 5 on Vietnam. It's not. They could, but it's far from given and they'll want to rotate some after basically going first 11 for both of their games so far. They're not NEARLY as deep as the US.
 
Saturday recap ... Sweden hammered Italy 5-0, France won a 2-1 squeaker against Brazil and Jamaica stayed in the conversation with a 1-0 win over Panama. That basically wraps up Group G for the Swedes, and will probably mean that Brazil/Jamaica will be for advancement.

Four matches tonight/tomorrow with New Zealand and Norway playing for their lives.
 
Norway took care of business, beating Philippines 6-0. New Zealand and Switzerland played to a scoreless draw, so Norway advances on goal differential.

In Group H, Colombia beat Germany to win the group. Germany finished 2nd, ahead of Morocco on goal differential.

With Sweden essentially winning their group. It’s important for the US to win their group. The winner of group E plays 2nd place group G, which can be any of Italy, South Africa or Argentina, depending on Wednesday’s results. An Italy win over South Africa gives them 2nd, but the reverse is true. Argentina needs a win over Sweden and help. 2nd place group E plays the winner of group G.
 
Tough to take for New Zealand, who played well throughout but just didn't have enough scoring. That's a like-able bunch and they should be proud to have gotten their first WC win. Norway get rewarded for playing they gave a crap exactly once.

And Group G with Germany isn't done yet. Germany and Columbia are unlikely to drop their last games though, so the advancement order is probably set unless Morocco comes up with something wild against Columbia on Thursday. Could happen I guess. They played great against South Korea ... who have been disappointing.

And while it would be better for the US to avoid the Swedes in the first elimination round, it's not like they're going away. I'd be shocked if they don't make the Quarters. Spain/Japan should be fun tonight/tomorrow, but the big one is Australia playing for their lives against Canada. They could use some help from Ireland against Nigeria ... and I've got a feeling they might actually get it. The Irish are absolutely no fun to play against, even if they don't have much of a goal threat.
 
Australia should be getting Sam Kerr back. I’ll probably catch the 2nd half of that one.
 
andyt said:
Australia should be getting Sam Kerr back. I’ll probably catch the 2nd half of that one.
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Yeah ... it's a 6AM start so I've generally been tuning in for the 2nd half of those. If Kerr can run, then just getting her back on the field will be huge for them. Canada has been far from their best so far. They could easily have given up the tying goal to Ireland after drawing Nigeria in the opener. They're good but have looked pretty scruffy. If the Aussies get one on the board first, I like their chances.
 
Australia up 3-0 and 12+ stoppage to go. AFAIK no kerr. Swapped to the Ireland game
4-0 on the Penalty in stoppage time.. Bye Canada Nigeria advances.
 
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Goodbye Canada. At least there is a nonstop from Melbourne to Vancouver. Australia wins the group, Nigeria 2nd. Canada makes history as the first Olympic champion to be eliminated in the group stage of the next World Cup.
 
Apparently the Matildas decided to save Kerr for another round if they could, and boy could they. Canada just didn't have enough up the middle and made a lot of curious choices defending in transition. Injuries hurt that team badly, but like the men ... I'm not sold on their coaching. And of course, you can't discount the toll that being at war with your federation has on a team. Just because the US pulled it off four years ago doesn't mean everyone can. Sometimes that kind of thing galvanizes a group, and sometimes it just wears you down. So ... bad for CONCACAF, but good for the tournament. Support for the home side in Australia has been amazing.

That group finishes with a little something for everyone other than Canada. Ireland get their first World Cup point, Nigeria get to move on based on the huge win over Australia and the hosts get to keep hosting. And with Kerr still in the holster, their confidence has to be soaring. That generation of players in the late 20s that the Aussies painfully blooded in back when they were teenagers makes up the spine of an almost ridiculously experienced team. It's nice when a plan comes together like that.
 
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