After returning from the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Panama, where Mexico qualified for the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, Mexican Women’s National Team head coach Leonardo Cuellar, Mexico’s U-20 WNT head coach Roberto Medina, plus a handful of U-20 players, including senior national team goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago and U-20 team captain Nayeli Rangel, participated in a press conference. A video was posted (direct link, in MP4 format) on Femexfut.org.mx’s website and a text summary (in Spanish) was provided as well. Based on the summary, the press conference was rather uneventful, but did provide a few interesting quotes (translated to English using Google Translate as a starting point): Continue reading
Daily Archives: March 18, 2012
USWNT: 2012 Algarve Cup Recap (Catch-Up)
At the 2012 Algarve Cup, the USWNT won its first two matches, then lost to Japan 0:1, in the final group match. In its placement match, the USA defeated Sweden 4:0, with Alex Morgan getting her first international hat trick.
(No real analysis this time, this is mostly just bookmarking of links and notes.) Continue reading
USWNT Rival Watch: Sweden at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-Up)
In the 2012 Algarve Cup, Sweden suffered two straight 0:4 losses, first to Germany, and then to the USA. In its first two matches, Sweden defeated China 1:0 and Iceland 4:1.
Notables: (1) The back-to-back 0:4 losses; (2) Dennerby’s continued experimentation with the 4-2-3-1 formation; (3) Lotta Schelin earned her 100th cap in the China match; and (4) 21 year-old midfielder Antonia Göransson has 4 goals this year, to lead the team.
USWNT Rival Watch: Germany at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-up)
Germany won the 2012 Algarve Cup after winning all its group matches (versus Iceland, China, and Sweden) and then winning the first place match over Japan 4:3. Celia Okoyino da Mbabi had two hat tricks (versus Sweden and Japan). Germany was missing several veterans due to injuries, including Simone Laudeher (meniscus), Kim Kulig (torn ACL in 2011 WWC) as well as two players who were on the squad’s Algarve Cup roster: Nadine Angerer, and Fatmire Bajramaj. Also, veteran strikers Inka Grings and Martina Müller were not available.
USWNT Rival Watch: Japan at the 2012 Algarve Cup (Catch-up)
At the 2012 Algarve Cup, Japan’s Women’s National Team won all three of its group matches, including its final group match versus the United States. By topping the group, Japan played in the placement match for first place, where they lost 4:3 in a match that saw 3 goals scored in the final few minutes.
