Balls and Boots and Bangers and … Golden Tweets?

I’m late bringing you this as I was waiting for a Women’s World Cup all-star team to be announced first. One hasn’t been and likely won’t be. I guess FIFA just wasn’t interested in doing this anymore. Oh well. At least we still have the individual awards to celebrate and debate.

Netherlands claim the last quarter-final spot

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Japan dominated, especially in the second half, but just couldn’t find a way through to beat Netherlands.

England win Group D

Japan and England were both through to the Round of 16 but this match was quite competitive. The scoreline was a little bit misleading as both goal keepers worked very hard and kept the totals low. However, the Lionesses will prefer to meet Cameroon than the Netherlands and will be happy with the win.

The Daily Drool – WWC 2019 Group D – Japan: Saki Kumagai

Defender/midfielder and captain Saki has represented Japan at the U19, U20 and senior levels. She currently plays for Lyon.

Japan back on track while Scotland have a déjà vu result

Now THAT’s the Japan we know and love! Japan came into this match, disappointed with their scoreless draw with Argentina but it may have sparked a fire in their bellies as they were energetic and strong right from the start. Scotland, while losing their match against England, did not have the same fuel they had in their first match and looked somewhat sluggish in comparison.

Don’t Cry for Argentina!

A surprise point for Argentina!

Both Japan and Argentina can be considered in the rebuilding stage but this scoreless tie felt more like a win for Argentina. While there is some good news coming from Argentina regarding a women’s league in the near future, the Argentine women have had little to no support in the recent past. Their team was considered “inactive” from 2015-2017. So getting to the World Cup and performing well could go a long way for this team.

2019 Women’s World Cup: Group D Preview

If there’s a hotter team on the planet right now than the Lionesses, I don’t want to know about them. I just don’t; my brain will melt. I’ve heard people say the trophy is theirs to lose and to those people I say – slow your roll. Japan has been here as perceived underdogs before and then snatched certain victory from an over-confident German team, Sweden team, and finally, US team. At your peril, people. At your peril.

Play Like a Girl: SheBelieves, Algarve, and Cyprus Cups

It’s almost March which means it is time to get ready for the Triwizard’s Cup of women’s football once more. But, not really. Over a 9-day period in March, three (3) tournaments are taking place in Cyprus, Portugal, and the USA for 28 national women’s football teams. Which is sorta like a Triwizard-esque event. But, again, not really. :^)

Cyprus Cup
Officially, the Cyprus Cup runs February 27 – March 9 though matches are taking place March 1 – 8 only. Unlike its companion tournaments, this Cup holds a group stage to determine group positions based on points followed by one day of classification matches to determine final rankings.

The twelve invited teams are split into three (3) groups. The participating teams are as follows, along with their current FIFA ranking:

Group A
Belgium, 25; Italy, 16; Korea DPR, 10; Switzerland, 17

Group B
Austria, 24 (current champions); Korea Rep, 18; New Zealand, 19; Scotland, 21

Group C
Czech Rep, 33; Rep.of Ireland, 34; Hungary, 40; Wales, 36

There are no announced broadcasts at the moment, though there was one stream available last year for the final.

Algarve Cup
Taking place March 1 – 8 in Portugal, the Algarve Cup is in its 24th year of operation. This year’s tournament should be a hotly contested one, with top EU teams gearing up for UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 in Netherlands in July.

The twelve invited teams are split into three (3) groups for a round-robin tournament with the winner determined based on the standard points systems. The participating teams are as follows, including their FIFA ranking:

Group A
Canada, 4 (current champions); Denmark, 15; Russia, 23; Portugal, 38

Group Two
Iceland, 20; Japan, 7; Norway, 11; Spain, 14

Group Three
Australia, 6; Sweden, 8; Netherlands, 12; China PR, 13

Eurosport has broadcast this tournament in the past; a search for this year’s schedule has proven fruitless thus far.

SheBelieves Cup
Is the unofficial slogan for this year’s SheBelieves Cup, “she persisted”? If not, it really, really should be. Timely and extremely relevant when it comes to women’s football. I highly encourage anyone able to attend any of these games to consider some signage.

Four of the top 5 FIFA-ranked teams are involved again this year: France (3), England (5), Germany (2), and the USA (1). This tournament is also a round robin, with the winner determined based on the standard points system.

Games are taking place in Chester, PA (March 1); Harrison, NJ (March 4); and Washington DC (March 7). Tickets for all the games are available through USSoccer.com.

It looks like Fox Sports will be airing the USA games only. French broadcasters D17 and Canal + Sport along with the BBC picked up all or some of the other games last year. Hopefully they will do the same this year.

If anyone is going to any of these tournament, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment below or connect on Twitter @hbandsandhbreak.

-hopechaser

2015 WWC: Goal of the Tournament

View image | gettyimages.com

Time to vote for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 goal of the tournament. FIFA has compiled a list of 12 candidates from which to choose your favorite. Since my two favorites didn’t make this list, my vote went to Ange N’Guessan for her power floater vs Norway. Which goal is your pick? You have until Monday July 13 10:00am (CET) to submit your selection.

– hopechaser

2015 WWC: United States Wins It All!

The US has won their first Women’s World Cup since 1999! Recap after our tears of joy subside (aka in a day or two). USA! USA! USA! USA!

– Lozil