Women's U-17 European Championships in Switerland and a thank you. 7/28/2011,

Well the Semi-Finals have finished and the results are in! Iceland were defeated 0-4 by Spain while Germany and France were tied 2-2 as they went in to penalties. So then, the first game. As far as Iceland are concerned, they were just happy to be here. True, a win would have been fantastic but this was their first Final. It showed by the end of the match. Marina Garcia opened the scoring for Spain in the 12th minute while Alexia Putellas struck 2 beauties before the half. The first came in the 34th while 2 minutes later her shot ended up in the back of the net again. Glódís Perla Viggosdóttir's own goal in the 67th was unfortunate but as they game was essentially over for the Icelandic side already, she shouldn't feel as bad. As time was called, the Spaniards celebrated their trip to the Final. A couple hours later, Germany took on France to decide who would join the formidable Spanish ladies in the Final. Germany got off to a good start, scoring in the 8th minute through Lina Magull. They held on to their 1-0 lead for the rest of the 1st half, doing well not to allow the talented French side to score. As the 2nd half began, things changed. France's captain Claire Lavogez equalized 4 minutes into the half while Lydia Belkacemi put them ahead in the 60th with a nice shot. Germany then substituted Fabienne Dongus off for Annabel Jäger in the 63rd. Jäger proceeded to equalize 5 minutes after coming on. No more goals came as the game eventually made it to penalties. Both sides made their first 5 before Melanie Leupolz missed her spot kick for Germany. France went on to win the pk's 6-5. It was a great match and the Germans all played well, they were just unlucky at the end. So, we'll see Spain take on France the 31st (while Iceland and Germany face-off in the 3rd place match.) Before I post this, I'd like to say thank you to the more than 2,000 visitors to my blog! Soccer is my passion and I am glad that I can write about it with such success. Thank you for visiting, sharing it with your friends and family, and giving me feedback; I hope you all continue to enjoy reading Some Simple Soccer as much as I enjoy writing it.