And the groups have concluded!

Well the intensity in Azerbaijan is only increasing as Group A concluded with the Canadians edging the hosts in what was a remarkably close game thanks in large part to the superior skills of the Azerbaijani keeper Aytaj Sharifova. Nevertheless, Valerie Sanderson eventually found the back of the net for the Canadians, early in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, Colombia were torn apart by the Nigerians with a 0-1 scoreline by the half and a 0-3 score at the end. Halimatu Ayinde struck in the 32nd and 75th minutes to give the Nigerians quite the lead. Diana Duarte's 80th minute own goal was just the last nail in the coffin as they go home with 3 points to their name. As for Group B, we were graced with quite the glorious exercise in how to play football (soccer): Gambia were routed 2-10 by the French in a game that stood 0-3 at the half. Pauline Cousin got things started for the French ladies in the 11th minute before Metta Sanneh struck an own goal against her team before Lea Declercq scored the first of her three goals in the 35th minute. Gambia actually showed well for themselves early on in the 2nd half, slotting home through Penda Bah in the 48th minute. Candice Gherbi put France back into a commanding position in the 53rd while Sainey Sissohore brought Gambia one back once more in just before the 70th minute. Thus it was 2-4 before Kadidiatou Diani and Griedge Mbock Bathy scored for France on either side of Lea Declercq's 2nd in the 78th. Pualine Cousin then struck her own 2nd, France's 8th, before Declercq completed her hat-trick in the 85th. Mariama Bojang's own goal at the last gasp was merely the icing on the cake for the French team, and the last point of a disappointing tournament for the Gambians. Meanwhile, in the other Group B game between the United States and North Korea little was resolved as they ended with their 1-1 1st half scoreline at full-time. Unfortunately for the Americans, Darian Jenkins' 2nd minute goal was all they had going for them as the North Koreans really captured the game after their 4th minute equalizer through the prolific Ri Un Sim. On to Group C now where Japan obliterated Mexico by a score of 9-0 with the game really decided at the half: 5-0 in favor of the Japanese. Risa Shimizu scored in the 8th while Yui Narumiya converted her 18th minute penalty. Akari Shiraki struck in the 22nd and 29th minutes while Ayaka Inoue scored in the 28th minute before half-time arrived. Inoue proceeded to tack on her 2nd, Japan's 6th, in the 56th. Hina Sugita struck in the 69th, Yuka Momiki added her own 10 minutes later while Mizuki Nakamura put the cherry on top with her 86th minute goal that sent Mexico home on a very very low. Meanwhile in New Zealand's match against Brazil we finally saw the real mettle of the South Americans: Emily Jensen gave the Kiwis the lead in the 4th minute. Byanca struck an equalizer in the 10th while Brena gave the Brazilians their first lead of the game in the 26th. Andressa slotted home her penalty in the 35th before New Zealand were able to draw one back in the 1st minute of stoppage time of the 1st half. This was through Ana Clara's own goal. Thus at the half the game was poised at a 2-3 scoreline. As the 2nd half began either side could have really drawn first blood however it was through Camila that the Brazilians finally broke the deadlock, extending their lead and forcing the women of New Zealand to get more and more offensive. Martine Puketapu was all to happy to accept the challenge, bringing the game to a 3-4 margin with her 77th minute goal for the Kiwis however it wasn't enough as the Brazilians held on for sweet victory! Last but not least we had Group D where Germany hammered Uruguay 5-2 despite the two sides being level 1-1 at the half! Sara Daebritz gave the Germans the lead in the 14th minute while Yamila Badell eventually equalized for the Uruguayans - in the 42nd minute. The 2nd half was when things got really interesting though as Rebecca Knaak, Ricarda Kiessling, and Sharon Beck struck in the 48th, 65th, and 80th minutes respectively to truly bury their South American competition. Yamila Badell's 87th minute goal for the Uruguayan women was a nice consolation however t really did nothing to affect their departure from the tournament. Last but certainly not least we had China v.s. Ghana. Both groups of women looked positively deadly in the lead-up to the game however Jane Ayieyam was the woman of the game with goals in the 18th and 88th minutes constituting the whole of the 0-2 affair as the team from Ghana progress to the next round. What of the next round? Well, with teams like Colombia, the United States, and the People's Republic of China falling out already, you might be wondering who actually did make it through. Well, Group A sees Nigeria and Canada go through with 7 points each. Over in Group B North Korea and France made it through on goal difference as both of them as well as the United States had 5 points to their names. As for Group C, the only group with a perfect winner, Japan and Brazil will move forward with 9 and 6 points respectively. Last but by no means least we have Group D where Germany and Ghana were the teams to qualify for the next round. Thus, Nigeria will take on France in the first Quarter-Final game. North Korea will then face the last remaining representative from North America in Canada as Japan and Ghana face off later that day. Germany's match with Brazil will most likely be very entertaining as well! Make sure to catch a couple of these games as they are sure to exhilarating!

Matches this weekend in the U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan

Alright, this weekend we have a ton of action in Azerbaijan as the groups come to their conclusions and we find out who will be going home early. In Group A, Canada will be taking on the hosts Azerbaijan with Canada looking for a place in the next round and the Azerbaijanis hoping to steal a shred of goodness from what has been a terrible tournament for them. Colombia's match against Nigeria will be played with higher stakes as the side who wins will progress to the next round. Also on the 29th, Group B will showcase the top two teams, North Korea and the United States, fighting it out as France v.s. Gambia is only meaningful for the Europeans: Gambia has no way of progressing while France is depending on either the U.S. or North Korea winning so they can pick up the 2nd progression spot. Otherwise, it's all down to goal difference and France has a lot of ground to make up! Meanwhile, on the 30th Group C kicks off with Japan for the most part untouchable facing Mexico who needs to win while Brazil will hope for victory over a hapless New Zealand who have yet to register a point in the competition. Last but by no means least, Group D will wrap-up with Germany expecting victory over Uruguay to progress as China and Ghana will battle it out for the other progression slot.  Predictions? As far as Group A is concerned, I think Nigeria will maintain their offensive and defensive supremacy to carry through as Canada has their way with the hosts. Group B will be more interesting as the United States has yet to allow a goal though the North Koreans have been positively deadly offensively. It will really all depend on who gets off to the best start and whether or not there are any slip ups in either defense because it could just end in a draw. That would be fine with France though! As they should have little to no difficulty with Gambia but they'll have to score an exorbitant amount to make it through to the next round. Moving on to Group C, Japan should manage the game against Mexico - even a draw would do - while Brazil should defeat the Kiwis though they have as of yet failed to impress. As for Group D, Germany should have little difficulty crushing the Uruguayans. On the other hand, China's match with Ghana is prime ground for an upset! China thus far have scored 5 conceding 1 while the Ghanians have struck 6 though allowing 2. Judging from their respective games against Germany, China might be tipped as favorites but it really could go either way. Enjoy the games and I'll update you all at the end of the weekend or the beginning of next week! Cheers.

U-17 Women's World Cup again!

Well, the second round of group games has been completed and what a tournament thus far! Hosts Azerbaijan were absolutely dismantled by Nigeria, losing 0-11 after a 0-7 scoreline by the half. Chinwendu Ihezuo struck 5 for the Nigerians, 3 coming in the first half while the last two came in the 56th and 70th minutes respectively. Halimatu Ayinde made 2 beginning in the 8th and adding a second in the 24th. Tessy Biahwo also grabbed two for herself in the 20th and 74th minutes as Aminat Yakubu and Joy Bokiri scored one for themselves each in the 22nd and 68th minutes respectively. Moving on, Colombia and Canada finished their match 0-1 with Summer Clarke scoring for the Canadians in the 51st minute. And that was Group A! As for Group B, France and North Korea tied 1-1 with Un Sim Ri giving the Koreans the lead for approximately 1 minute before Kadidiatou Diani leveling in the 60th! The game proceeded to end stalemated. In the other group game, the United States beat Gambia by a big 6-0 scoreline. It was actually a bit surprising as the Gambians actually kept it close up until the half with a 1-0 scoreline. Summer Green struck once from open play and again from the penalty spot as Amber Munerlyn, Morgan Stanton, and Toni Payne each grabbed goals of their own. Amie Jarju's own goal in the 46th minute was really the breaking point for the Gambians. On to Group C which remains in the running for the lowest scoring group in the tournament as Mexico were edged 0-1 by the Brazilians and New Zealand were bested by a superior Japanese side. Byanca was the player of the match as she struck Brazil's 82nd minute goal to win it all. As for the Japanese, Yui Hasegawa struck in the 60th and 78th minutes before Rin Sumida tacked on a third in the 3rd minute of stoppage time in the 2nd half from the penalty spot. New Zealand's keeper Ronisa Lipi was injured keeping her out of line-up contention this time around. Last but not least, Group D saw several surprises as Uruguay was ousted from tournament contention by the Ghanians. The score was 0-5 with 0-3 the score at the half. Then there was the China's drawing with Germany after getting the lead in fact! The Germans equalized though. Keep watching!

U-17 Women's World Cup! In Azerbaijan.

Well the tournament has kicked off and things are positively fascinating! How about beginning in Group A which consists of the hosts Azerbaijan, Canada, Colombia, and Nigeria? The hosts flopped against Colombia losing 0-4 with the half-time score of 0-3! Colombia's captain Dayana Castillo had a positively phenomenal game scoring in rapid succession in the 17th and 20th minutes. Gabriela Maldonado struck a minute from the half while Laura Aguirre added their 4th in the 73rd minute. As for the match between Nigeria and Canada, the two sides remained level 0-0 through the 1st half before each striking once in the 2nd to leave the two sides with a point a piece. Not to pick favorites, the Nigerians were probably expected to win this one though the Canadians actually struck first, in the 63rd minute to the chagrin of the Nigerian fans. Nevertheless, the ladies of Nigeria kept their wits about them and equalized in the 81st minute, saving themselves a bit of embarrassment. Moving on to Group B, France and the United States couldn't get by one another as they finished at a 0-0 draw. Having said that, the French probably should have won with 23 shots to America's 3. They also had 2 more corner kick opportunities and a slight edge as far as possession goes. Nevertheless, the United States will have to pick up their offensive output if they want to progress let alone win it all. That game was nothing compared to North Korea's absolute domination of Gambia with a 6-0 lead by the half and the final score sitting poised 11-0. Who were the trend-setters? Well, Ri Un Sim and Ri Kyong Hyang each bagged hat-tricks while Ri Hyang Sim slotted home twice in the last 4 minutes. Kim So Hyang, Kim Phyong Hwa, and Choe Yun Gyong each struck once as well! As for Group C, Mexico took on New Zealand, edging the Kiwis 1-0 with a 1st half goal coming in the 36th minute from Fernanda Perez and holding on for dear life. As for Brazil's match with Japan, the South Americans were utterly neutralized. Building a 0-2 lead in the 1st half, the Japanese went on to win 0-5! Rika Masuya struck in the 2nd and 17th minutes though was unable to complete her hat-trick. Yui Narumiya then proceeded to strike two goals, in the 49th and 67th minutes, that put the match completely out of Brazil's hands as Hina Sugita struck in the 63rd minute. And what about Group D? Well, it got off to a voracious start with Uruguay falling to China 0-4 after a first-half scoreline of 0-3! As both teams were debutant to the tournament (the only game in which that was the case) it should dispel any pre-tournament jitters for the Chinese as Tang Jiali scored in the 23rd minute while Zhang Chen made a double before the half. Lu Yueyun's 79th minute goal was just the icing on the top of the cake. Last but certainly not least, Ghana v.s. Germany was a thrilling encounter with the Germans leading 0-2 at the half. In the 2nd half though, Ghana fought back, almost equalizing after drawing one nearer. Keep watching and I am sure they will remain just as titillating throughout the remainder of the tournament!

Europe!

Unfortunately, the world of football moves on and so must we! Leaving the world of international football, I'd like to turn to the Champions League where we had quite the thrilling couple of days: on September 18th 2012 we saw Dinamo Zagreb lose to Porto 0-2, prolonging the Croatian champion's losing streak as Lucho Gonzalez and Steven Defour battled off the Croatian pressure to score in the dying minutes of the first and second half respectively. Paris St. Germain finally found their footing as they obliterated Dynamo Kyiv in France by a 4-1 scoreline! PSG got out of the gate early with Zlatan Ibrahimovic locking away a penalty kick in the 19th minute before Thiago Silva tacked on a second 10 minutes later. Alex's 32nd minute strike and Pastore's 1st minute of stoppage time strike in the second half were only interrupted by Miguel Veloso's 87th minute goal for the otherwise luckless visitors. Remaining in France, Montpellier were edged by Arsenal in their face-off despite getting off to an early lead through Younes Belhanda in the 9th minute from the penalty spot and having most of the 2nd half opportunities. However, Arsenal's quickfire double from Lukas Podolski and Gervinho in the 16th and 18th minutes were too much for the French side. Olympiacos were similarly edged by Schalke 1-2 although it could have been better for the Germans. Benedikt Howedes' 41st minute goal was canceled out by Djamel Abdoun's 58th minute strike. However, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made an impact on the game with what would turn out to be a winner in the 59th minute. Sadly for the Dutchman, his penalty just moments later would not find its way to goal. Over in Spain, Malaga truly upset Zenit St. Petersburg with Isco striking in the 3rd and 76th minutes and Javier Saviola tallying one himself in the 13th to see off the Russians. The visitors really did look like fish out of water as their real opportunities were limited to the 1st half for the most part. As for AC Milan, they were held to a surprise 0-0 draw with Anderlecht at home in Italy despite the fact that the Italians had the lions share of the chances. Dortmund were more successful against Ajax as they went on to grab a goal in the 87th minute against the Dutch masters through the ever-talented Robert Leewandowski. Mats Hummels's penalty flub early-on in the 2nd half was forgotten as the German champions and their fans celebrated the vital three points. Last but certainly not least, Real Madrid were able to get the better of Manchester City in a high-scoring 3-2 extravaganza. with all of the goals coming in the 2nd half after a first half largely dominated by an ineffectual Madrid. Edin Dzeko eventually gave the struggling visitors the lead in the 68th minute though Madrid shortly equalized through Marcelo in the 76th. Aleksandar Kolarov made it 1-2 for the Manchester side before Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home in the 87th and 90th minutes respectively. Finally, yesterday, the 19th of September, we had Shakhtar Donetsk defeat Nordsjaelland 2-0 as Chelsea lost control of their match against Juventus to draw 2-2 in England. LOSC lost to BATE 1-3 in an enthralling fixture while Bayern edged Valencia 2-1; Barcelona one-upped Spartak Moskva 3-2, as Celtic and Benfica played out a goalless draw. Last but not least, Manchester United got one over Galatasaray - 1-0 was the final score - while Braga suffered a 0-2 defeat to CFR Cluj at home! Hope you enjoyed the games, don't forget the next legs or the Europa League action! Enjoy.

Wrapping up my report on the qualifiers!

Sorry about that everybody, where was I? Ah yes, Italy's 2-0 victory over Malta! Striking in the 5th minute, it appeared that the Italians were well on their way to a thorough trouncing of their opponents! Instead, they seemed to be out of gas for most of the game after Mattia Destro's opener. Andrew Cohen's own goal in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half was really a stroke of luck for the Italians as they really didn't deserve anything more than their one goal lead. Then there was the highly anticipated match-up between Austria and Germany! Leading 0-1 at the half, nobody could really fault the Germans after Marco Reus' 44th minute goal. While Germany's next goal came through Mesut Ozil, it wasn't anything spectacular as he made it from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute. Austria's return though, from Zlatko Junuzovic just 5 minutes later was well worth the wait. While the Austrians went on to lose 1-2 to their guests, there were positive signs. Serbia v.s. Wales wasn't nearly as close a contest with a 3-1 scoreline by the half and a 6-1 hammering the final tally as the Serbians ran away winners. Sweden's victory over Kazakhstan in Malmo wasn't quite as emphatic though it was comprehensive with the Swedes drawing ahead in the 1st half before locking the game away in the 2nd. Romania's match with Andorra was a return to the emphatic as the hosts utterly obliterated their guests: 2-0 at the half, the Romanians were ahead 4-0 by the time the referee blew the final whistle. Hungary's loss to the Netherlands was a rare loss for a home side in this round of games though it was to be expected: 1-4 by the end for the Dutch. Jeremain Lens had a great night for the Dutch national team, striking in the 2nd and 52nd minutes. Balazs Dzsudzsak was good for the Hungarians as he converted from the spot in the 6th minute to tie things up. Bruno Martens gave the Dutch the lead again in the 18th. Then came Lens' second while Klaas Jan Huntelaar put his name on the scoring sheet in the 73rd minute completing a rather remarkable night for a Dutch team stil rebuilding from their Euro Cup falling apart. And how about that Switzerland - Albania game? 1-0 at the half with a 2-0 scoreline by the end. Now for a change of perspective - the South American showdown between Peru and Argentina! After quite a disappointing opening couple of minutes, the Peruvians ended up being the side to take the lead first, through Carlos Zambrano in the 22nd minute. Unfortunately for them, the debilitated Argentinian side was able to fight back for a draw through Gonzalo Higuain in the 38th minute. And that was that! Despite efforts on both sides the scoreline was unchanged. The United States were able to edge Jamaica 1-0 in their match while Panama showed Canada the door with a 2-0 scoreline at home in Panama City. New Caledonia were able to upset their hosts Tahiti; by a remarkable scoreline too! 0-4 despite a 0-0 score at the halfway point. Cesar Lolohea, Bertrand Kai, and Georges Gope-Fenepej were the men of the hour with a goal, two goals, and a goal a piece respectively. Unfortunately, I have to leave in the middle of my post once more but I promise to complete my report in my next post! Apologies!

What was up with those Qualifiers?

So you might have heard of the World Cup Qualifiers taking place recently? Well, it isn't a myth! Let's start off nice and slow with Bulgaria's 1-0 edging of Armenia after a 1st half goal from Stanislav Manolev two minutes before the break. Then there was Turkey's 3-0 romp over Estonia which actually went into the half a 1-0 scoreline! Emre Belozoglu struck that 44th minute goal while Umut Bulut and Selcuk Inan added 2nd half goals in the 60th and 75th minutes respectively to take the game completely out of the visitors' hands. Belgium and Croatia finished level 1-1 after an exciting 1st half and a boring 2nd as Ivan Perisic's 6th minute goal was canceled out by Guillaume Gillet's 2nd minute of stoppage time goal. Unfortunately, I have to go to class now, however there is so much to look forward to! Italy v.s. Malta, Austria v.s. Germany, Mexico v.s. Cosat Rica... Look for it!

Women's U-20 World Cup Wrap-Up

The tournament in Japan has concluded and it was an explosive day like any other with the United States edging the Germans in the Final by a scoreline of 1-0 while Japan seized 3rd after a spirited 2-1 fight against the Nigerians. Kealia Ohai was the woman of the hour when she slotted home a minute before the half to give the U.S. a slender lead and the momentum going into the next half when they were defensive enough to keep that lead and win it all. As for the 3rd-place game, Yoko Tanaka provided the first goal, for the Japanese, in the 24th minute. Moving into the 2nd half Japan's second goal came five minutes in through the wonderful foot of Asuka Nishikawa. Not to be completely overwhelmed, Nigeria made it 2-1 in the 73rd after Desire Oparanozie struck a truly wonderful goal. It wasn't enough to equalize let alone win but it was enough to provide quite a scintillating performance! I hope you all enjoyed the tournament and applause to Japan for putting on such a wonderful spectacle!