Thrilling Women's World Cup Semi-Finals!

And the action has wrapped up today with France facing Ghana and North Korea taking on the Germans! In the first game, the defensive Ghanians were simply undone by the firepower of the French who were glorified through the brace from Kadidiatou Diani. Diani's goals in the 31st and 89th minutes were pure gold for the French as they dominated the goals and the possession with 61% of it and 15 shots to Ghana's 39% and 6 respectively. Some may complain that the Ghanians fell due to injury and suspension (Jane Ayieyam was sent-off with a second yellow in the 52nd and Ivy Kolli was still out due to injury) but really the French looked the better side on the day. Meanwhile, in the later game between the North Koreans and the Germans, it was once more a one-sided affair though the goal difference was less drastic: the Koreans ended up edging the Germans 2-1 after Kim So Hyang's 39th and 47th goals coming before Rebecca Knaak's 59th minute strike. The Koreans were then able to maintain the game with 64% of possession and tons of pressure with a total of 21 shots compared to Germany's 7! Once more then, the team that deserved to win ended up doing so in both games. Hope you enjoyed them and make sure to watch the Final and Third Place games!

Women's World Cup Semi-Final!

The action up to this point has been absolutely tremendous with the teams that have deserved the right to win more often than not going on to do so. On the 9th of October we will have another such instance when the Semi-Finals kick off with the most even of line-ups as possible: perennial title challengers Germany face ever-competitive North Korea while newcomers in the likes of France and Ghana face-off in the other leg. While France's accomplishments this year have certainly raised a few eye-brows (they had never previously made it out of the group stage let alone this far,) Ghana are the likely favorites to progress to the Final after they stopped the deadly Japanese strikers and scored a vital goal of their own in their Quarter-Final clash on the 5th of this month. But what about the other game? Between the two favorites of the remaining teams, this game could very well decide the conclusion of the tournament. How, then, do the two teams compare? Based on goal power alone, North Korea might be tipped to simply out-score the Germans however there is a word of caution in the statistics: the two teams who have scored more than the North Koreans, Japan and Nigeria, weren't able to make it this far. Thus, the ability to score is not the only thing that matters in football, and that is most explicitly illustrated in this campaign! Enjoy!

U-17 WWC: Round II in Azerbaijan.

Well today we had action just as thrilling as yesterday with Germany facing Brazil as Japan and Ghana battled it out later in the day. How about the European - South American clash first? Once again it was a very close match with the two sides level 1-1 at the half thanks to the efforts of Djenifer (for Brazil) in the 13th minute. Sara Daebritz proceeded to equalize for the Germans in the 31st minute to the chagrin of the Brazilian supporters. With the opportunities relatively equal for both sides, it was all too fair a game. Nevertheless, the Germans dominated the possession and it eventually told for them in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half when Rebecca Knaak slotted home convincingly! That was all she wrote as the Germans played out the rest of time without incident. Meanwhile, in the game between Japan and Ghana the tension of the 1st half can be contrasted with the bliss of the 53rd minute goal for Ghana through Sherifatu Sumaila. That's not to say there weren't opportunities, but despite 67% of possession, Japan had a mere 8 shots. It's very hard to explain how the favorites were sent crashing out, but the Africans performed brilliantly, well-deserving the right to represent their continent for the first time in the U-17 Semi-Finals. Returning to action from yesterday, I just wanted to highlight the end result of the Nigeria - France game: it went all the way to penalties! In the end though, France won out on penalties, 5-3.

The U-17 Women's World Cup Quarter-Finals: Round I

And the Quarter-Finals have arrived! After a great set of groups we are graced by the performances of the likes of North Korea v.s. Canada and Nigeria v.s. France! The first game today, between the North Koreans and the Canadians, was positively sensational as Ri Un Sim was positively phenomenal, striking twice in the 78th and 87th minutes to give the Koreans a wonderful position as the game drew to a close. Yes, Nichelle Prince brought the North Americans one back in the 1st minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half, but it was never going to be enough. The North Koreans were positively dominant in the game, taking at least 17 shots to Canada's 8 as well as maintaining 57% of possession! Not only did they dominate on the scoring and opportunity sheets, but the North Koreans also maintained a wonderful level of discipline throughout the match and as they celebrated knocking out the last representative from North America! Meanwhile, in Nigeria's match against France the two sides are deadlocked at 0-0 as I post this though I wouldn't be surprised if the French side go on to win it all! They have almost the exact same statistical dominance as we saw in the North Korea - Canada game but they have yet to score! The Nigerians might begin drawing strength from their hearty defense though so the ground-breaking goal better come soon! Enjoy the games and I'll try to post about tomorrow's games as well. Cheers!

World Rankings!

Well, there has been some movement in the rankings of world football, though neither of the top two of Spain and Germany have changed. Portugal have risen one place to 3rd while Argentina hopped three positions for 4th. Remember England? Well they dropped two to 5th as the Netherlands recouped in 6th, up two from the last ratings. Uruguay and Italy fell two places each to 7th and 8th respectively as Colombia cracked the top ten with their 13-position rise to 9th position! Greece rose 1 position to 10th from 11th last time around. Want to know more? Explore! There is a world of football just waiting for you. Enjoy it.

So the Champions League.

I know it has been a while since I posted about the Champions League - with so many other exciting events taking place I kind of lost it on my radar! However, here is a post to rectify the situation. The action thus far has been quite thrilling with Group A currently poised as follows: PSG of France currently leads with 3 points and a superior goal difference over 2nd place FC Porto of Portugal who also have 3 points to their name. Dinamo Zagreb take 3rd after losing their first game. Meanwhile, Dynamo Kyiv are in 4th. On to Group B where Schalke and Arsenal have 3 points each with the two sides unable to be separated by goal difference. Montpellier Herault and Olympiacos are in 3rd and 4th positions. Then we have Group C where Malaga of Spain are the surprise leaders early on while Anderlecht and AC Milan tied their game meaning they each have 1 point in 2nd and 3rd. Zenit St. Petersburg meanwhile occupy 4th after their defeat at the hands of Malaga. Looking at Group D we have an extremely thrilling state of affairs with Real Madrid leading with 3 points through goal difference as Borussia Dortmund are only 2nd on that goal difference. Manchester City and Ajax are thus in 3rd and 4th positions. How about Group E where there is another surprise contest for leadership? Yes, Chelsea have collected themselves and taken joint-1st alongside Shakhtar Donetsk. Juventus aren't looking too hot as they have only managed to draw their 2nd game leaving them with just 2 points and in 3rd position. The future does look a bit rosy though! Nordsjaelland have yet to even score a goal as they have lost both of their first two games meaning they are out of competition for progression and only hoping for a saving of their honor. Group F has has also played through their first two games and it has been absolutely thrilling! BATE Borisov have been absolutely phenomenal as they have gone to win their first two games while Valencia and Bayern Munich have both struggled, managing only two wins from four games between them! Luckily for them, Lille have essentially been neutralized in 4th as they have amassed 0 points and just 1 goal in their opening two games. Group G is a bit more clear-cut with Barcelona and Celtic holding 1st and 2nd with 6 and 4 points respectively. Benfica languish in 3rd with a single point while Spartak Moskva are down and out with 0 points to their name. Finally, Group H has a strong leader in Manchester United who hold 6 points to Cluj's and Braga's 3 points. Last but only kind of least, Galatasaray look like they will be consigned to playing in their domestic league after losing both of their first two games! More games tomorrow!

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!