Tagged with: FIFA World Cup
Got ‘em, yes, get in! The FIFA World Cup is coming to Aotearoa (and Australia) in 2023 with the most prestigious and highest standard tournament in women’s football on it’s way Down Under.
In the end there must be a winner. It’s those stakes that make top level sport what it is so, ultimately, somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose and one way or another we have to find that resolution.
In the end it wasn’t to be. With numbers forward, pressing for a desperate winner into the final minute of stoppage time, the Ferns got caught on the break by Cameroon and a bit of Ajara Nchout magic allowed her to cut inside and curl one inside the far post with eleven seconds remaining in the game and put Cameroon through into the next round with a 2-1 victory.
So here we are then. On game and ninety minutes with basically the entire World Cup campaign on the line. The Ferns had two objectives coming into this tournament: to win their first World Cup game and the make the knockouts stages for the first time ever.
It won’t take too long to sum that game up, it started with Canada in control and it ended with Canada in control and in between they scored twice while the kiwis barely even threatened.
Heartbreaking. To get so close to a famous result and to concede at the end… it’s devastating, it’s shattering, it’s deflating. After ninety-plus minutes of resolute defence and an absolutely spot on tactical approach from Tom Sermanni the Ferns were on the brink of a valuable point against the Netherlands but couldn’t quite close it out, Jill Roord popping up with the stoppage time winner.
With all the intense effort and attitude that it takes even just to get yourself in contention to be picked for a World Cup, the last thing you wanna see is a player having their dream shattered three days out from the start of the tournament thanks to injury.
And completing the clan with the last three groups. Do the research. Enjoy the World Cup.
Dishing up the goods ahead of what’s only gonna be the biggest, most competitive FIFA Women’s World Cup in history.
If the Ferns hit rock bottom a year ago amidst the disastrous reign of a coach who shall not be named beneath the disastrous reign of a chief executive officer who shall not be named… then it’s also fair to say that they’ve made quick and significant progress under Tom Sermanni ever since.
A 5-0 defeat is not exactly the result you want to see as you ramp up your preparation for the World Cup but that’s what the Football Ferns were served up against the USA in St Louis. Five goals and that puts a sudden halt to some of that recent momentum.
There’s definitely a defensive feel to this squad, with a fair few fringe forwards left out of the picture. More than that it’s an extremely experienced squad. The only players with fewer than ten caps are two reserve keepers and a couple defensive alternatives. 14 of the 23 players have at least 50 caps and there are six centurions with a 99-capper in there too.
Spare a drop of envy for Raphael Varane, who has already won four Champions Leagues and a World Cup and he’s only 25 years old. Some blokes have all the luck, aye…
This team just looks like a World Cup winning team. It’s got star power and veteran leadership. Incredible young players that’ll help usher in the next era of international footy and a manager who had something big to prove.
Gareth Southgate’s English team stand out against those sides because of how refreshingly likeable they are. Who saw that coming, an endearing English team!?
If the final four feels underwhelming then just go with it for the next week and see how you feel afterwards. Very few teams have ever won the World Cup by dominating from start to finish. Often teams start slow and build up while some just grind the whole way.
Some people hate penalty shootouts. They think they’re too fickle or unfair. They think that penalty kicks don’t represent justice in a result after 120 minutes of stalemated football. Those people are wrong.
It wasn’t so long ago that the good old fashioned centre forward was all out of fashion. Spain was winning the World Cup and a couple Euros without one, Barcelona was winning everything at club level without one. But never fear because the 2018 World Cup has shown that the centre forward is making a comeback.
They were tactically awful in losing 1-0 to Mexico, needed a late screamer from Toni Kroos to beat Sweden 2-1 in injury time and then conceded twice at the appropriately-labelled death to lose 2-0 to South Korea.
And thus, people of the jury of public perception, I now present to you… the case for and against England as legitimate World Cup champion threats.