WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
United States’ World Cup dynasty ends along with myth of supremacy
The United States came to the Women’s World Cup bullish about their chances of winning an unprecedented third consecutive title but their round-of-16 exit at the hands of Sweden showed their campaign was built more on hope than substance.
After back-to-back World Cup triumphs under Jill Ellis in 2015-19, Vlatko Andonovski’s efforts to regenerate the four-times champions will be judged a failure in the wake of their 5-4 loss on penalties in Melbourne on Sunday.
The U.S. suffered their earliest elimination at the World Cup by far, having never failed to reach the semi-finals in all eight previous tournaments.
Megan Rapinoe’s brilliant international career ends on a sour note and the Sweden loss will sting for other team mates of a golden generation unlikely to hang on for the next World Cup in another four years.
The 2019 World Cup in France will now be seen as the high-water mark for a once peerless team that seemed bigger than the game itself for much of the decade.
The game has changed irrevocably since the U.S. beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the Lyon final in France, with increased investment in women’s soccer paying dividends in Europe.
The U.S.-based National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is no longer the most attractive destination for the world’s top talent.
Many players now aspire to lucrative contracts with storied European clubs and the dream of a Champions League trophy in front of enormous crowds.
Loyal U.S. women have been left in a weakening domestic field and further dilution can be expected with plans for new teams in coming years.
Those concerns were buried under a hyperbolic narrative about the supremacy of American women’s football, a myth that endured right up to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
“We don’t just play the world’s game. We run it,” twice World Cup winner Brandi Chastain said in a pre-World Cup promotion for the NWSL.
For all the bluster, the cracks have been in plain sight for years.
Under Andonovski, the U.S. went out of the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics and had to rely on veterans Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd to win them a bronze medal.
They built a long winning streak last year against a succession of modest opponents but were exposed by European champions England, with further losses to Spain and Germany to follow.
Victory at the SheBelieves Cup early this year proved a chimera rather than evidence of a team back to their best.
Injuries undoubtedly made their World Cup mission tougher, with captain Becky Sauerbrunn and forward Mallory Swanson ruled out of the squad.
Yet, the U.S. never looked like World Cup winners when the tournament kicked off.
Held 1-1 by the Netherlands, they would have been eliminated by debutantes Portugal in the group phase if the post had not saved them in the scoreless draw.
The sight of Rapinoe and other players dancing and smiling on the pitch after the Portugal escape enraged the now-retired Lloyd, who suggested the team were suffering from denial in her work as a television analyst.
It was hard to think otherwise when Rapinoe said she had “blind confidence” in herself and her team mates, and that the U.S. could only improve.
On Sunday, Rapinoe blazed her spot kick over the bar, one of three Americans to miss in the shootout.
The World Cup exit leaves U.S. women’s soccer at a cross-roads, and pondering a way out of the mire.
-Reuters
Despite wintry conditions in Blida, on the outskirts of the Algerian capital, Algiers, Nigeria’s U17 girls dug their feet into the ground on Friday night.
They achieved a scoreless draw that qualified them for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals.
Holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage, the 2002 bronze medallists adopted a calm and collected pattern that easily soaked up the expected pressure from the hosts and then relied on fast breaks to try and pull the trigger on their opponents.
Although they created better chances on the night, the Flamingos failed to make dominance in possession pay, but swiftly collected the ticket to Morocco on a 4-0 aggregate win.
The difference over two legs of the final round was a remarkable display in the opening leg by the Flamingos, during which a brace by Queen Joseph and one each by Zainab Raji and substitute Aisha Animashaun ensured a 4-0 win.
The Flamingos will now be one of Africa’s five representatives (including hosts Morocco) at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals taking place from 17th October – 5th November. The final competition will entertain 24 teams for the very first time.
Since the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to make the finals only once – the 2018 tournament hosted by Uruguay.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Despite heavy first leg loss, Algeria hopeful of a turnaround in Nigeria’s Flamingos clash
The Algeria U17 women’s national team still hope for a possible turnaround in this Friday night clash with Nigeria’s Flamingos.
Algeria lost 4-0 in the first leg match in Ikenne last Saturday.
The Algerians completed their preparations on Thursday at the Sidi Moussa National Technical Centre, the eve of the return match against Nigeria.
The return match is scheduled for this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida. Aggregate winners will pick a ticket to the FIFA U-17 Women’s 2025 World Cup.
According to sources in Algeria, all the players took part in the final session, during which coach Abdenour Mira finalised the tactical details for the make or mar encounter.
Despite the heavy defeat conceded in the first leg (4-0), the young Algerians approach this match with the desire to finish well and deliver an honourable performance against a formidable Nigerian team.
During the technical meeting held early in the afternoon at the FAF headquarters, in the presence of representatives of the two teams and the organisers, it was decided that Algeria will play in green, while Nigeria will wear white.
The match will be officiated by Cameroonian Aline Marie Noelle Guimbang, assisted by her compatriot Laurie Marcelle Tsafack Teikeu and Chadian Victorine Ngarassoum.
The fourth official will also be Cameroonian, Innoncentia Njang Ntangti.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Under possible cold weather in Blida, Nigeria’s Flamingos set to grab World Cup ticket
The weather is most likely to be cold, but Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos, are set to continue a tradition of qualifying for every edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which has had eight editions, out of which the Flamingos featured in seven.
Only Japan, with 100 per cent attendance, has featured in more competitions than Nigeria’s Flamingos.
They look poised to feature again after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria in the first leg of the final qualifying series.
Apart from their opponents, Algeria, they have the expected cold weather to battle with at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida (outside Algiers), on Friday night.
Friday’s encounter against their Algerian counterparts is the final leg of a final qualifying round fixture, with the Flamingos, bronze-medallists from the 2022 finals in India and quarterfinalists from the last edition in the Dominican Republic, holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage.
The Federation Algerienne de Football (FAF) has scheduled the match to kick off at 8 pm, at a time when the winds will begin to blow in stronger from the Mediterranean Sea.
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