matchday 2 round up
denmark 2-1 ukraine
denmark stole it almost right at the death. scoring goals is a problem. ukraine are thus out.
finland 2-1 holland
holland sat back for the last 20minutes instead of going for an equaliser, to protect their goal difference, as their coach later explained apologetically. full marks for pragmatism. it means they just need a draw against denmark to go through as second. if they lose, they can count on their goal difference to go through as one of the 2 best third-placed teams.
germany 5-1 france
the chances france had were not inferior to that of germany's in terms of quantity and quality.
norway 1-0 iceland
norway has the same problem as denmark- scoring. but their defence is solid. they were almost perfect against germany for 90 minutes. what happened after that cannot be explained.
sweden 2-0 italy
sweden look very very good, very complete. won every second ball. the attack is clicking. asllani, schelin and svensson are growing into tournament form.
england 3-2 russia.
england went 2-0 down after 22 minutes. i thought it was over. then kaz carney scored on the 24th minute. the look in her eyes told me england was still alive. she played like a girl possessed, pardon the cliche, but she was everywhere, playing with this intensity. she created the second. the russian keeper cleared the ball to kelly smith just inside the russian half and kelly smith lobbed her from there for what would be the eventual winner. all within the first half.
amazingly, the player of the match went to kelly smith. i am an admirer of kelly smith, her presence, vision and passing helped the english cause and that goal was worthy enough to win any tournament, but i thought carney was simply outstanding.
team of the round
gk: hjelmseth (nor)
dl: saari (fin)
dc: roenning (nor)
dc: rohlin (swe)
dr: scott (eng)
mc: seger (swe)
mc: bresonik (ger)
aml: van de ven (ned)
amc: svensson (swe)
amr: carney (eng)
fc: osterberg kalmari (fin)
germany verdict
germany are like the men's germany of the 1990s, that efficient juggernaut. not firing on all cylinders, got a few soft goals. the quality of the team is there, no doubt. but i feel that they have not found the right balance. can a team win a tournament without finding the right balance, without peaking? i think even with germany's quality, it would be hard, because teams like sweden, england and france, for the latter two, despite their recent results, are not that far behind. i think they recognise that the results have flattered them. if they havent, they could very well be punished for the complacency in the later stages.
growing into the tournament
we talk about growing into a tournament, building upon each game. teams win tournaments like this.
at the moment, the team that has grown the most is surely england. if france can bounce back from their defeat, things will get interesting. but i feel that france's biggest problem is that they can't protect the talents of necib and abily.
group a
you may have suspected it. group a is a weak group. denmark are a pale shadow of their illustrious past. finland hasn't exactly impressed me, although they do have home support. holland are fresh to watch, but will struggle against even tougher opposition. ukraine is already out.
fight for their lives
denmark v holland
france v norway
sweden v england
italy v russia
i would say russia's chances are really very slim. at best, they go through as one of the two third-placed teams.
england need at least a draw.
france and norway, because of their inferior goal difference thanks to the games against germany, need a draw for both to go through and a victory in one of the other games(not for just any team. group c is tricky- but the key thing is to make sure that at least one group has a third-placed team with 3 points or less) if a victor is produced, the loser will almost certainly go home. i hope both teams go through.
holland will probably sit back against a not-very-potent denmark. could be a boring game.
denmark stole it almost right at the death. scoring goals is a problem. ukraine are thus out.
finland 2-1 holland
holland sat back for the last 20minutes instead of going for an equaliser, to protect their goal difference, as their coach later explained apologetically. full marks for pragmatism. it means they just need a draw against denmark to go through as second. if they lose, they can count on their goal difference to go through as one of the 2 best third-placed teams.
germany 5-1 france
the chances france had were not inferior to that of germany's in terms of quantity and quality.
norway 1-0 iceland
norway has the same problem as denmark- scoring. but their defence is solid. they were almost perfect against germany for 90 minutes. what happened after that cannot be explained.
sweden 2-0 italy
sweden look very very good, very complete. won every second ball. the attack is clicking. asllani, schelin and svensson are growing into tournament form.
england 3-2 russia.
england went 2-0 down after 22 minutes. i thought it was over. then kaz carney scored on the 24th minute. the look in her eyes told me england was still alive. she played like a girl possessed, pardon the cliche, but she was everywhere, playing with this intensity. she created the second. the russian keeper cleared the ball to kelly smith just inside the russian half and kelly smith lobbed her from there for what would be the eventual winner. all within the first half.
amazingly, the player of the match went to kelly smith. i am an admirer of kelly smith, her presence, vision and passing helped the english cause and that goal was worthy enough to win any tournament, but i thought carney was simply outstanding.
team of the round
gk: hjelmseth (nor)
dl: saari (fin)
dc: roenning (nor)
dc: rohlin (swe)
dr: scott (eng)
mc: seger (swe)
mc: bresonik (ger)
aml: van de ven (ned)
amc: svensson (swe)
amr: carney (eng)
fc: osterberg kalmari (fin)
germany verdict
germany are like the men's germany of the 1990s, that efficient juggernaut. not firing on all cylinders, got a few soft goals. the quality of the team is there, no doubt. but i feel that they have not found the right balance. can a team win a tournament without finding the right balance, without peaking? i think even with germany's quality, it would be hard, because teams like sweden, england and france, for the latter two, despite their recent results, are not that far behind. i think they recognise that the results have flattered them. if they havent, they could very well be punished for the complacency in the later stages.
growing into the tournament
we talk about growing into a tournament, building upon each game. teams win tournaments like this.
at the moment, the team that has grown the most is surely england. if france can bounce back from their defeat, things will get interesting. but i feel that france's biggest problem is that they can't protect the talents of necib and abily.
group a
you may have suspected it. group a is a weak group. denmark are a pale shadow of their illustrious past. finland hasn't exactly impressed me, although they do have home support. holland are fresh to watch, but will struggle against even tougher opposition. ukraine is already out.
fight for their lives
denmark v holland
france v norway
sweden v england
italy v russia
i would say russia's chances are really very slim. at best, they go through as one of the two third-placed teams.
england need at least a draw.
france and norway, because of their inferior goal difference thanks to the games against germany, need a draw for both to go through and a victory in one of the other games(not for just any team. group c is tricky- but the key thing is to make sure that at least one group has a third-placed team with 3 points or less) if a victor is produced, the loser will almost certainly go home. i hope both teams go through.
holland will probably sit back against a not-very-potent denmark. could be a boring game.
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