semi finals roundup
england 1-1 holland (2-1 aet)
kelly smith finally showed her class, though england needed extra time to see off a very stubborn holland. amazingly, carney didnt start. i could only think of 2 reasons: injury or tactical. perhaps hope powell was thinking to bring her on only when the dutch are tired, and secretly hoping she wouldnt need to because maybe they would have wrapped up the game without her. but she was needed, and made the impact when she came on, giving directed impetus to the team. i admire the fitness of the dutch. 2 consecutive games that have gone to extra time. it was only after jill scott's goal 4minutes from the end of the second extra time period that you notice a drop in their level. maybe because even they know that it is beyond them now.
norway 1-3 germany
norway got a goal after 10 minutes from a corner, their variation with 5 players crowding the keeper. germany was never in the game in the first half. norway moved the ball well, amazingly, and got close a few times. but a different germany showed up in the second half, started creating chances. a 2 min lapse saw norway go 2-1 down. same old story as in the opening game. but it wasn't over. norway actually still threatened and it took the last kick of the game to bury them, with bajramaj tucking in the ball, after hjelmseth made a point-blank double save against grings and prinz.
team of the semi-final
gk:hjelmseth (nor)
dl: huse (nor)
dc: mjelde (nor)
dr: scott (eng)
mc: laudehr (ger)
mc: stensland (nor)
mc: chapman (eng)
aml: bajramaj (ger)
amc: smith (eng)
amr: carney (eng)
fc: herlovsen (nor)
you would have thought norway won instead of germany, judging from my selection. but norway really grew as a team. they were actually very close to pulling it off, despite the scoreline, despite the fact that they were chasing the game for the last half an hour.
prinz-grings partnership
declared by the commentator as the best in europe. well i don't really think it is working, because both are too similar. i will take grings but not prinz. prinz looked like prinz in the second half, but this has been a disappointing tournament for her. if you don't consider the second half, i would even go as far to suggest that she was a liability. it is not because she isn't good, but because she is struggling in terms of fitness. it has been an injury-hampered season. what i feel is that silvia neid didnt dare to drop her, and is hoping that her class would see her through. but that is assuming germany are heads and shoulders above everyone else in terms of quality. despite winning all 5 games so far, i can assure you that this isn't the case. look at how italy and norway pushed them. france as well, despite the 5-1 scoreline. the gap between nations has decreased.
of course with the german machine still rolling on, though not all too convincingly, my words have less weight. i was hoping for sweden to prove me right. but things took an unexpected twist. for a while, norway looked as if they could pull it off, but they didn't.
so i am hoping england will prove me right. they better, because you will never catch me supporting england in men's football. but i like this team. or at least i like the arsenal and ex-arsenal players. and i feel that they are the team that has grown the most. everything that could go wrong went wrong. red cards, injuries, falling 2-0 behind after just 20 minutes. but they have recovered.
personally, i am rooting for kelly smith to make it her final.
kelly smith finally showed her class, though england needed extra time to see off a very stubborn holland. amazingly, carney didnt start. i could only think of 2 reasons: injury or tactical. perhaps hope powell was thinking to bring her on only when the dutch are tired, and secretly hoping she wouldnt need to because maybe they would have wrapped up the game without her. but she was needed, and made the impact when she came on, giving directed impetus to the team. i admire the fitness of the dutch. 2 consecutive games that have gone to extra time. it was only after jill scott's goal 4minutes from the end of the second extra time period that you notice a drop in their level. maybe because even they know that it is beyond them now.
norway 1-3 germany
norway got a goal after 10 minutes from a corner, their variation with 5 players crowding the keeper. germany was never in the game in the first half. norway moved the ball well, amazingly, and got close a few times. but a different germany showed up in the second half, started creating chances. a 2 min lapse saw norway go 2-1 down. same old story as in the opening game. but it wasn't over. norway actually still threatened and it took the last kick of the game to bury them, with bajramaj tucking in the ball, after hjelmseth made a point-blank double save against grings and prinz.
team of the semi-final
gk:hjelmseth (nor)
dl: huse (nor)
dc: mjelde (nor)
dr: scott (eng)
mc: laudehr (ger)
mc: stensland (nor)
mc: chapman (eng)
aml: bajramaj (ger)
amc: smith (eng)
amr: carney (eng)
fc: herlovsen (nor)
you would have thought norway won instead of germany, judging from my selection. but norway really grew as a team. they were actually very close to pulling it off, despite the scoreline, despite the fact that they were chasing the game for the last half an hour.
prinz-grings partnership
declared by the commentator as the best in europe. well i don't really think it is working, because both are too similar. i will take grings but not prinz. prinz looked like prinz in the second half, but this has been a disappointing tournament for her. if you don't consider the second half, i would even go as far to suggest that she was a liability. it is not because she isn't good, but because she is struggling in terms of fitness. it has been an injury-hampered season. what i feel is that silvia neid didnt dare to drop her, and is hoping that her class would see her through. but that is assuming germany are heads and shoulders above everyone else in terms of quality. despite winning all 5 games so far, i can assure you that this isn't the case. look at how italy and norway pushed them. france as well, despite the 5-1 scoreline. the gap between nations has decreased.
of course with the german machine still rolling on, though not all too convincingly, my words have less weight. i was hoping for sweden to prove me right. but things took an unexpected twist. for a while, norway looked as if they could pull it off, but they didn't.
so i am hoping england will prove me right. they better, because you will never catch me supporting england in men's football. but i like this team. or at least i like the arsenal and ex-arsenal players. and i feel that they are the team that has grown the most. everything that could go wrong went wrong. red cards, injuries, falling 2-0 behind after just 20 minutes. but they have recovered.
personally, i am rooting for kelly smith to make it her final.
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