FIFA Women's World Cup Preview: Panama and Philippines

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND (July 21, 2023) The third and fourth debutants at the FIFA Women’s World Cup are Panama and the Philippines. There are a grand total of eight teams debuting at the World Cup and the world is learning more about them as well. 

Panama 

While the men’s national team just wrapped up their Gold Cup run, their women’s national team were busy preparing for their World Cup start in Australia. The Canal Girls or also known as The Red Tide, are ranked 57th in the world. They qualified for the World Cup by beating Paraguay 1-0 in Group C Play-Off Tournament finals. They are coached by Ignacio Quintana. The player to watch for is Marta Cox. She is a midfielder for Panama and Liga MX Femenil Pachuca. 

Philippines 

The Filipinas are the first in their country to ever qualify for a World Cup, men's or women's sides. They are coached by Australian footballer Alen Stajcic. The captain of the team is their attacking midfielder Tahnai Annis. Born in the United States, Annis is able to play for the Philippines through her mother Myla, who’s family roots are in the Philippines. They qualified for the World Cup by being the semi-finalists at the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

FIFA Women's World Cup Preview: Haiti and Morocco

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved

AUSTRIALIA/NEW ZEALAND  (July 19, 2023) Let’s meet the debutants of the FIFA Women’s World Cup that started on Wednesday in the host countries of Australia and New Zealand. There are 8 countries that are showcasing their talents for the first time on the world stage. For those who are new, most of the national team of each country have team names, a stand out player, world class coaching staffs, and captains that anchor their teams. Let’s meet the first two! 

Haiti

Ranked 55th in the world are the Les Grenadieres. They are coached by Nicolas Delepine and they play in the CONCACAF Confederation. They are anchored by midfielder Melchie Dumornay. She is one of the youngest on the team at 19 years old. She plays for Lyon when she isn’t playing with the national team. They qualified for the World Cup by beating Chile 2-1 with Dumornay scoring both goals to punch Haiti’s ticket to Australia. Making her the player to watch when they take on England in group play. 

Morocco 

The Atlas Lionesses, the women’s national soccer team from Morocco, are ranked 76th in the FIFA/Coca Cola rankings and are coached by former Olympique Lyonnais’ coach Reynald Pedros. They qualified as the runners-up to the 2022 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. Their player to watch is their Captain,Ghizlane Chebbak. Chebbak plays forward of the Atlas Lionesses. The 32 year old is a standout for her country by being awarded the Africa Cup of Nations Top Scorer, and Best Player, and 5 time Moroccan Women’s Championship Top Scorer. The Women’s National Team is also the first-ever Arab country represented in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

FIFA honors individuals, teams at conclusion of Women's World Cup 2019

By Jennifer Edwards

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (July 10, 2019) In addition to the team trophy awarded to the United States for winning the Women's World Cup, FIFA also handed out additional accolades for individual and team success at the conclusion of the tournament. Let's look at the awards and their honorees.

Gold Medal and World Cup Trophy: United States 

Silver Medal: Netherlands 

Third place: Sweden 

Fourth place: England 

Golden Ball Award (for the most technical player in the tournament voted on by the FIFA Technical Study Group):  Megan Rapinoe (USA)

Silver Ball Award: Lucy Bronze (England)

Bronze Ball Award: Rose Lavelle (USA)

Golden Boot Award  (to the player who scored the most goals in the tournament): Megan Rapinoe USA (scoring six goals in five games) 

Silver Boot Award (to the player with the second most goals scored in the tournament:  Alex Morgan USA (scoring six goals and three assists)

Bronze Boot Award (to the player with the third most goals scored in the tournament: Ellen White (England) (six goals, no assists) 

Golden Glove Award (to the most outstanding goalkeeper as decided on by FIFA Technical Study Group:  Sari van Veenendall (Netherlands)

Hyundai’s Best Young Player Award: Giulia Gwinn (Germany)

Fair Play Team Award: France (with a superior disciplinary record on the field)

USA powers their way to fourth Women's World Cup title

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

LYON, FRANCE (July 7, 2019) While the fireworks ended on the night of July 4th in France, the true fireworks show happened on July 7th. The United States Women’s National Soccer Team took on the blazing hot Netherlands squad by the score of 2-0 in the showdown for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup trophy. The two teams were very well matched and very deserving of playing in the championship game that the world was watching.   

Again, Megan Rapinoe (shown left) scored the opening goal on penalty kick. The penalty was drawn on a Dutch player for kicking Alex Morgan in the shoulder. This goal is historic in the fact that Rapinoe is the oldest player to score a goal in the final game, as she is 34 years old. Love her or hate her'; she put this team on her back and carried them to the finals with her penalty kicks. So this goal should come as no surprise to anyone. The second goal came from newcomer Rose Lavelle. Lavelle is one of the younger players at age 24. Her goal solidified the US lead and the Americans didn’t let off the gas. The Dutch required every skill that the U.S.A. defense had to keep the Dutch from scoring.  

While the Dutch came in second, their goalkeeper, Sari van Veenendall, made numerous spectacular saves during the entire match to keep the scoring to a minimum. Unfortunately, like many other teams that came up against the US powerhouse, they didn’t have enough to win.   

The entire tournament has done so much for women’s soccer as a whole. The world supported these amazing athletes. All the athletes ask is that you support them when they return to their respective clubs in America and overseas. Pack out the stadiums and enjoy women’s soccer. Thank you to all the teams that participated and showed their spirit, culture and love for the game. They are inspiring the next generation of soccer stars in the making. See you again in four years to see if the United States still has what it takes to put a fifth star on their crest.

Alyssa Naeher emerges as strong leader in USA triumph over Sweden

Aylssa Naeher
Photo coutsey of Leoboudv
via Wikipedia and Flickr

By Jennifer Edwards

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

LE HAVRE, FRANCE (June 21, 2019) The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) took down their rival Sweden in a 2-0 victory to advance to the knockout rounds of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. This game was also the third straight shutout game for the United States.

While Sweden was the most formidable opponent that The Stars and Stripes has encountered during the tournament, the American defense had a chance to shine. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (shown right) had gone mostly untested by previous teams. During this match, Sweden shot at Naeher seven different times and no goal was scored.

Naeher has been largely overshadowed by successes of her predecessors, Hope Solo and Briana Scurry. Solo was released by the U.S. Soccer Federation after some unsportsmanlike comments she made about the Swedish players during the Rio Olympics. While Solo was good, many critics will say that Briana Scurry was even better. Highly decorated, Scurry was the U.S. goalkeeper for the 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2007 US Women’s National Teams and is currently the first assistant coach for the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

While living in the shadows of these great goalkeepers, Naeher has made a name for herself in the NSWL. She is the starting goalkeeper for the Chicago Red Stars and received the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2014, as well as a “Best 11” award that year as well. Last season with the Red Stars, she played a total of 2,070 minutes and had seven clean sheets.

In 48 appearances internationally, Naeher has 27 clean sheets (shutouts). She is not flashy as Solo but is a strong consistent keeper like Scurry. The casual fan will not hear much about her because she is a strong and quiet leader of the backfield. Most fans will hear her name, but not know much about her.

She is best known for her quiet leadership. She isn’t flashy and doesn’t relish the limelight. She doesn’t push agendas; letting her play speak for itself. This is something that the USWNT has needed for quite some time. It will be interesting to see her in action on Monday, June 24, when they take on Spain at 11 a.m.

Thailand falls to the United States 13-0 in 2019 Women’s World Cup debut for both teams

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

REIMS, FRANCE (June 11, 2019) Thailand fell to the United States, 13-0 in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup debut for both teams. Thailand created a very unique setup using one forward, five mid-fielders, four defenders and a goalkeeper throughout the game. In the end it proved to be a fruitless setup. The United States’ forward Alex Morgan had a record five goals in this match; breaking her scoreless streak in three international games. Rose Lavelle scored her first international goal in her international debut on the team. Samantha Mewis scored twice, while Lindsey Horan, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh and Carli Lloyd added a goal each to the scoreboard. 

While the scoreboard shows a clear US victory over a team that values respect, the question begs itself, “When is the score too high?” A phrase that was continuously used by commentators in the match was “goal differential”. Throughout this lopsided game, the commentators kept using the phrase “goal differential”, so let’s break that phrase down. 

Each team receives a three points for a win and one point for a draw. Once group play is complete the goals for each team are tallied and used for advancement. In the event of a tie, the number of goals a team has is brought in to play to determine a winner. Therefore a team needs the maximum number of goals possible in each game to advance out of group play. 

The United States will play Chile Sunday June 16 at 11 a.m. CDT and will play Sweden on Thursday June 20 at 2:00 p.m. CDT to complete their group stage of games

Understanding the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

By Jennifer Edwards
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (June 6, 2019) It’s bordering on 100 degrees in Texas and it is 53 degrees in France where elite Women’s National Teams are fighting to raise the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy and declare victory for another 4 years. This tournament is over a year in the making with qualifying matches happening last year within the respective soccer organizations. This tournament is sanctioned and governed by FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, in English it stands for International Federation of Association Football. FIFA governs both Men and Women’s international soccer matches and tournaments. 

Within this parent federation are the confederations. There are six confederations worldwide, with the United States playing in CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football). CONCACAF is the third most winning confederation in the FIFA organization. In order to qualify for the World Cup, national teams must play in the confederation’s tournament and win a certain number of games and score a certain number of goals to qualify for the World Cup tournament. Once the field is set with the winningest confederation teams, FIFA creates “groups” for group play in the World Cup. 

This year there are six groups of four teams playing each other in the first round. Once the dust settles on the group play, points for wins and goals are tallied and the team that has the most points wins the group. The top two teams from each group advance to bracket play. This narrows the field to the top 16 and they play a single game in knockout rounds until a champion is crowned. The United States has won the trophy three times in 1991, 1999 and in 2015 while Germany has won twice; in 2003 and again in 2007. These two teams are the teams that have won the trophy the most. Who will take the trophy this year? Watch the United States, as they are considered a powerhouse team. Yet, don’t count out some of the other formidable opponents such as Germany, Sweden and Norway. It will be interesting to see how this tournament unfolds in France.

Kyah Simon leaves pre-FIFA World Cup training camp

Photo by
Darla S Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

By Chris Price
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (May 26, 2019) It is being reported by Football Federation Australia (FFA) that Houston Dash 
forward Kyah Simon (shown right, No. 17, back row, second from left) has left the Westfield Matilda's pre-FIFA Women's World Cup training camp in Turkey following a setback of her hamstring injury. The 27-year-old played 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, where she scored both of Australia's goals in a 2–1 win over Norway. In that game, she became the first Indigenous Australian player to score a goal in a FIFA World Cup. With the Dash this season, she saw action in two games; playing 49 minutes with two tackles.