After quite a while, the American women football team has slipped down to no. 2 in the FIFA World rankings.
The American women had been at the top for the last 7 years, but, because of their recent defeats, they have lost that position and it’s Germany which is the no. 1 team in the world now.
Germany has recently beaten the likes of England and also, Sweden.
The U.S. women’s soccer team overcame Russia with a resounding 7-0 triumph as they played an exhibition match which demonstrated the form that the squad is going through which managed to extend their unbeaten streak to 41 games.
Following the conclusion of the match, the U.S. coach Tom Sermanni said: “It wasn’t just so much about getting the result. I thought the performance, I thought some of the habits and the things we’ve been training really came into the game today. They were defending well for that first 20-25 minutes and made life difficult for us,” “I thought how we approached the game things were going to open up.”
Carli Lloyd opened up the scoreboard at the 31st minute with Heather O’Reilly providing her with a superb assist and only 1 minute later they extended the lead to 2 goals as this time around it was O’Reilly who managed to put the ball at the back of the net.
Goals continued flourishing as the American team did not stop attacking and extending their lead as the minutes progressed on. When the halftime arrived USA was already by 3 goals and the Russians could not find a way through their opponents.
When the match resumed on Christen Press scored twice while Sydney Leroux increased the lead to 6 goals and the substitute Abby Wambach came on to the pitch to play for the last few remaining minutes and managed to score the 7th and last goal of the encounter.
It was a totally one-sided match as the Russian team deployed a 4-5-1 formation trying to put more players in the midfield but failed on dominating or putting any kind of threat against their opponents.
The Arsenal women’s team managed to secure the place in the last 16 of the women’s Champions league by beating the Spanish club Barcelona 4-0 on the night and 7-0 on aggregate. It was an impressive result for the Arsenal team that still remain unbeaten in the league and look on course to win the title. Jennifer Beattie scored an impressive hat-trick in the match, while the other goal was scored by Kim Little. It was a very good performance from Arsenal, who managed to prevent Barcelona from even getting a single shot on target. As a result of this convincing victory, they now progress to the last 16 stage of the Champions League.
Speaking after the match, the Arsenal manager Laura Harvey has said that she is extremely happy with the result and cannot ask for more from the players. Arsenal came into the match after having won the first leg 3-0 in Spain. As a result, they were the clear favourites to get into the next round, but this amazing score is a bit of a surprise according to the Arsenal manager. Lyon come into the competition as the defending champions and the final will be taking place at Stamford Bridge.
“I was pleased for Jennifer. She was very sharp when she went on. In the first half we played like a team who didn’t have to go the extra mile because we’d started with a three-goal cushion. But we went into the second half with a nil-nil attitude and it was a clinical performance that brought us a well-deserved win. If you go on Potsdam’s reputation we’ll lose, but I don’t think they’re quite the force they were. I honestly believe we’ve got a fantastic opportunity to make history,” said the Arsenal manager Laura Harvey after the match.
The Canadian women’s soccer team arrived to great cheering from the crowd after they have the recently won the bronze medal at the London Olympics 2012. Erin McLeod was one of the important members of the team that was successful. She has said that the success has earned her a lot of compliments like a free coffee at Starbucks. She has said that she cannot complain and is extremely happy to have lifted the bronze medal at the London Olympics. Erin McLeod was amongst the other members of the Canadian women’s soccer team that won the bronze medal.
She was signing autographs for very large group of fans who had joined in to catch a glimpse of the stars at the BMO field. The men’s team would be taking on panama in the World Cup qualifying match, but it was quite clear who was the star attraction ahead of the match. The defender Rhian Wilkinson said that she did not have the chance to experience the welcoming at the airport because she came a day later. The Canadian women’s team lost in the semifinals of the tournament to United States, and they have said that they were extremely disappointed to lose at this stage.
“I get recognized. Sometimes I get free coffees at Starbucks. I can’t complain about that. The reaction has been overwhelming. People have been recognizing us all over the place and I think it’s really cool for women’s sport. I think tonight is really awesome. I remember growing up with no female role models. I think it was incredible what they were able to accomplish and what it meant for the country. I think the country will see the benefits of that [on the field] in five or 10 years,” said Erin McLeod.
THS Soccer Video clip Score: 4 / five
THS Soccer Video Ranking: four / 5