Women’s World Cup of Football in Canada 2015 continuous. In group A we looked forward to the highly anticipated match between Germany and Norway. It was Germany who got the first goal of the game when Anja Mittag, who scored a hat-trick against Ivory Coast in the first match, scored in the 6th minute. The Germans outplayed Norway in the first half. However, in the second half, Norway came out as a new team, started putting higher pressure on the German attackers instead of collapsing. In the 61st minute Norway got a free kick just outside Germany’s penalty box. Marin Mjelde scored one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament so far, putting the ball high up in the corner of the german goal. That tied the game, 1-1 which also became the end result. In the other match of group B, Thailand beat Ivory Coast 3-2. Important points in the battle for becoming among the top third placed teams which will go through to the play offs.
Few goals in Group A
In group A, China beat Netherlands with a late decider in the 91st minute. Host nation Canada played a goalless match against New Zealand in the same group. Group A is tight with only three goals scored in four games. Canada is in the lead with 4 points before China and Netherlands with 3 and New Zealand with 1 point. While China should be able to beat New Zealand in the last game, Canada and Netherlands will probably have to play a decisive game of who gets the second spot in the group and thereby, for sure advances to the play offs.
Ecuador is the tournament’s punching bag
In group C Ecuador started the tournament with a 6-0 loss against Cameroon, They followed up this result with a 10-1 loss against Switzerland. Fabienne Humm and Ramona Bachmann scored a hat-trick each for Switzerland. Ecuador’s Angie Ponce also scored three goals: Two in her own net and one against the opponents through a penalty… Ecuador will face the 2011 Champions Japan in the next game. Japan beat Cameroon 2-1 in their second game and they have two straight wins now. It is no long shot to guess that they will probably have a perfect record, three for three, after the last game against Ecuador.
No goals between Sweden and USA
Sweden have a team plagued by injuries in this year’s World Cup. In the first round they lost a 2-0 and 3-2 lead against Nigeria and had to settle with one point. They are in a tough group and the next opponent in line was team USA. The Swedes played a more solid defensive game this time and could even have won, but Therese Sjögran hit the crossbar in the second half. There are still question marks around Sweden’s offensive players. Sjögran and Lotta Schelin has not produced any goals in the two matches. Since Australia beat Nigeria 2-0, they will play a decisive game against Sweden where the winner gets the second spot in the group. The consequences of a tie is more uncertain since it depends on the result between Nigeria and USA. The last round will be exciting for sure!
Oh and a message to Canadian TV: Sweden is NOT Switzerland. We are not famous for our cheese and pocket knives, but for beating you in your own game, hockey, every now and then… (Read more about the difference between Sweden and Switzerland).
Brazil in top of group E
Brazil has two straight wins after beating South Korea in the first match and Spain in the second. South Korea and Costa Rica played 2-2 in the second round. France lost unexpectedly against Colombia 2-0 while England beat Mexico 2-1. Colombia and England are at the top of group F while France is currently at third place.
The current ranking of the third-placed teams are the following (team/points):
Cameroon 3p
Netherlands 3p
France 3p
Thailand 3p
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Sweden 2p
Spain 1p
The third placed teams with the lowest ranking after the final round will be eliminated.
