Opening Night
Women – Ukraine vs. Netherlands – Ukraine 3-2.
I had my doubts about Ukraine. After losing 2 of the top players in the tournament, I didn’t know how they’d recover. And with Netherlands being a new team and having Alberta players, I thought this might the end of their reign, but it was not to be. Ukraine still looks good, and the title is still theirs to lose.
YG – Canada vs. El Salvador - Canada 5-0
YB – Germany vs. El Salvador – Germany 7-0.
Not a good day to be a youth El Salvador player. Unfortunate these two games had to be before the Ireland-Sudan game.
Ireland vs. Sudan – Ireland 3-2
If there’s one thing to take away from the game, it’s that Sudan is a scary, scary team to play. Besides being skillful, tall, fast and having very good ball control, they play like it’s the last game they’ll ever play. I wouldn’t call it reckless, but they play very hard. If you’re playing Sudan, you have to be ready to go hard mentally and physically the entire game. Ireland may have beat Sudan, but the last thing Ireland (or anyone else) wants is to see Sudan again.
I’ll only be going through the important ones from now on. If you want your team in there, e-mail me and complain. I’ll give in to peer pressure.
El Salvador vs. Italy – 4-3 Italy
Didn’t see that coming. El Salvador may have lost players in the off-season, and been missing their best players on the weekend, but that’s no excuse for losing to Italy. El Salvador will have a tough time making it through the group dropping a result like that.
Poland vs. Nigeria – 2-2 tie
Uh oh. Poland had their hands full with Nigeria, and Nigeria arguably played better. A poor game against Germany on Friday will have Poland on the outside of the group. Keep a close eye on the other results, because I have a feeling this will be coming down to goals for and against.
Norway vs. Greece – 1-0 Norway
Not the most exciting game, but neither is extremely exciting to begin with. They both have their styles, and they stuck to them for the most part. A close game was expected, and with El Salvador losing to Italy, Norway has to be the front-runner along with France to go through. Still very early though.
Laos vs. Afghanistan – Laos 6-2
I was hoping Afghanistan would put up more of a fight. Laos looks like they always do (nice kits too), fast and skillful, but the Afghans need to be stronger at the back. They were missing some key players, which could have made all the difference, but each game is so critical in this tournament, and to lose 6-2 to one of the top teams in the group means Aghanistan will need to be brilliant to go through.
Germany vs. Portugal – Germany 4-1
Good result for Germany. They were able to put away a decent team, and didn’t let them hang around.
Colombia vs. Jamaica – Jamaica – 4-2
I thought this was the best game of the tournament so far, next to Ireland vs. Sudan. Hard tackles, fast pace, nice goals. Both teams looked pretty good. It’s pretty clear that Group B is going to be one entertaining group, and we’ve only just begun this thing.
Stay tuned for the second round of the Food Bracket, voting starts tomorrow!
Women – Ukraine vs. Netherlands – Ukraine 3-2.
I had my doubts about Ukraine. After losing 2 of the top players in the tournament, I didn’t know how they’d recover. And with Netherlands being a new team and having Alberta players, I thought this might the end of their reign, but it was not to be. Ukraine still looks good, and the title is still theirs to lose.
YG – Canada vs. El Salvador - Canada 5-0
YB – Germany vs. El Salvador – Germany 7-0.
Not a good day to be a youth El Salvador player. Unfortunate these two games had to be before the Ireland-Sudan game.
Ireland vs. Sudan – Ireland 3-2
If there’s one thing to take away from the game, it’s that Sudan is a scary, scary team to play. Besides being skillful, tall, fast and having very good ball control, they play like it’s the last game they’ll ever play. I wouldn’t call it reckless, but they play very hard. If you’re playing Sudan, you have to be ready to go hard mentally and physically the entire game. Ireland may have beat Sudan, but the last thing Ireland (or anyone else) wants is to see Sudan again.
I’ll only be going through the important ones from now on. If you want your team in there, e-mail me and complain. I’ll give in to peer pressure.
El Salvador vs. Italy – 4-3 Italy
Didn’t see that coming. El Salvador may have lost players in the off-season, and been missing their best players on the weekend, but that’s no excuse for losing to Italy. El Salvador will have a tough time making it through the group dropping a result like that.
Poland vs. Nigeria – 2-2 tie
Uh oh. Poland had their hands full with Nigeria, and Nigeria arguably played better. A poor game against Germany on Friday will have Poland on the outside of the group. Keep a close eye on the other results, because I have a feeling this will be coming down to goals for and against.
Norway vs. Greece – 1-0 Norway
Not the most exciting game, but neither is extremely exciting to begin with. They both have their styles, and they stuck to them for the most part. A close game was expected, and with El Salvador losing to Italy, Norway has to be the front-runner along with France to go through. Still very early though.
Laos vs. Afghanistan – Laos 6-2
I was hoping Afghanistan would put up more of a fight. Laos looks like they always do (nice kits too), fast and skillful, but the Afghans need to be stronger at the back. They were missing some key players, which could have made all the difference, but each game is so critical in this tournament, and to lose 6-2 to one of the top teams in the group means Aghanistan will need to be brilliant to go through.
Germany vs. Portugal – Germany 4-1
Good result for Germany. They were able to put away a decent team, and didn’t let them hang around.
Colombia vs. Jamaica – Jamaica – 4-2
I thought this was the best game of the tournament so far, next to Ireland vs. Sudan. Hard tackles, fast pace, nice goals. Both teams looked pretty good. It’s pretty clear that Group B is going to be one entertaining group, and we’ve only just begun this thing.
Stay tuned for the second round of the Food Bracket, voting starts tomorrow!
5 comments:
I disagree with Jamaica v Colombia, it was boring and dull except Kevin's goal, Sudan v ROI the best so far
X2 on the JAM/COL game being very boring. Nothing exciting at all in that game other than Kevin's goal and that one bar down goal from half.
Sudan vs Ireland And Nigeria vs Poland were really good games plus that upset of Italy vs ES, WMD Laos vs afghan was exciting coz of the noise afghans made before
Hmm. Really? I thought the Colombia-Jamaica was very fast-paced, back and forth, and exciting to watch. Both teams were going hard.
Oh well.
I agree.
Jamaica-Columbia game was very exciting and fast paced. I feel Jamaica showed glimpses of brilliance - only if they can get it together with their starters!
Kevin has done a lot for soccer in this province and it would be nice to see him and Team Jamaica have some success in this tournament!
Still a few players away from competing for the trophy!!
Good Luck!
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