WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
United States’ World Cup dynasty ends along with myth of supremacy
The United States came to the Women’s World Cup bullish about their chances of winning an unprecedented third consecutive title but their round-of-16 exit at the hands of Sweden showed their campaign was built more on hope than substance.
After back-to-back World Cup triumphs under Jill Ellis in 2015-19, Vlatko Andonovski’s efforts to regenerate the four-times champions will be judged a failure in the wake of their 5-4 loss on penalties in Melbourne on Sunday.
The U.S. suffered their earliest elimination at the World Cup by far, having never failed to reach the semi-finals in all eight previous tournaments.
Megan Rapinoe’s brilliant international career ends on a sour note and the Sweden loss will sting for other team mates of a golden generation unlikely to hang on for the next World Cup in another four years.
The 2019 World Cup in France will now be seen as the high-water mark for a once peerless team that seemed bigger than the game itself for much of the decade.
The game has changed irrevocably since the U.S. beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the Lyon final in France, with increased investment in women’s soccer paying dividends in Europe.
The U.S.-based National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is no longer the most attractive destination for the world’s top talent.
Many players now aspire to lucrative contracts with storied European clubs and the dream of a Champions League trophy in front of enormous crowds.
Loyal U.S. women have been left in a weakening domestic field and further dilution can be expected with plans for new teams in coming years.
Those concerns were buried under a hyperbolic narrative about the supremacy of American women’s football, a myth that endured right up to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
“We don’t just play the world’s game. We run it,” twice World Cup winner Brandi Chastain said in a pre-World Cup promotion for the NWSL.
For all the bluster, the cracks have been in plain sight for years.
Under Andonovski, the U.S. went out of the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics and had to rely on veterans Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd to win them a bronze medal.
They built a long winning streak last year against a succession of modest opponents but were exposed by European champions England, with further losses to Spain and Germany to follow.
Victory at the SheBelieves Cup early this year proved a chimera rather than evidence of a team back to their best.
Injuries undoubtedly made their World Cup mission tougher, with captain Becky Sauerbrunn and forward Mallory Swanson ruled out of the squad.
Yet, the U.S. never looked like World Cup winners when the tournament kicked off.
Held 1-1 by the Netherlands, they would have been eliminated by debutantes Portugal in the group phase if the post had not saved them in the scoreless draw.
The sight of Rapinoe and other players dancing and smiling on the pitch after the Portugal escape enraged the now-retired Lloyd, who suggested the team were suffering from denial in her work as a television analyst.
It was hard to think otherwise when Rapinoe said she had “blind confidence” in herself and her team mates, and that the U.S. could only improve.
On Sunday, Rapinoe blazed her spot kick over the bar, one of three Americans to miss in the shootout.
The World Cup exit leaves U.S. women’s soccer at a cross-roads, and pondering a way out of the mire.
-Reuters
Head Coach Bankole Olowookere has listed Captain Taiwo Afolabi and forwards Harmony Chidi and Peace Effiong in his 21-woman Flamingos’ roster for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in the Dominican Republic.
The clinical Chidi scored 13 of the team’s record-setting 25 goals in the qualifying series, as the bronze medallists from the last edition of the championship in India barnstormed their way past Central African Republic, Burkina Faso and Liberia in the continental campaign.
Petite midfielder Afolabi will lead the midfield, alongside Faridat Abdulwahab, Shakirat Moshood and Ayomide Rotimi, while first-choice goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma will have Sylvia Echefu and Elizabeth Boniface pushing her to her best all the time.
Taiwo Adegoke leads six other defenders, with Harmony Chidi leading six other forwards including Peace Effiong.
Nigeria will compete in Group A of the 16-nation finals alongside host nation Dominican Republic, Ecuador and New Zealand.
The delegation of Flamingos will depart the shores of Nigeria aboard a Turkish Airlines flight on Tuesday, 1st October for a two-week training tour in Santo Domingo, capital city of the Dominican Republic, ahead of the commencement of the tournament.
FLAMINGOS FOR FIFA U17 WORLD CUP DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2024
Goalkeepers: Christiana Uzoma (Edo Queens); Elizabeth Boniface (Sunshine Queens); Sylvia Echefu (Confluence Queens)
Defenders: Prisca Nwachukwu (Imo Strikers); Jumai Adebayo (Naija Ratels); Taiwo Adegoke (Remo Stars Ladies); Rokibat Azeez (New Generation Academy); Hannah Ibrahim (Remo Stars Ladies); Vivian Ekezie (Heartland Queens); Ololade Isiaka (Abia Angels)
Midfielders: Taiwo Afolabi (Delta Queens); Faridat Abdulwahab (Nasarawa Amazons); Shakirat Moshood (Bayelsa Queens); Muinat Rotimi (Nakamura Football Academy)
Forwards: Oghenemairo Obruthe (City Sports); Harmony Chidi (Imo Strikers); Kudirat Arogundade (Green Foot); Ramotalahi Kareem (Honey Badgers); Aishat Animashaun (Naija Ratels); Peace Effiong (Rivers Angels); Blessing Ifitezue (Delta Queens)
FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024
Group A: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, New Zealand, Nigeria
Group B: Spain, USA, Korea Republic, Colombia
Group C: Korea DPR, Mexico, Kenya, England
Group D: Japan, Poland, Brazil, Zambia
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced the appointment of Justin Madugu as a temporary successor to America’s Randy Waldrum, who has stepped down.
The NFF announced that its decision was based on the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee. Coach Justin Madugu will lead the remaining technical crew and take charge of the Senior Women National Team, Super Falcons, pending the appointment of a substantive Head Coach.
The Super Falcons’ next big engagement is the Women Africa Cup of Nations finals, taking place in Morocco in the summer of next year.
Japan survived a late scare against Nigeria to set up a re-match of the 2022 final with Spain in Sunday’s quarter-finals.
In rainy Bogota, Miyu Matsunaga’s free header just after the half hour was enough to send Japan to the break with a lead, as they have done at every match at Colombia 2024.
Maya Hijikata then doubled the advantage midway through the second term, tucking home a cross from substitute Chinari Sasai at the back post; that goal taking her joint-top of the adidas Golden Boot race with Brazil’s Vendito.
Olushola Shobowale did manage to pull one back for Nigeria in stoppage time but they couldn’t find a second as Japan hung on to close out the 2-1 win and set up that epic quarter-final clash with Spain. It is a re-match of the final match of the last edition in Costa Rica two years ago.
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