Women’s round-up: September 2015 - WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
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There has been plenty going on in the women’s football world in September, with a new Japanese league championship record being set, USA’s Canada 2015 hero helping herself to two more hat-tricks and a German goalkeeping great bidding a fond farewell to the game. FIFA.com rounds up the month’s major stories.
International football
USA: World champs stay on song
On a high ever since sweeping all before them at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, the Stars and Stripes have maintained the feelgood factor on their Victory Tour, the latest stops on which attracted record crowds in Detroit and Birmingham. The fans were repaid for support with two big wins, as USA eased to respective 5-0 and 8-0 defeats of Haiti. The star of both shows was none other than their world finals hero Carli Lloyd, who kept her superlative run of form going with a hat-trick in each game.
Germany: A new start
Following their inconsistent showing at Canada 2015, Germany’s forwards got back in among the goals in September, helping Die Mannschaft make the most emphatic of starts to their UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 qualification campaign with a 12-0 win over Hungary. That show of strength was made all the more impressive by the fact they were without goalkeeper Nadine Angerer and striker Celia Sasic, both of whom have just retired. Replacing Angerer between the posts was Almuth Schult, with Saskia Bartusiak taking over from the legendary custodian as captain. There has been a change on the German bench too, with Steffi Jones, who will take charge of the team after the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016, making her first appearance as assistant coach. Germany went on to make it two wins out of two in their group with a hard-fought 1-0 defeat of Croatia.
The Netherlands and China PR: new coaches, new directions
Fresh from their maiden appearance at the women’s world finals, which saw them reach the last 16, the Dutch have appointed a new coach in Arjan van der Laan, whose brief is to continue the good work carried out by his predecessor Roger Reijners. One of Van der Laan’s main tasks will be to steer the Netherlands through next March’s mini qualifying tournament for Rio 2016, which will pit them against Norway, Switzerland and Sweden. China PR also have a new man at the helm, with Bruno Bini, who guided France to fourth place at Germany 2011, taking over from Hao Wei.
Papua New Guinea 2016: AFC representatives decided
Japan went undefeated in winning the AFC Asian U-19 Women’s Championship, beating Korea DPR 4-2 on penalties in the final, with both sides advancing to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016. They will be joined there by Korea Republic, who overcame China PR 4-0 in the match for third place. The host nation and the European quartet of France, Germany, Sweden and Spain are the other countries to have already secured their places at next year’s U-20 world finals.
Club football
New league championship record set in Japan
NTV Beleza claimed a record 13th Japanese league title thanks in no small part to INAC Kobe Leonessa’s late-season collapse. Championship leaders for much of the campaign, INAC won just one of their last four matches, while NTV clicked into top gear at just the right time and clinched their first title since 2010 with a 6-1 defeat of Speranza on the final day.
Exciting finale in store stateside
The end of the season is nigh in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Having backed up their status as favourites in the play-off semi-finals, title holders Kansas City and regular season champions Seattle Reign will face off in Thursday’s Championship final. Meanwhile, the remainder of the US elite are already planning ahead for next season, with Portland Thorns having parted company with Paul Riley, their coach for the last two years. For their part, Boston Breakers have installed Matt Beard, who proved his coaching credentials in the hotseat at Liverpool Ladies.
Angerer bows out
After calling time on her international career following this year’s world finals in Canada, 2013 FIFA Women’s World Player Nadine Angerer has retired from the game for good, a little earlier than she had planned. Having sustained a thigh injury in Portland Thorns’ meeting with Washington Spirit, the German goalkeeper, capped 146 times by her country, was forced to sit out her side’s final match of the season against Western New York Flash. The Thorns supporters nevertheless gave the two-time world champion a fittingly rapturous send-off on her final outing, showing their heartfelt appreciation for one of the greatest keepers the women’s game has ever seen.
Development
Leaders with a future
The 35 participants in the first FIFA Female Leadership Development Programme travelled to Zurich for module two of the nine-month training initiative. Some 20 mentors from around the world are also attending practical training sessions being held at FIFA HQ between 28 September and 2 October. “This programme is about identifying, supporting and developing strong female leaders in football, which is in line with calls for greater female representation across all areas of the game,” commented Moya Dodd, a co-opted member of the FIFA Executive Committee and the chair of the FIFA Task Force for Women’s Football.
Ongoing training in Jordan
Jordan hosted its second women’s football coaching course in the capital Amman between 8 and 12 September. Organised by FIFA in conjunction with the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016 Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Jordanian Football Association, the course was supervised by former England player and coach Hope Powell, with 24 PE teachers taking part.
The stat
100 - Courtesy of their 8-0 Victory Tour defeat of Haiti in front of a 35,753 crowd in Birmingham, Alabama on 20 September, USA have now gone 100 matches without defeat on home soil.
The quote
“Before the competition only about 20 per cent of Lebanese people followed women’s football, but after this win that figure has gone up to about 80 per cent. Following the coverage of the team in the media a lot of young women have asked me about playing football.”
Lebanon U-17 women’s coach Hiba Jaafil highlights the benefits of her team’s Arab Championship triumph.