Group A
Ukraine - They have a bit of a
different team this year. Losing some players and replacing them with new
ones. Will still be a strong team, as majority of them are Cougar alumni.
Stephanie Possberg is probably the strongest women’s goalie in the tournament.
Tegan Koroluk and Tiffany Gyurek were away last WCP but returned this year and
should be strong players for Ukraine.
Scotland - New team to WCP this year.
Majority of the players are Cougar or Huskies players so they will be strong,
but lack the experience playing together. Tayler Firth and Jayde McFee will
probably be their top scorers.
USA - New team to WCP. Their roster has been
on the DL but rumor is they have a lot of younger players. Like other new
teams, they may struggle having not played as a unit.
El Salvador - Have always been a decent team
but struggle to make it to the playoffs. They have some strong players from the
Cougars such as Veronica Boesch and Kayla McDonald. Maybe this will be their
year to make it out of their pool to the semis?!
Portugal - A new team to WCP. A lot of their
players come from last year’s team Chile. Randi Schmeichel, Sara Anthony, and
Sam Dustyhorn will provide consistency through the midfield, while Mallory Outerbridge
and Mackenzie Bulych are both scoring threats.
Group A is definitely going to be the
tougher pool. It is hard to predict the placing because Scotland, USA, and
Portugal are new to the tournament, and Ukraine has a different team than the
last 3 years. I predict it will be a tough fight between Ukraine, Scotland, El
Salvador and Portugal for the top 2 spots.
Group B
Germany - Will be one of the top teams
as always. They have been doing team workouts on top of practices and
exhibition games so they are expected to be strong and fit. Meagan Cormier is
definitely one of the best female players in the tournament and will be a major
scoring threat (she has won the golden boot the last 2 years). They have other
strong goal scorers such as Cara Gartner and Jessie Waller, and strong
defenders including Lara Guzik and Tarina Mayer.
England - Rumor has it that most of their
players are in high school, but should not be taken lightly. England is most
often known for their coach, Ben Leung, who is very competitive in the
tournament. He will do whatever it takes to win and I’m sure his players will
do the same.
Poland - Should be able to score goals but
will have to stay disciplined and organized defensively to compete. Not the
most technically skilled team but has strong work ethic and the best fans. Look
for Chantal Boudreau to be deployed all over the field.
Ireland - Typically not a playoff contender.
I think Shelley Krahenbil continues to “anchor” the midfield. There are two
young players with them in the RSA tournament – a midfielder with a deadly long
range shot and super quick forward who made some good plays along the right
side.
Canada - Has typically been a physical team
and has added some youth this year. Jenna Schlosser holds the ball well, has
good vision, and has a rocket when in space and on free kicks. Young new keeper
has big save capabilities.
Netherlands - Played some close games in
their first WCP last year and barely missed advancing from their group. Made up
largely of Medicine Hat college players. From what I remember they were not
overly quick but had strong legs and good possession.
Pool B is not going to be as competitive
but it is a new year so anything could happen. My prediction is Germany will be
first and England or Netherlands will be second.
19 comments:
Mike,
Good on you for giving the women's side some props on the blog. The depth on the women's side is definitely weaker, but at one time the WCP even for the men's side was small.
DG
I'm number 8. I am having a difficult time believing you are actually Dwayne Head though. If you are him, you should be utterly ashamed of your posts. You need to be a role model to the individuals you coach, and you are being the antithesis of that. At 50 years old, it is time to show some maturity. I say this with all due respect, and for you to say I disrespect others on the blog is simply inaccurate.
-Nate
DG,
Thanks for another needless comment. This post was a waste of everyone's time. The few women that come onto this blog better be satisfied they wasted everyone's time by complaining.
-J
Those posts on here are DEFINITELY not Dwayne Head. He was laughing about it earlier tonight when I saw him. Goes to show how brutal immature this blog and the soccer community is. Nothing but people shit talking and dragging peoples name through the mud for no reason. It's a waste of time putting any credibility to anything on this site. Sadly, the other blog was more informative than this one when it was running.
Thanks for clearing that up Anon 21:34. I agree with your sentiments on people's lack of maturity. My apologies for wasting space on this comment forum.
-Nate
Maybe Dwayne Head was laughing because he is pulling a fast one over everyone. Acting like it is not him posting, but really belittling everyone he can? Sounds like something that guy would do.
As for informative, these blogs are means of people from the tournament to make petty arguments and anonymous posts. If you want information flip on TSN and see if this tournament is covered!
I think many people keep forgetting this but this is not a professional tournament. It is a rec tournament for crying out loud, how many other rec tournaments have blogs??
Peter
Good job adding some productive insight on the aforementioned subject, guys. With that said, I feel the parity in the womens' side will be at an all time high this year. I see there being 4 top contenders in Germany, Portugal, Ukraine and Scotland. However, England, Poland and El Salvador each have the ability to stir the pot.
I see Portugal vs. Germany in the finals, with Portugal completing the "upset" and winning gold. Look for Dustyhorn and Outerbridge to be a deadly tandem, returning to their Chile golden days form.
Now that Anon 21:58 got her useless two cents in can we move on? No one really cares.
Not a her... Just not a pot-bellied, pompous douche. Once you realize many of the women possess far superior skills than most of the men in this AMATEUR tournament, maybe you can appreciate the other divisions a little. I think the majority of people, minus the scumbags on this forum, would rather watch a competitive simons game than a subpar mens game. Which, in turn, is nearly every game leading up to the quarters. Get your head out of your ass.
Not looking at the schedule, or memorizing the groups, i think its safe to say that there are probably AT LEAST 10 mens GROUP games that i would rather attend than the women's final. Not trying to be sexist or disrespectful. Simply my opinion, based on the level of entertainment i'll get from the games.
Or maybe I'm just a pompous douche who doesn't realize that many women are better than most of the men in this amateur tournament?
There is no doubt in my mind that the two teams to advance to finals will be Portugal and Germany.
Prediction to win: Germany
Germany has always been a powerhouse in the tournament. The squad has been training and playing against U.16 boys team, and they are looking good. They will dominate every game by strong players in the middle such as Megan, Shayla, Mellisa and Cara. Also, their defense is strong with Losa and Jessica.
Advantage: Team has played together for several years so they know how to work together and pass the ball around.
Disadvantage: If they lose the game it will be because of their goalie. She is beyond slow, and panics.
Portugal will be a strong team with a combination of girls from Ukraine and Chile. A younger squad so these girls be fast, and aggressive. However, because it's a brand new team they might not adapt to the different styles of play.
Advantage: Recruitment of Mallory. She is a talented player, and will dominate the game in midfield.
Disadvantage: If you knock Madison off her game, she will let every ball in sight into the back of the net)
Anon 23:39, I think you are just typing to hear yourself speak as no one is really going to care about what you just posted. I say this because look at the comments previously posted on this thread.
Anon 22:27, Finally someone admits that almost every player in this tournament (particularly the Regina players) are just bad players. A woman here or there may be able to be on the pitch on one of the top 8 teams on the men's side, but to truly be able to compete with the men... none of the women are at that caliber. A female on the women's full national squad played alongside men this past winter and she did alright. She was a full national team player and none of the women at this tournament are remotely close to that level.
For some reason women are coached differently than men that I am pretty sure that all the women play extremely simple and their best one on one skill is a step over. What separates woman in caliber is their athletic ability and their aggressiveness. I would rather watch a U12 match than a women's game.
Why are we posting stuff on the women's games? Boring, slow, and absolutely brutal to watch. If there isn't a mens game after or in between games no will will want to watch this crap. My grandma could do a better job on the pitch than any of these women.
Poland are going to win every game by 10 goals, 9 of which in each game will be scored by Janelle Zapski, leading me to victory in the fantasy draft!
Nope. Cormier is bringing it home for me.
-Nate
Lee Mooney no one gives a crap about what you have to say. NO ONE.
Meghan Cormier isn't the best player in the wcp cup women's side. Craig Hodel is the best player. You are mistaken Collins.
-TheJoker
Mallory Outerbridge for womans MVP
Keep your sexist and unwitty banter for the men's WCP blog. It has no place here and you are only putting yourselves on pedestals for the rest of the blog readers to scoff and shake their heads at.
In regards to the women's division, it's clear that the teams in Group A will have tough scraps in order to claim the 1st or 2nd title but my vote would be for Scotland and Ukraine since both teams are well-balanced with many skilled players as opposed to Portugal who has a couple token players who can be shut down with good defence, leaving the rest of the team out to dry. Mallory is a very good striker but I was unimpressed with the amount of acting and dramaticism in the "injuries" she suffered which seemed to take precedence over her actual abilities during the game. Portugal has been given so much hype because of a 12-0 slaughterfest over a new team and that over-confidence cost them dearly in their game against El Salvador where they lost 3-1. Needless to say, I would say that El Salvador seeks to attain a higher standing in Group A than Portugal.
In terms of Group B, Germany is going to emerge first in their pool, with a toss-up for second place. Germany has demonstrated a consistency in their games with experienced players to boot. With three silver medals in the last three years showing no signs of slowing down, I don't expect any less from them this year. England has lost some of their experienced players to Scotland and Germany. Poland is aggressive enough to prove an annoyance to any team but I do question their actual ball skills. Ireland as well appears that they could compete strongly in their pool but my final bet would be on Ireland.
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