What a final and what a surprise? After 120 hard-fought minutes and 10 penalties, Sweden kept the upper-hand against Portugal to claim their first ever victory in the UEFA Under 21 European Championship. For many, including me, this 4-3 victory after penalties comes as a huge surprise as nobody really had Sweden down to win the tournament.
In just a few hours from now, we will be witnessing probably the match of the year between the US and Germany, the two best teams in women's soccer.
With the exception of their game against France, the Germans cruised into the semis. The US on the other hand, has played a few nail biters to get to this point.
It's going to take a team effort in order for the USWNT to advance to the World Cup Finals. So, what will it take to defeat the Germans?
Here are three things:
England has done it again. Disappointed that is.
The England Under 21 side lost to Italy this week by 3 goals to 1. The loss left the Three Lions at the bottom of Group B with only 3 points from their 3 matches, and eliminated from the U21 European Championships. Typical of England, to say the least.
It is no secret that Manchester United want a center back. After an offseason last year that saw them bolster their attack and ignore their defense like a frat brother skipping leg day, Manchester United often inspired anxiety rather than faith whenever its back line fell under pressure. In order to remedy that — and add years to their supporters’ lives in the process — they are now rumored to be looking into Real Madrid center back Sergio Ramos.
Finally, they’re in the game. EA Sports announced earlier this month that for the first time ever, the members of women’s national teams will be featured in the next iteration of the wildly-popular FIFA video game franchise. Although mostly the news was met with praise and positivity, because this is the internet, of course there were trolls that had to cast a negative light on this development.
Now that the USWNT has moved on from Group D, their road to a World Cup championship has gotten a little bit easier.
The United States road through the bracket includes Colombia (ranked 28th in the world) and China (16th), with the winner of Germany vs France awaiting in the semis.
Other than China, it seems as if the road for the US has gotten a lot easier, although, is anything going to be easy for the US? Defensively, the US has been solid, not so much on the offensive end.
Venezuela has never been to a World Cup. Nor has it ever won the Copa America. In fact, its best performance was achieved four years ago in Argentina, when it finished in fourth place after losing in the semifinals against Paraguay in a penalty shootout.
But tonight, Venezuela may become the first national squad to make it into the quarterfinals of the 2015 Copa America if it beats Peru in Valparaiso Elias Figueroa Stadium.
While some of you were watching the Golden State Warriors win an NBA title last night, the USWNT won their match against Nigeria 1-0 on Abby Wambach's goal.
Wambach's goal sent the US quietly into the round of 16. I say quietly because although the US has done what they were suppose to do, some are worried that their victories haven't been impressive enough.
After its first two matches in this year’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s National Team finds itself atop the Group of Death with 4 points thanks to a 0-0 draw with Sweden on Friday evening. The U.S. must win in order to clinch first place in the group, but a win or draw will be enough to secure a spot in the knockout round. The Lady Yanks’ final match of the group stage is against Nigeria this evening at 8 p.m. EST. What is there to know about the Nigerians?
If you were left feeling hung out to dry as a soccer fan after watching the United States complete a nil-nil draw against Sweden, you were not alone. This game had almost everything going for it: the #2 ranked team in the world against the #5 ranked team in the world, legendary players on both sides, an absolute smattering of attacking talent across the U.S. team sheet, and a head coach dropping some cold hard truth about her former players in the lead up to the match. The logs were gathered, the kindling was flaming, and all we got was…smoke.