Game Recaps

In a rematch of the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final, Spain got revenge on Germany to capture its fifth title, moving the nation level with Italy as the most successful in the history of the Euro U-21 competition.

Spain last achieved U-21 glory when winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2013. That extremely skilled cohort included the likes of Juan Mata, David de Gea, Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Martinez, Isco, Koke and Dani Carvajal, and the 2019 group is sure to achieve just as much international success, if not more than that highly skilled generation.

Down 2-0 with only 40 minutes remaining in last night’s CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal, Haiti produced a barnstorming comeback to knockout Canada 3-2 while clinching a spot in the semifinals for the first time ever. 

The progress that Canada had evidently made under John Herdman had been one of the talking points of the group stage, and there were whispers of the Canucks upsetting the odds to claim their first continental title since 2000.

To say Germany had Sweden’s number in major international tournaments would be an insult to number-having everywhere. In nine knockout-round matches between the two all time, the Germans had won all of them.

Well, all but one after Saturday.

Sweden overcame an early goal to rally past the second-ranked team in the world 2-1, providing perhaps the biggest upset of the Women’s World Cup to advance to the semifinals.

Sweden joined the U.S., England and the Netherlands in the final four and will play the Dutch on Wednesday.  

Anyone who has been to the Netherlands can attest: the Dutch are tall. Based on national statistics, the European nation is among the very tallest in the world with an average height of 5-6 for the women, and these Oranje national team players are even taller. 

The Oranje certainly exemplify this with perhaps the most dominant aerial abilities of any team left in France. Stefanie van der Gragt is 5-10, Vivianne Miedema is 5-9, Jill Roord is 5-8 and Anouk Dekker is 6-0. 

The United States is into the semifinals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, continuing its incredible streak of reaching the final four in all eight editions.

The USWNT did it by seeing off host France, seen by many as the biggest challenger to the No. 1 team repeating as world champion. The 2-1 win on Friday night in Paris was coach Jill Ellis’ 100th win in charge of the Americans, including 11 wins and one draw with no losses in World Cup play. 

Hope Solo may disagree, but maybe we should give the Englishwoman a bit of respect for what she’s accomplished with Team USA.

Megan Rapinoe may just win the Golden Boot — and help the USWNT win a fourth Women’s World Cup in the process.

The USWNT winger scored in the fifth and 65th minutes to lead the U.S. to a 2-1 win over France in the 2019 Women’s World Cup quarterfinals on Friday in Paris. The anticipated showdown came down to the wire but the U.S. held on for an impressive victory over the host nation.

As much of a cliché as this sounds, England is very much a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.

This isn’t to say England has bad players — Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze are among the best in the world at their respective positions. Yet it would be hard to say the Three Lionesses are the best in the world in any one particular area. There are better passing teams, better possession teams, better defending teams and quicker and stronger teams.

But when England puts it together, there might not be a better team.

Women’s soccer in Italy has long taken a back seat to the men’s game. The Azzurri have won four World Cups, a mark only bettered by Brazil, but the women’s game has never come close to reaching those heights.

But things are changing.

The USWNT overcame a spirited, physical and tactically disciplined Spain to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup and setup an enthralling match with France, but the manner of the victory was hardly assuring. 

The U.S. required two penalties from captain Megan Rapinoe — one in the seventh minute and the next in the 76th — to overcome a defensive error that allowed Jennifer Hermoso to score the first goal against the USWNT of this tournament.