Elite Eight

Due to the necessities of having to deal with real life, I could not do my previews of the Italy V China and Holland V Japan games. Suffice to say that Holland and Italy went through and will play each other on Saturday and we will preview that on Friday.

So, the last eight consists of seven European sides, who are, in no particular order, EnGerLand, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Norway, France and the Shermans alongside the Good old US of A. This reflects on the strength of women's football in Europe and North America and how far behind it is lagging in the rest of the world.

It is also interesting to note that apart from probably Norway and the US of A, one would not be surprised to see the other six nations listed in the quarter finals of the men's world cup either.

The first game sees Norway take on EnGerLand. It is going back a bit in time, but in 1981, Norway's men's team famously beat England and the Norwegian commentators reaction after the game has become an iconic piece of commentary. Some of it is in Norwegian, but the bits in English need no explanation. I apologize for the poor audio quality which is beyond my control, so listen carefully.

Norway celebrate in style

Norway are ranked tenth and EnGerLand fifth in the FIFA rankings, in fact eight of the top thirteen ranked teams made it through to the quarter finals which shows the rankings are unusually accurate.

Norway and EnGerLand reached this stage in very different ways, Norway defeated Australia on penalties after a game where Norway hit the woodwork twice and Australia had a player harshly sent off and a couple of penalty appeals not given after viewing on VAR, one correctly, the other less so.

EnGerLand on the other hand swept aside a Cameroon side who were incensed by the VAR decisions that went against them and threatened to walk off the pitch in the middle of the game. This was so apparent that the referee decided, after advice given to her by the VAR team, not to award EnGerLand a clear penalty, or in a separate incident send off a Cameroonian player for serious foul play for fear that if she did then Cameroon would walk off.

All the controversy has hidden the fact that EnGerLand did not play that well although it was difficult given the circumstances. The above mentioned foul, on the EnGerLand captain, has left her participation against Norway in doubt, in what would be a serious blow to the teams chances.

The highlights from both those games follow even though I posted them in earlier blogs,

Lionesses win the battle of the Pride

Freya tames the Matildas

The Norwegian player to look out for will be  #10 Graham (Caroline Graham Hansen to give her her full name) She plays for Barcelona and is a very creative and skillful player.

Graham, will she drive them crackers

Bronze, she'll be hoping for gold

For EnGerLand, I have gone for Lucy Bronze who is considered one of the best players in the world even though she plays at full back. Look out for her storming runs forward.




The long awaited match up between hosts France and the the US of A is due up on Friday, these two teams were the favourites before the tournament started, so one of them is not going to be able to fulfill that destiny.

The USWNT struggled, somewhat surprisingly given their reputation, to beat Spain 2-1 thanks to two Megan Rapinoe penalties, while Les Bleus saw off the spirited challenge of Brasil  also 2-1 although that went to extra time. This is a really hard one to call. The happiest team after this game will be the Shermans as one of their main contenders for the title will have been eliminated.

I of course would prefer that both teams get struck down by a mysterious bug and thus EnGerLand after having dispatched Norway would automatically qualify for the final.
I will be brave and pick Les Bleus to edge this one which will probably guarantee that it is the USWNT that prevails.

Lloyd awaiting her chance

Players to watch out for. Will the USWNT finally let the prolific Carly Lloyd off the leash?

For France it has to be their match winner and inspiration from the game against Brasil, Amadine Henry.

Can she be King for France

Before I leave you, France is the home of Dior and Chanel and where Lagerfeld based his business. They must all be turning in their graves, looking down on that awful French kit, especially the socks.

As McEnroe used to say, you can not be serious !

One would expect something chic, something with a certain Je ne sais quai, but Polka dots !!

I would like to hear what you think, please feel free to comment. 

See you on Friday for the preview of Shermany V Sweden and Italia V Holland.