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Those wanting their fix of summer football may have their eyes on the European U21 Championships taking part in the Czech Republic, commencing today, although there is already a major event taking place in Canada.
The hosts kicked off the Women’s World Cup with a deserved, yet tense, 1-0 win against the returning China PR as inspirational captain, Christine Sinclair, scored an injury time penalty in front of a record 53,000 crowd.
The first Women’s World Cup was hosted by China in 1991 and contained only 12 teams, had only one sponsor while matches lasted only 80 minutes due to a perceived gender weakness.
Canada 2015 includes many newcomers amongst the 24 nations competing and now boasts total prize-money of $13.6 million, double the World Cup in 2011 yet still only four per cent of the amount earned by the men.
Believe it or not but women’s football is not new and is only now returning to the level of support it once received. In the early 20th Century there were 150 registered teams in England alone with one recorded match between Dick Kerr’s Ladies, named after a munitions factory in Preston, and St Helen’s Ladies attracting a crowd of 53,000 at the home of Everton.
The game went into decline after the Football Association banned ladies matches in 1921 on the basis that it was ‘unsuitable for females’ only to repeal the decision half a century later following the formation of the Women’s Football Association. The Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 further helped.
Germany is one of the favourites to take the title in Canada thanks to their triumph at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2013 in Sweden and their astonishing qualifying campaign for these finals; Silvia Neid’s side romped to the top of their group without dropping a single point in 10 games, scoring 62 goals in the process.
They will also be keen to make amends for the disappointment of exiting the 2011 tournament on home soil in the quarter-finals. They started comfortably with an easy 10-0 win over the Ivory Coast although they were then only able to secure a disappointing 1-1 draw over Norway despite dominating for long periods.
Japan are the reigning champions after needing penalties in Frankfurt to overcome the USA as the match finished 2-2. Coach, Norio Sasaki, believes that he has a better side than in 2011.
The Nadeshiko are the only Asian side to have a 100 per cent appearance record at the Finals and will continue to rely on hard work and a strong team ethic as they defend their crown. Their defence of the cup has started well, being one of only two sides with a perfect record having defeated Switzerland in their opener before withholding a late surge from Cameroon to hold on for the three points.
Conversely, the US has a number of household names. Former FIFA World Player of the Year Abby Wambach surprisingly started on the bench for their match against Sweden, managed by their former coach, Pia Sundhage, although injected some energy and goal threat after being introduced in the 68th minute alongside Alex Morgan, continuing the partnership that led the Stars and Stripes to the Germany 2011 final.
They will need to find their shooting boots against Nigeria in the final group game and produce the form that led them to win the recent CONCACAF Championship where they scored 21 goals, while conceding none.
With this being the first time that 24 teams have played in the competition there were some concerns that results would be one-sided. Despite Switzerland being another side to notch 10 in a single game (against Ecuador) most of the matches have been competitive.
The biggest shock was Colombia’s victory over France which puts them at the top of Group F and, therefore, in pole position to progress to the next stage. They will meet England with the Lionesses requiring a victory to guarantee their own passage.
After traveling through six cities the final will be played in Vancouver on July 5.
