world-cup Page 39 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Scotland Can Become Stars In Their First Performance On The Big Stage
Most countries making their debut in a tournament like the World Cup are just happy to be there. Implied in a country making it to its first major tournament is that the country in the very recent past was not very good, and its soccer infrastructure is at an incredibly early stage of its developmen...
Italy Stun Australia With Stoppage-Time Winner
The first Women’s World Cup match of the day, between Italy and Australia, was a spicy one. Australia took a 1-0 lead early in the first half thanks to a Sam Kerr penalty kick, but their aggressive, attacking style left them open to counter attacks from Italy all match. Italy could have had multiple...
Argentina Are Just Happy To Be Here
Argentina are not very good. It’s important to get that out of the way early. Due to a host of factors not entirely in the team’s control—particularly the fact that they have only been playing together for about a year due to federation turmoil—the Albicelestes head into France with more questions t...
Japan Arrive At The World Cup With A New Look And Something To Prove
The USA’s top nemesis in the Women’s World Cup comes into 2019 with plenty of questions to answer, despite winning it all in 2011 and placing second in 2015. A disastrous failure to qualify for the 2016 Olympics ended the eight-year tenure of Japanese manager Norio Sasaki, and as Japan enter their f...
After Coming Agonizingly Close To World Cup Glory Last Time, England Are Back And Better Than Ever
There’s probably no team with more regret over the 2015 World Cup than England. The Lionesses were knocked out in Canada four years ago by Japan via a cruel 92nd minute own goal by defender Laura Bassett, who sliced a clearance into her own net. That was the painful end to a World Cup where England ...
Welcome To The Jason La Canfora USMNT U-20 Minute
The Jason La Canfora Orioles Minute was an irregularly recurring feature in which we checked in with the NFL reporter’s thoughts on the O’s. Then we stopped, mostly because he did. Now he tweets about soccer, so welcome to the Jason La Canfora USMNT U-20 Minute....
Brazil, Already Held Together With Scotch Tape, Will Now Be Without Marta For At Least A Game
If the Brazilians are going to start off their World Cup on the right foot, they’re going to do it without the six-time player of the year. Brazil manager Vadao has announced that Marta will miss Sunday’s tie with Jamaica as she recovers from a left thigh injury....
Italy Are Back In The World Cup After A 20-Year Absence, And They Intend To Stay A While
In the months following the Italian men’s national team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Italy’s women helped redeemed the country by winning seven straight matches in their qualification run to the women’s version of the tournament. That blistering streak of form was enough fo...
The Women's World Cup Has Already Been Marred By Some Corny VAR Bullshit
There is no shortage of arguments to be made against the proliferation of replay review in soccer, and I won’t bog down this blog post with points we’ve already made on the site many times over. Besides, the argument against the VAR decision from today’s Women’s World Cup opening match between Franc...
Welcome To The Last Ride Of Marta's Brazil
The sun is about to set on Brazil this summer. The land of joga bonito has fielded one of, if not the, best generations of women’s soccer players over the last two decades, but age and an inability to adapt to the rapidly evolving game could see the Seleção’s campaign in France end in yet another di...
It's Been A Long, Tough Journey For Jamaica, And Just Making It To The World Cup Is Enough
Thanks in large part to the support of Bob Marley’s daughter, Cedella Marley, Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz are about to compete at the World Cup for the first time ever. While it’d be far too optimistic to expect them to pull off any kind of shocker in Group C, if you consider Jamaica’s status (or lack th...
Australia Are Pure, Thrilling, Perilous Anarchy
Australia are front-runners for the title of most entertaining team at the Women’s World Cup. The chaotically good Matildas head to France this summer with the stated goal of winning the trophy but the more important (at least for non-Aussies) unstated goal of becoming everyone’s second favorite tea...
Free From Their Sexist, Tyrannical Former Manager, Spain Can Finally Just Play Soccer
They say that when God closes a door, he opens a window, and that wisdom is knowing to stop worrying about the closed door and start taking advantage of the open window. The metaphor applies to the Spain women’s soccer team’s experience at their first World Cup four years ago. The closed door was th...
South Africa's World Cup Debutantes Are Already Legends
No matter what happens in France this summer, the players that make up the South Africa women’s national team are already legends....
China Have One Star Attacker And A Whole Lot Of Question Marks
When you think of the most famous image in Women’s World Cup history, you don’t often remember the opponent. Brandi Chastain’s celebration after slotting home the winning penalty in the 1999 tournament has inspired the spillage of plenty of digital ink, but maybe the least remembered aspect of that ...
This Isn't The Best Germany Ever, But They Can Still Beat Anyone
For a normal national team, Germany’s recent run of relative success would be cause for celebration: quarterfinalists at both the 2017 Euros and 2011 World Cup, with a semifinals appearance at the 2015 World Cup and a 2013 Euro title. Oh, plus Olympic gold in 2016. For Die Nationalelf, though, this ...
Norway Might Have Won The Whole Thing, If Only They Hadn't Alienated The Best Player In The World
The situation with Norway’s women’s soccer team is like something out of the Iliad. In this analogy, the World Cup is the Trojan War, the Norwegian team is the heavily armed but nonetheless overmatched Greek army, and Ada Hegerberg is Achilles, the Grecian hero of otherworldly abilities who very wel...
Nigeria Have The Star Power To Go Down In A Blaze Of Glory
The question before Nigeria heading into this World Cup is the same one they’ve faced going into every other World Cup: Will this be the tournament the Super Falcons finally put it all together and make a real run? Unfortunately, the answer is probably the same as it has been in years past: No, this...
South Korea Are No Minnows, But They're Still Food For The World Cup's Sharks
The best thing you can say about South Korea coming into this World Cup is that they are fine....
France's Women Are On A Mission To Establish Worldwide Soccer Dominance
If the 100 percent non-existent aliens that purportedly flit about Earth’s skies were in fact real, and if they somehow mustered enough gumption in their lily liver-equivalent alien organs to descend upon the far superior human race and challenge us to a pair of soccer matches—one men’s, one women’s...