AuthorJeffEyesRimmer As well as the Confederations Cup this summer there is another international tournament that kicked off this past week – The Women’s European Championships. There are more teams, more prize money and more coverage of the tournament, making it the biggest Euros so far. This is the 12th women’s Euro tournament and it is being hosted by the Netherlands for the first time. They kicked off the tournament with a solid 1-0 win over former winners Norway on Sunday and there are high hopes for the home side in the tournament. There are 16 teams playing at the Euros, with five teams competing for the first time. As well as the Netherlands though who are the other favourites to take home the trophy? Germany
They are the overwhelming favourites after winning the tournament a record 8x times since 1989. They have won every Euros since 1993 as well. They also put an end to Brazil’s long winning streak earlier this year and won the Rio Olympics Gold Medal at last year’s Olympics. They are the team to beat and in Dzsenifer Marozsan (Lyon), they have one of the best players in the world. The Lyon midfielder is hugely important and was the best player on the field when Germany beat Brazil 3-1 in their last friendly before the tournament. The Germans like to play an attacking brand of football but it’s not just the attacking talent they have that make them a favourites, they did not concede a goal in qualifying as well. Dominant is the word to use. However, they played out a rather drab 0-0 draw with Sweden in their first game of the tournament so there is hope that another country can end their dominance. France The French are the team that probably possess the greatest threat to the Germans in this tournament. They were the other side to not concede in qualifying and much of that is thanks to the likes of Wendie Renard (Lyon), their captain is a rock at the back and often pops up with goals at set pieces too. They like to play possession football and the Lyon side that won this seasons Champions League provides the majority of the side, which is not a bad thing at all. The two strikers Marie-Laure Delie (PSG) and Eugénie Le Sommer (Lyon) have scored more than 120 international goals between them too. However, they looked sluggish in their opener against Iceland but came out eventual winners 1-0 with a penalty from Le Sommer in the 86th minute. Historically too they don’t tend to put teams away with their superior possession and that has come back to bite them several times. Sweden Won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics and so will certainly be in with a good chance. Their direct approach certainly upset the Women’s USA side (Hope Solo in particular) and they are expected to add some attacking flair to their pragmatism in this tournament. Much depends on how Caroline Seger (Lyon) plays in midfield, If Seger plays poorly then so does Sweden. Sweden will also be relying on Hedvig Lindahl (Chelsea), if the keeper can perform the heroics like she did at the Olympics, Sweden have a huge chance. As with Germany though the 0-0 draw means the group is quite open and with Russia surprising Italy in the opening game they are not guaranteed one of the top two spots. England Yes, the Lionesses are very much in with a chance of winning the title. They won a deserved bronze at the World Cup in 2015 and that was against the Germans. That bronze was very much above expectations but because of that and improvement domestically at club level the expectations should be high for this tournament. This is a team that is now fully professional and playing for the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, both clubs doing well in the Champions League this past season. The squad is more than the sum of its parts and in players like Karen Carney, Fara Williams, Lucy Bronze and new Barcelona striker Toni Duggan they have a chance. England kicks off later today against Scotland, who are appearing in their first Euros. I expect Scotland to battle but the superior quality of the England side to eventually come through and start their tournament on a winning note. It will be interesting to see how a few of the off-field issues will affect them though; the omission of Chelsea striker Eni Aluko and the recent departure of assistant coach Marieanne Spacey could disrupt the team. There is a high chance that we will see France versus Germany in the Semi Finals, so there certainly an opportunity for another team to take advantage for one of the big teams to knock each other out. Do you think there could be an outsider that could take the crown? Let us know on FB. |
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June 2018
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