Host Cities announced for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014

http://www.fifa.com/u20womensworldcup/index.html

CONCACAF Qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014

For the first time next year, four CONCACAF teams will represent the region at the 16-team biennial FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The host Canadians have already qualified while an additional three teams will win their berths in January 2014 at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship.

Qualifiers in the CONCACAF region are already underway, with seven Caribbean nations recently eliminated in a preliminary phase. The eight remaining Caribbean nations will meet in October 2013 for a second phase of qualification matches.

Seven Central American teams, meanwhile, will play their preliminary qualification matches in August and September.
USA, Mexico and host Cayman Islands have already qualified for the eight-team CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship which will be played from 9-19 January 2014.
The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014 is scheduled from 5-24 August with matches to be played in Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal and Moncton.

Qualifiers

AFC

Asia’s Canada 2014 hopefuls will compete in the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship between 11 and 20 October 2013 in Nanjing, China PR. The three best-placed sides will advance to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

CAF

The African qualifiers for Canada 2014 will be played on a home-and-away basis between September 2013 and 24 January 2014. Two spots at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup are up for grabs.

UEFA

Europe’s four participants are to be decided by the 2012/2013 UEFA European Women’s U-19 Championship, which will take place in Wales between 19 and 31 August 2013. Two qualifying rounds have already been negotiated and a field of 43 whittled down to eight, with Denmark, England, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Germany advancing to join the tournament’s Welsh hosts.

CONCACAF

UNCAF will be holding their regional pre-qualifiers in Honduras between 21 and 25 August 2013, and in Panama between 7 and 11 September 2013. The Caribbean Football Union, meanwhile, will hold a competition in Puerto Rico from 16-24 October 2013 to determine who advances from their region to the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship. That final tournament, which will involve eight nations and take place in the Cayman Islands between 9 and 19 January 2014, offers up for grabs three places to join hosts Canada - who qualify automatically - at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

OFC

The OFC Women’s Championship 2014 will determine Oceania’s sole participant. The tournament will be held between 15 and 24 January 2014, with the winner progressing to Canada 2014.

CONMEBOL

The South American U-20 Women’s Championship will take place in Uruguay between 8 and 26 January 2014. The two finalists will qualify for Canada 2014.

Host Country

Canada, as tournament hosts, qualify automatically for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Host Cities announced for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014

Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto have been named as the Host Cities for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 and the Official Emblem of the tournament has been unveiled. The announcement was made in Toronto at the occasion of the friendly Canada-USA game, a revival of the incredible semi-final played during the London 2012 Olympics.
“It’s a great pleasure to include Toronto in the official Host Cities for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 together with Edmonton, Moncton and Montreal, which will also be part of the coast-to-coast adventure for 2015,” commented Tatjana Haenni, FIFA’s Deputy Director of Competitions for Women’s Football, “Host Cities are one of our biggest sources of support when it comes to promoting the competition.
“The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 is another great opportunity for our country and the four Host Cities to welcome the world and the world’s game,” said Victor Montagliani, chairman of the National Organizing Committee. “This competition serves as a terrific showcase for the future stars of women’s football, with the best often proving that they are ready for the big competition just one year later.

This competition serves as a terrific showcase for the future stars of women’s football.

Victor Montagliani, chairman of the National Organizing Committee

This marks the kick-off of the seventh edition of the biennial FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, one of two FIFA women’s youth tournaments being played ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™. The inaugural edition of this competition was played in Canada in 2002 (then known as the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship). The most recent edition was played in Japan, where CONCACAF members USA were crowned for a third time (2002, 2008 and 2012).
In addition to the unveiling of the tournament’s official Host Cities and Official Emblem, Bell Canada was announced as the official telecommunications provider and the first National Supporter of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015.
“Bell is proud to deliver advanced communications infrastructure and services for FIFA’s upcoming women’s football events in Canada," said Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility and Residential Services, and Bell’s Chief Brand Officer. “Bell’s industry-leading investments in broadband networks and our experience in supporting amateur and professional sporting events will ensure world-class communications support to these FIFA championships.
Earlier this year, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 official match schedule was announced, with 52 matches to be played in six venues from coast to coast across Canada, including three of the four venues of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014.
To read more about the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup, visit the links on the right.

Reasons to be cheerful for Canada

Canada’s players were unable to hold back the tears as the final whistle sounded at the end of their 2-1 loss to Korea DPR in Saitama on Monday. Knocked out all too early at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Japan 2012, they were left to reflect on what might have been, having kicked off their campaign with a 6-0 defeat of Argentina and made ambitious plans for the future.

Two back-to-back defeats quickly put paid to their hopes, though with the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ coming up on home soil in 2015, not to mention the 2014 edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the young Canadians have plenty to look forward to in the years ahead, with bright prospects like Christine Exeter already contemplating the chance to take on the world's elite in three years’ time.

“One way of getting over this defeat is to look to the future,” the Louisiana University forward told FIFA.com after their elimination. “Playing in 2015 is a personal dream of mine and I’m going to work hard towards that. I’m still studying but I hope to take part in the training camps next year. I also hope that John Herdman [Canada’s senior national team coach] has been impressed by some of us. It’s not for now, but it’s definitely an objective that motivates us.”

There is another very good reason why the patient Exeter has every chance of making the transition to the senior team, as she explained: “A lot of players are going to be leaving the national side and I think that’s going to open up more and more space for this generation. That’s sure to lift our morale in the next few months because this is not the end for us, far from it. Knowing that there’s something really big coming up is going to make us even stronger.”

Future stars
Like Exeter, the Canadian players set to contest the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Azerbaijan 2012 later this month also have future goals to fulfil, chief among them the opportunity to represent the country at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in 2014, also to be staged on home soil. Making that point in the press conference that followed his side’s defeat to the North Koreans was Canuck coach Andrew Olivieri.

“With the U-20 World Cup in mind we’re going to be keeping an eye on the girls who’ll be in Azerbaijan,” he said. “And as far as the 2015 World Cup’s concerned I think a lot of players from my team are going to be there too. Playing here has been crucial to the team’s development and I hope they can take the opportunities that come their way in the future.”

As far as the 2015 World Cup’s concerned I think a lot of players from my team are going to be there.

Canada coach Andrew Olivieri

The next few years promise to be busy ones for the North Americans and are sure to provide a major boost to the popularity of the women’s game in Canada. Indeed, Exeter got a little taste of what might be coming her way in 2014 and 2015 as she walked off the pitch at the Komaba Stadium, arm in arm with three of her team-mates.

Called over to the stands by a small band of Canada fans, the players were presented with the national flag and a bundle of CDs, a gesture much appreciated by Exeter and her colleagues and an indication of what they can expect in the coming years.
“We’ve been really taken aback by the reaction of some of the fans here,” she said. “They’ve given us gifts and told us how proud they were of us. I hope those sentiments will be even stronger come 2015.”

Angerer heroics help Germany retain crown

1 August 2013

Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer saved two penalties to help Germany win a record sixth consecutive UEFA Women's EURO with a 1:0 success against Norway in Solna, Sweden. Substitute Anja Mittag scored the only goal of the game just a few minutes after being introduced from the bench at the beginning of the second half, but the true star of the show was Angerer.

Twice Norway were awarded penalties but Angerer deflected Trine Rønning's first half spot-kick away with her knee before thwarting Solveig Gulbrandsen from 12 yards in the second period.

Those two crucial stops meant Mittag's close range tap-in from a pinpoint delivery by Célia Okoyino da Mbabi was enough to give the Germans revenge against opponents who had inflicted on them a shock group stage defeat by the same scoreline. Germany have now won eight of the 11 UEFA Women's EURO titles and have lifted every edition since Norway triumphed in 1993.

READ MORE at FIFA.com.

UEFA announces tournament all-stars
UEFA's technical committee has named as 23-player All-Star Team from the 2013 UEFA Women's EURO in Sweden. The list features footballers from seven different teams, including six players from champions Germany.
Also announced by UEFA, goalkeeper Angerer was named Player of the Tournament while forward Lotta Schelin was the Golden Boot winner for most goals scored.
Goalkeepers: Nadine Angerer (Germany), Ingrid Hjelmseth (Norway), Stina Petersen (Denmark).
Defenders: Saskia Bartusiak (Germany), Laure Boulleau (France), Marit Fiane Christensen (Norway), Nilla Fischer (Sweden), Annike Krahn (Germany), Maren Mjelde (Norway), Wendie Renard (France).
Midfielders: Lena Goeßling (Germany), Solveig Gulbrandsen (Norway), Dzsenifer Marozsán (Germany), Louisa Necib (France), Josefine Öqvist (Sweden), Katrine Søndergaard Pedersen (Denmark), Caroline Seger (Sweden).
Forwards: Verónica Boquete (Spain), Melania Gabbiadini (Italy), Eugénie Le Sommer (France), Célia Okoyino da Mbabi (Germany), Lotta Schelin (Sweden), Gaëtane Thiney (France).

CONCACAF Qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014

FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC jostle for first place in National Women's Soccer League standings
With less than three weeks remaining in the inaugural National Women's Soccer League season, FC Kansas City and Portland Thorns FC are fighting for first place in the league standings.
This weekend, the two sides will go head-to-head in a nationally-televised league encounter on Sunday 3 August. The match at JELD-WEN Field in Portland will kick off at 17.30 (local time, 20.30 ET / 17.30 PT on Fox Soccer).
FC Kansas City sit in first place with 35 points after 19 matches, while Portland Thorns FC are just behind with 34 points in just 18 matches. Right behind them, Sky Blue FC is in third place with 31 points (19 matches) while Western New York Flash is in fourth place with 30 points (18 matches).
The top four teams in the eight-team league will qualify for the semi-final matches which are scheduled on Saturday 24 August. The championship match will be played one week later on Saturday 31 August.

Pali Blues of California win W-League title

A year after finishing runner up to Ottawa, the Pali Blues made no mistake in the final minutes of the 2013 W-League Championship to win 1:0 over the Comètes de Laval. An own goal in the 87th minute was the only difference between the two sides, with the California-based Pali Blues lifting the trophy in the Sunday 28 July final in Bradenton, FL, USA

Of note, the winning Pali Blues featured four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup champions (from Japan 2012) as well as one former FIFA Women’s World Cup footballer (Canadian Sasha Andrews who finished fourth at USA 2003).

Ahead of the final, the league announced its year-end award winners. Shan Jones of the Virginia Beach Piranhas was named both Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year. Blakely Mattern (Carolina Elite Cobras) was named Defender of the Year, Geneviève Richard (Comètes) was named Goalkeeper of the Year, and Cindy Walsh (Comètes) was named Coach of the Year.

Teenaged prospects participate in Canada Games tournament

The 2013 Canada Games Women’s Football Tournament will kick off next week in Sherbrooke, QC, with close to 200 footballers born 1995 or later taking part in the event. The 11-team competition runs 3-8 August.

Held every four years, the multi-sport event will also feature a men’s soccer tournament from 12-17 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature U-18 provincial/territory teams.

Footballers in the Canada Games women’s competition are age-eligible for next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014, which will in fact feature players born as early as 1994. As recent history would suggest, at least a handful of players born 1995 or later could make the final cut for Canada's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup team in 2014.

Some previous winners of the Canada Games Women's Football Tournament include recent CONCACAF champions and London 2012 Olympic bronze medal winners Karina LeBlanc, Melanie Booth, Carmelina Moscato, Robyn Gayle, and Diana Matheson.

FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015

The FIFA Women's World Cup is held every four years, with the next edition to be played in Canada in 2015. It marks the first major sporting event hosted in Canada from coast to coast, with matches to be played in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montréal and Moncton. The FIFA Women's World Cup will feature the 24 best women's football teams in the world.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 will be preceded one year earlier by the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, one of two FIFA women’s youth tournaments. The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup returns to Canada for the first time since 2002. The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014 will feature 16 teams featuring players born 1994 or later.

The National Organising Committee for the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 features Victor Montagliani (chair), Steven Reed, Janine Helland, Doug Redmond, Clare Rustad, Walter Sieber and Peter Montopoli.