Down to the nitty-gritty
Win or go home at Women’s World Cup, Copa America, U-21 event
We’re down to the final eight at the Women’s World Cup, as the quarter-finals kick off Friday. Six of the eight teams remaining also reached this stage at the last World Cup, but there are some differences.
Brazil failed to make it to the quarters for the first time in 20 years and also, there are no Scandinavian teams in the last eight for the first time ever.
It also seems noteworthy that half the teams remaining are Englishspeaking.
Germany against France in Montreal is Friday’s big match while Saturday, the attention turns to Vancouver for the clash between England and Canada.
With another huge crowd at B.C. Place a certainty, Canada has a strong home advantage and the schedule has also worked in its favour.
Canadian coach John Herdman and his team have had five full days here to prepare while England has had one day less, plus a second day consumed by travel from Ottawa.
These two teams are well matched and recent meetings have been close. England has some momentum after a good come-from-behind win over Norway.
England played a poor first half in that game, but grew in strength as the match progressed. They may not find that as easy to do, though, against a fit and well-rested Canadian side. It’s a huge game and could be history in the making.
At the Copa
The Copa America in Chile is also at the quarter-final stage and Friday’s big game has Argentina against Colombia.
Saturday, Brazil faces surprising Paraguay, who are undefeated.
Paraguay is led by veteran striker Lucas Barrios, who has played for club teams on four different continents. His most noteworthy stint was at Borussia Dortmund where he starred several years ago, winning two Bundesliga trophies.
He has also played in France, Russia, China, Mexico and for various South American clubs.
He announced last week he will join Brazilian side Palmeiras following the tournament.
Most of the matches have been very close and not many of the bigname players or teams have really got into gear yet.
The exception is the host nation Chile, which has been scoring plenty of goals.
Chile’s Arturo Vidal is the competition’s top scorer, but the Juventus midfielder also made headlines for the wrong reasons after driving drunk and wrecking his Ferrari last week. He’s had his driver’s licence revoked and has vowed to donate his tournament fee to charity to help atone.
Chile advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 win over Uruguay on Wednesday.
Young guns
Meanwhile in the Czech Republic, the UEFA Under-21 championship has reached the semifinal stage.
Portugal will face Germany while Denmark takes on Sweden in a Viking showdown. Both games are Saturday. It’s worth noting that this is yet another German national team doing well. There are bigger and richer countries than Germany, and countries far better at producing flashy, talented players, yet nobody can match the Germans when it comes to getting results.
Their federation and professional clubs have got the right foundations and infrastructure in place and have established a culture of success.
One player to watch in this tournament is Danish winger Yussuf Poulsen. He has great change of pace and is very composed on the ball. Poulsen plays for RB Leipzig in Germany, which is one of the clubs founded and sponsored by energy drink company Red Bull.
The club was launched in 2009 and has rapidly climbed the ranks of the German league system.
They narrowly missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga this year, with young Poulsen one of their most dangerous players.
Lend a hand
Sunday, I, with the entire Lenarduzzi family (led by my daughter Sunny), will take part in the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon and 5K to raise funds and awareness in aid of those affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
This devastating disease affects so many families and they need our support.
Alzheimer’s took the life of my mother, Clelia Lenarduzzi, and my father-in-law, Denny Veitch.
For more information on Team Lenarduzzi and to make a donation, please visit alzheimer.ca/bc.
Bob Lenarduzzi is president of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Tickets: visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets