World Soccer - UK (2022-07)

WORLDSOCCER 57

CONCACAFW PREVIEW

While theEuroshavegreaterdepth,

theeight-nationCONCACAFW

Championshipislikelytohavethe most

stellarfinale.Unlessthere is an upset,

theWorldCup holdersUnitedStates

willmeettheOlympicchampions

CanadainGuadalupeon 18 July.

Hosts Mexico(inthe US’group

• so putative semi-finalopponentsfor
  Canada)aretheteammostlikelyto
  confoundthatprediction.Skippered
  byRealMadrid’sKenti Roblestheir
  teamhasasmatteringofNWSLplayers
  withthehome-basedones having
  experiencedbigcrowdsinthe
  vibrantdomesticleague.
  JamaicahaverecruitedWSL
  playerswith ancestrallinkssuchas
  DrewSpence(Chelsea)andBecky
  Spencer(TottenhamHotspur)and
  haveManchester City’s BunnyShaw
  leadingtheirattack. A Haititeamwith
  severalFrench-basedplayersmake up
  GroupA andkickoffthe tournament
  against theUSon4 July.
  Favouritestoqualifywith Canada
  fromGroupB area CostaRicanside
  thatfeaturesShirley Cruz (OLReign),
  RaquelRodriguez(PortlandThorns)
  andPriscilaChinchilla (GlasgowCity).
  PanamaandTrinidad& Tobago–
  cochedbyformerSouthampton,
  Stoke,SunderlandandCardiff striker
  KenwyneJones– makeup thesection.

WOMEN’S AFCONPREVIEW

Nigeriastartas favouritesforthe

Women’s AfricaCupof Nationson

thebasisthatthey’ve won 11 ofthe 13

tournaments,includingthelastthree,

andmadethesemi-finalswhenthey

missedoutin 2008 and 2012.

Theonlyotherchampions,

EquatorialGuinea,failedtoqualify.

Nigeriaalsoqualifiedthe hard way,

knockingoutGhana,thenIvoryCoast,

bothsemi-finalistswithinthelastdecade.

South Africa,beatenonpenaltiesin

Champions...Lyon
liftthetrophy

Potential

rematch...

USAvCanada

inlast year’s

Olympic

semi-finals

thelastfinal,andCameroon,finalists

inthe twopreviouschampionships,

arethemost likelychallengers.They

andNigeria were Africa’strioatthe

lastWorldCup,and thecountries

withmostplayersoverseas.Leading

examplesareInternazionaleforward

Ajara Nchout (Cameroon),Atletico

MadridattackerThembiKgatlana

(South Africa)andBarcelona’s

AsisatOshoala(Nigeria).

Nigeriaand South Africaarein

GroupC,whichis badnewsfortwo

debutants,Botswanaand Burundi,

whoare alsointhe section.

Hosts Morocco,makingtheirfirst

appearanceinmore thantwodecades,

arein a weakGroupA withSenegal,

UgandaandnewcomersBurkina

Faso.CameroonheadGroupB

withZambia,Tunisia andthe

fourthdebutant,Togo.

Thistournament

doublesupas

qualifyingfor next

year’sWorldCup

withthesemi-finalists

progressing.The losing

quarter-finalistswillgo

intoarepechagefrom

whichonewillenterthe

inter-continentalplay-offs.

USAGREEPAY DEAL

After a six-yearlegalfight,the US

women’s teamachieved an historic

Proud...

Williamson

equal-payagreement.Prizemoney

gainedinmajortournamentswillbe

sharedaswill ticketincomeandwin

bonuses.Bothgenderswillhave

thesameworkingconditions,from

childcareandhotelqualitytoper

diemsand therighttoplayhome

internationalsongrasspitches.

KOBEWINFIRSTWETITLE

KobeLeonessaarethefirstchampions

ofJapan’sWE (Women’s Empowerment)

League,takingthetitleaheadof

runners-upUrawaRedDiamonds,

whoseYuikaSugasawawas leading

scorer, andthird-placedTokyoVerdy.

CANADA MOVE TOWARDS

PROFESSIONALISM

Canada Soccerhastakena significant

steptowardsenablingplayerstomake

a football livingwithoutleavingthe

countrybyappointingBreagha

Carr-Harris,anexperiencedpro

sportsexecutive,toa newpostof

headofwomen’s professionalsoccer.

Carr-Harris’remitis to establish

a domesticprofessionalleague,

andideally also placeatleast one

franchiseinAmerica’sNWSL.At

presenttheOlympicchampions’

entiresquadplayin theUSorEurope.

UNDERDOGSREACH

FRENCHCUPFINAL

SeconddivisionYzeureAllier, from

a town with a populationof 13 ,000,

reachedtheFrench Cupfinal.They

lost 8 -0toParisSaint-Germain,

havingbeen5-0downafter 1 3

minutes,butitwasnevertheless

a remarkableachievement

foran amateurteam.

WILLIAMSONGETSTHE

LIONESSESSARMBAND

Arsenal’s LeahWilliamsonwillcaptain

Englandatthissummer’s European

Championship.The 25 -year-old,who

canplay at centre-backor

inmidfield,said:“Iam

honouredtobeasked

toleadusattheEuros.

StephHoughtonis

oneofthiscountry’s

all-timegreatsand

tofollowinher

footsteps– and

allof thosespecial

nameswhohaveled

theteaminthepast–

meanssomuch.” Manchester

City’sHoughtonrelinquishedthe

armbandafterstrugglingtorecover

fromanAchillesinjury.

AFCON favourites...Nigeria