Round -up
CAMEROON’S NEW COACH
Alain Djeumfa has been appointed
Cameroon coach, replacing Joseph
Ndoko who steered the Indomitable
Lionesses to the World Cup finals
by taking third place in the African
Women’s Cup of Nations.
Djeumfa was Ndoko’s fitness coach
but has extensive management
experience in domestic football.A SECOND DRAFTEE SAYS NO
Julia Ashley, the NWSL number six draft
pick, followed
number two
choice Hailie
Mace in moving
abroad rather
than accept
her selection
by Sky Blue.
Although a
New Jersey native who grew up 40
miles from the franchise, Ashley went
to Linkopings, in Sweden, while Mace
has joined Melbourne City.
Ashley indicated the much-criticised
state of Sky Blue’s facilities was the
main factor in her decision.
NWSL rivals Seattle Reign
announced a move to Tacoma, south
of the west-coast city, and a rebranding
as Reign FC. The club had been at
Memorial Park since 2014 but the
71-year-old venue was regarded as
inadequate and no other location
was appropriate within Seattle.RECORDS FALL IN IBERIA
Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao
at San Mames in the quarter-finals of
the Spanish Cup, watched by 48,121- the highest domestic attendance
at a women’s club match in Europe
since the 1920s and larger than any
attendance Bilbao men’s team have
recorded at the ground this season.
There was a record of a different sort
in Portugal, with Benfica beating CP
Pego 32-0 in the second division.
SPANIARD AT BIRMINGHAM
Marta Tejedor, the former coach of
Chile, Peru and Atletico Madrid, was
the surprise replacement for Marc
Skinner at Birmingham City.
The 50-year-old made the perfect
start, with the Blues winning her first
match at WSL champions Chelsea.WORLD CUP CLUES
A series of tournaments in late-
February/early March will show how
the World Cup finalists are shaping up.
The She Believes Cup pits hosts
USA against England, Japan and Brazil;
Canada, Holland, Spain, Scotland,
Sweden, China and Norway feature
in the Algarve Cup; Australia’s Cup of
Nations also features New Zealand,
South Korea and Argentina; while Italy,
Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand are at
the Cyprus Cup.
Elsewhere, Germany and France
contest a brace of friendlies with each
other, as do Jamaica and Chile.
Only Cameroon of the 24 finalists
are not scheduled to be in action.VICTORY CELEBRATIONS
Melbourne Victory won the Premier
crown in Australia’s W-League with
a game to spare. Managed by ex-
Wales defender Jeff Hopkins, and with
England striker Natasha Dowie up front,
it is Victory’s first regular-season title.
Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory and
Sydney made up the play-off quartet,
while Melbourne City – winners of the
last three championships – failed to
make the final four.with Steffi Jones after 19 months when a
disappointing defence of their European
crown was followed by a poor start to
World Cup qualifying, and Martina Voss-
Tecklenburg has replaced her. France
sacked Olivier Echouafni after less than
a year, with Corinne Diacre taking over.
Canada’s John Herdman, meanwhile,
switched to coach the men’s team and
was replaced by Kenneth Heiner-Moller,
leaving Ellis as the only top-six coach to
survive since summer 2017.
Ellis, who was appointed in April 2014
after a month as interim coach, began
2019 with a rare loss, to France, but is
insulated after leading her team to victory
at the 2015 World Cup. That enabled her
to survive Rio 2016, when the US went
out in the quarter-finals – the first time
they had failed to reach the Final since
the sport debuted at the Games in 1996.
With Sweden’s Pia Sundhage stepping
down, and Brazil’s Emily Lima fired, only
Ellis, Asako Takakura (Japan) and Sarina
Wiegman (Holland) of the FIFA top 10
have been in office for at least two years.
However, that does not mean their
opponents should be written off. After
all, Wiegman steered the Dutch to
success at Euro 2017 despite taking over
just six months earlier and Ellis had only
been in the job a year when she won the
2015 World Cup. It seems sometimes a
fresh approach is the best one.Settled...Mark
Sampson
Gone...Australia
coach Alen Stajcic
Friendly...Cameroon (in green)
take on France in OctoberChoice...Julia
AshleyVictorious...the W-League champions