Reply With QuoteI see the US got an incredibly tough group, not a bunch of pushovers like Canada's group. LOL. I am surprised T&T weren't somehow in Group A but they are host.
2010 CONCACAF U17 Tournament
March 9-20, 2010
- CONCACAF U17 Championships
- Women's U17 World Cup Qualifier
- Host: San José, Costa Rica
- Eight entrants, 1v2 crossover, top 2 teams qualify for World Cup
Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake last month, will open the CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship against the defending champion United States, the start of the 16-game, 11-day event.Code:GROUP A: USA / Costa Rica / Haiti / Cayman Islands GROUP B: Canada / Mexico / Jamaica / Panama * Kickoff times in U.S. Eastern; local times in parentheses Thursday, March 11: Jamaica vs. Canada, 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.) Saturday, March 13: Panama vs. Canada, 4:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m.) Monday, March 15: Canada vs. Mexico , 9:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m.) Thursday, March 18: Semifinal 1, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.) Thursday, March 18: Semifinal 2, 9 p.m. (7 p.m.) Saturday, March 20: Third-Place - Semifinal losers, 6 p.m. (4 p.m.) Saturday, March 20: Championship - Semifinal winners, 9 p.m. (7 p.m.)
Despite the calamity which according to some estimates has killed 200,000 in the country, Haiti has confirmed its participation in the second biennial U-17 championship, the first time it has qualified for the CONCACAF finals of a women's youth event since the 2002 U-19 tournament.
CONCACAF President Jack Warner visited Haiti on Sunday, committing support and offering encouragement to the Haitian Football Federation.
"Haiti's participation in this tournament under the most difficult circumstances is a testament to the will and commitment of the Haitian Football Federation, their players and coaches and the Haitian people," Warner said. "We applaud their perseverance and look forward to working together to rebuild their football program and country."
The team already has arrived in Santo Domingo, where the Dominican Football Federation is providing lodging, training facilities and other assistance to help prepare the side for next month's championship.
The tournament, to be played entirely at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium - the home of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense - in Alajuela, Costa Rica, will open March 10, a day later than originally announced, and will conclude with the title and third-place matches on March 20.
Like the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship in January, all matches from the U-17 event will be streamed live free of charge at CONCACAF.com. Each game will also be available on-demand shortly after its conclusion.
The CONCACAF event will qualify two teams, along with Under-17 Women's World Cup host Trinidad & Tobago, for the world championship in September.
Immediately following the Haiti-United States match, host Costa Rica will play the Cayman Islands in the nightcap of the opening day, Group B doubleheader.
Group A will begin the following day, March 11, with Panama playing Mexico and Jamaica facing Canada.
Group play will continue on alternate days through March 15, with the semifinals set for March 18.
From CONCACAF.com: http://www.concacaf.com/page/WUnder1...953542,00.html
Last edited by Vic; 02-24-2010 at 12:55 AM. Reason: game time change
I see the US got an incredibly tough group, not a bunch of pushovers like Canada's group. LOL. I am surprised T&T weren't somehow in Group A but they are host.
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I think a talented director could do a great documentary on the USA v. Cayman game.
The Panamanian women have not played in a long time and I have no idea what their youth programs are like. They could well be a major surprise.
The two finalists go the the World Cup so the rules of engagement are pretty simple:
Route 1 - is winning the group and beating Costa Rica in the semi. You never know in group play and we could squeeze through with a tie, but that probably means winning every game and beating Mexico, Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica.
Route 2 - is coming in second in the group and beating the USA in the final. Not impossible but the Americans do a lot of national work at the 14/15/16 age groups that give them a bigger head start at this age and make it even more formidable.
Where do we stand at U17?
The U17 is age group is where composure on the ball and technical skills among a broad base of players may be at a minimum, perhaps even for the USA team. With Concacaf Championship being the first International Championship for the majority of attending players, nerves and a lack of awareness regarding the speed of play at this level will intensify the pressure players feel during a game. A simple style of soccer for an inexperienced team could prove to be a very effective team tactic going into the competition. Canada’s direct style may be a handful to deal with for a lot of the players competing. However, if the technical skills and tactical advances in player and team play demonstrated at the U20 competition are similar for the U17 age group, it will be a long and hard and painful competition for our Canadian girls.
I think the top competition among the attending nations is USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada. It will definitely be a signal if Canada doesn’t make the semi-final games. Making it into the championship game must be considered a significant achievement for these players and the program.
You are right in saying that a more simple/direct play can be effective at this age especially if you have not practiced together as a team much. Maybe this is why BR is building the team the way he is...
US U17's maybe more impressive than their U20's performance recently. The U17s have had quite a bit of int'l experience and just last week played the German U17's and beat them 2x... not under ideal conditions apparently... so maybe these games do not represent the full story. They also played Germany last year 2x. And went to Argentina for a few games and did well....
From what I hear, our U17's will be going to T&T for a warm-up tournament end of Feb and then directly to Cost Rica for the championship. They will be away for more than 3 weeks! Quite a challenge for a young group of players.
Hoping for the best, or else we will have nothing to follow in our youth WNT for a long while.
Last edited by Soccer9; 02-05-2010 at 11:22 AM. Reason: really bad typing skills!
Very true about nerves and tactics and the Americans this year. Last time we went to France for a couple of games, and I'm really curious why we are sending these kids in virtually capless and cold. And not just age-wise compared to our U20 women's preparation, it's gender too - the last U17 boy's U17 qualification prep included:
Mexico - 13 day camp, 5 games
Florida/Guatemala - 12 day camp, 4 games
Costa Rica - 9 day camp, 3 games
That's 34 days and 12 games, all out of the country representing Canada.
The Panamian women beat Guatemala and Costa Rica a couple of times a few years ago. They could well show up green like Cuba at the U20, but if they have someone talented running things, they could also show up and win the group.
Having attended and written a technical report on the last U-17 World Cup I can say that a broad base lack of technical ability and composure were not in evidence by a lot of the team. If anything, these areas were good, it was the teams that were tactically limited that had some problems. While there was good turnover in the Canadian roster for U-20 qualifying, most of the other teams included a pretty good number of U-17 players from the previous cycle so what we saw in the past few weeks was a progression of what was seen in the U-17 cycle. My guess would be that this crop of U-17s on the whole will be even better, particularly out of those countries who are really pouring resources into their women's programs--Japan and North Korea in Asia, Costa Rica and T&T (especially for this tournament as the hosts) in CONCACAF, Chile in SA, the Scandinavian countries, Netherlands, Germany, France in Europe, and New Zealand continues to devote more resources to its program in Oceania.Originally Posted by ThruBall
The U17 is age group is where composure on the ball and technical skills among a broad base of players may be at a minimum, perhaps even for the USA team...
However, if the technical skills and tactical advances in player and team play demonstrated at the U20 competition are similar for the U17 age group, it will be a long and hard and painful competition for our Canadian girls.
Yes, it's all about fluidity
The Japanese were insane. And the North Korean U19's, I mean U17's, are always clinical.
France had the bad luck to draw Iceland and Germany in their U17 group and couldn't nab one of the six 2nd place wildcards and didn't make the European final 16. England is throwing a lot into their youth programs, and Sweden and Norway always do too. The surprises so far are the Swiss and the Irish. I've heard the Swiss have their act together.
Wouldn't it be great to see Mana Iwabuchi and Rosie White do it again.
Indeed, I was confusing the 2010/2011 standings with the 2009/2010 standings.
Denmark should be included in that group as well.England is throwing a lot into their youth programs, and Sweden and Norway always do too.
The Swiss certainly do have a fine program up and running, they are starting to produce some young players on a pretty regular basis. Ramona Bachmann should be interesting to watch this season in WPS.The surprises so far are the Swiss and the Irish. I've heard the Swiss have their act together.
I know that the Irish are very excited by their crop of U-17s. Of course, they are also interested in discovering any US or Canadian players with Irish heritage to give a look at both the 17 and 19 levels. Bit of a touchy subject around here lately I know!
I'm reading into this that the attending top teams i.e. USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada will require depth with in their player selection, and in particular carry players who possess above average soccer skills with an ability to play in different field positions effectively......Sounds like the days of the "keep it simple" game theory has passed!"Originally posted by Lensois
Having attended and written a technical report on the last U-17 World Cup I can say that a broad base lack of technical ability and composure were not in evidence by a lot of the team. If anything, these areas were good, it was the teams that were tactically limited that had some problems.
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