8 UEFA teams are in the last 16, and the best 3 will be invited to the Olympics next summer (GB will be invited if one of those is England). If 3 or more make the semi-finals then it’s easy to determine an order but what if say 2 teams make the semis and a further three lose in the quarter-finals? How will they separate them?
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New Zealand will be the most unpopular team at the tournament, at least among the players watching it on telly. They've already qualified, and there's only 12 teams in it. Is there any valid reason why it's not 16? I find myself in the strange position of wanting both expansion and contraction, because 16 is the Godly Number and FIFA/IOC have insisted on two different ways of avoiding it, so they can reward 3rd places. -
According to FIFA: " In case not all three places can be allocated, a play-off with the four highest-placed teams will be organised and determined by UEFA in due course." So looks like UEFA have leeway to sort it out themselves
https://www.fifa.com/womensolympic/teams/Comment
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With Japan's defeat tonight there will be no need for playoffsComment
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Good point. Guaranteed three or four semi finalists from UEFA. If France beat the US then the bronze medal match becomes an Olympic qualifier. If the US win then France will not be at the Olympics.Comment
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If England 'qualify', will it just be the England team in GB livery going to Tokyo, or would other British players be eligible for selection (not many would be selected, but in principle, like)?Comment
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Pre-match motivation speech in Tokyo: "Remember last year in Lyon! We want revenge!"
(lone Scottish accent: "Remember? I pissed myself laughing ...")Comment
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Kim Little played every game last time, Ife Dieke also stated every match until she got injured. Little, along with Erin Cuthbert would seem probable selections this time around. Others like Rachel Corsie, Jennifer Beattie, Caroline Weir, Jane Ross, Claire Emslie and Lana Clelland would be maybes.. It's fairly likely Jess Fishlock would have been in the squad in 2012 and team if she hadn't turned down the opportunity. She is approaching veteran age now, but would still have an extremely good chance of being selected for Toyko. If she wanted it... The other Welsh players I can think of who would might getting selected if they made themselves available are the 'keeper Laura O'Sullivan and the skipper Sophie Ingle. Any from Northern Ireland would be shock selections.Originally posted by Nesta View Post
But the core would be English, for good reason. The English game is still a long way ahead of that in the Celtic countries. England are in the top few sides in the World and play regularly in the latter stages of major tournaments (fourth straight World Cup of at least QFs, runner-up and Semis in recent and recentish Euros). That isn't random, it's a factor of the strength in depth that England managers have to pick from.Comment
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So Britain will go to the ball. The choice of coach and how it's arrived at will be telling. I think that, just as with Rugby Union's British and Irish Lions (the most comparable existing entity in British sport), it should be a one-off appointment open to all coaches in the countries covered by this team. I expect the FA will just blithely assume that the current England manager, i.e, Neville unless something rather unexpected happens, will be handed the job without any appointment process.Comment
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Who makes the appointment? Do the 4 respective FA chairs get together with someone from the British Olympic Committee or something?Comment
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Good question. I don't remember how Hope Powell was settled on in 2012.Comment
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France out, but hosts in 2024. By then it really should be 16 teams.
I had a quick look around other team sports at the Olympics, and couldn't find any with a more obvious discrepancy between a country qualifying (NZ) and much stronger squads missing out. Australia are still in Oceania for basketball, for example. Nobody strong stays home for rugby sevens, they have to pad that one out.
Of course it can happen with weak hosts, but otherwise?Comment
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Jess Fishlock didn't turn down the chance to play in 2012. She wanted to represent GB but bizarrely she wasn't selected.Originally posted by Janik View PostLast edited by Ray de Galles; 29-06-2019, 10:31.Comment
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Are the FAW, SFA and IFA any keener on the idea than they were for London and Rio? They were opposed to it then.Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair fan View PostComment
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Especially harsh on France because they were eliminated by a team that wasn't European. It's luck of the draw that's determined the qualifiers.Comment
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Not noticeably. They just grudgingly accept that the Olympics is a massive thing in the Women's game, and that to veto it is therefore a very bad look. And that having forced the FA to back down on the Men playing is a partial success.Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
On Fishlock, I'm sure there was someone who declined the opportunity to play. I really thought it was her, as her absence from the squad otherwise doesn't make a shred of sense. Must have been a Scottish player then, as there wasn't another Welsh player of suitable standard in 2012. Julie Fleeting, maybe?Last edited by Janik; 29-06-2019, 11:28.Comment
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It was Fleeting. Her dad was a director with the SFA but she claimed this did not influence her decision, which she took more than a year before the Games
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-olympics-2012Comment
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I wonder how long that will be the case for, given the growing interest in the Women's World Cup.Originally posted by Janik View Post
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Yes, that is an open question. For Japan this time, the Olympics is clearly more important - this event was used as experience gathering effectively. But as Olympic hosts, they are a special case.
Its highly unlikely to devolve to the same situation as the Men's sport, though. For one, there is a significant history of the Olympics mattering hugely and other events not doing as much. However, the coverage has changed for the World Cup, which used to be a key factor in the Olympics status - Women's Football was covered there because everything is.Comment
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Germany, the defending champs, won't be there. They also missed 2012 after getting knocked out by Japan in their own World Cup in 2011.Comment
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Interview with Neville shown after the Germany-Sweden game:-
BBC asking questions on the Olympics "Will you lead the team?"
Neville "That is the plan, yes. It will be England led, me and my England coaching team"
FFSComment
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Just get on with it and call time on the UnionComment
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Ridiculous that France and Germany won't be there. Who else is going for sure?Comment
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UEFA has three places which are going to GB, the Netherlands and Sweden.
It is ridiculous that there are only 12 teams, especially as the men's (underage) competition has 16.Comment
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