in his last 10 road starts. ...

Geregistreerd op: 07 Mrt 2018 Berichten: 510

The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup draw takes place Saturday in Ottawa and from that point on, Canada will know exactly what they’re up against when they host the globe’s top nations. Toby Alderweireld Belgium Jersey . Watch the drama unfold in the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup Draw LIVE NOW on TSN1, TSN3 and TSN4. Canada will undoubtedly be watching the draw closely, since it was largely a stroke of luck – bad luck – that helped derail their 2011 World Cup aspirations. Heading into the 2011 draw as CONCACAF champions, the Canadians found themselves in the second seeding pot for the draw and wound up in one of the toughest groups in the tournament. The Canadians were handed the two-time defending champions from Germany, the top African qualifiers from Nigeria and a French team that went on to finish fourth at the tournament. Of course, scoring just one goal in three group stage matches was the true death knell for Canada, but the stiff competition did the team no favours. So, what does Saturday’s draw have to offer the Canadian women in terms of hope? Well, a lot, it turns out. The first helping hand comes from an expanded field. The tournament has expanded from 16 to 24 total teams for the 2015 World Cup, with 16 of those advancing to the knockout stage. The top two teams in each group will automatically qualify for the knockouts as will, the top four third-place teams. In simple mathematical terms, the odds of advancing just improved from 50/50 to a two-in-three chance. The other bounce the Canadians will be getting is that they automatically fall into the top seeding group as tournament hosts, meaning they are guaranteed to be free of the top five teams in the world during the group stage. This advantage can not be stressed enough, since two of those five teams wound up in their group last time around. The other five nations emerging as top seeds include: Japan, the United States, Germany, Brazil and France. In order, that’s: the reigning Champions, the reigning Olympic gold medalists, a two-time World Cup champion, a team that has won all but one South American title ever handed out, and the fourth-ranked team in the world. With a two-in-three chance of advancement, the likelihood of a true Group of Death at this tournament is diminished. That said, there is no shortage of scenarios that could make a team’s opening round uncomfortable and – by proxy – make their potential road through the knockout stage a nightmare. The first land mine for any tough group draw will likely come from the European pot: Pot 4. Teams in that group include: Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, England, Norway and the Netherlands. For those unaccustomed to the recent history of women’s soccer, that’s a group that includes: a Norwegian team that has made at least the semifinals in four of five previous World Cups including winning the 1995 title, a Swedish team that has made two of the last three semifinals and an England team that went unbeaten in European qualifying and outscored their opponents 52-1. Pot 3, which houses the remaining Asian and African qualifiers, also has its share of tough draws. Its six teams are: Australia, China, Korea Republic, Thailand, Colombia and Ecuador. The strength of the Asian qualifying tournament displays just how tough three of these teams are. Keep in mind that Japan enters this tournament as defending champions and Olympic silver medalists. Australia tied Japan in Asian qualifying, and China and Korea drew on the other side of the tournament. Japan needed extra-time to get by China in the tournament semis and beat Australia by a 1-0 margin in the Asian Cup Final. Three of these teams can hang in there with the champs and could make life very difficult for one of the top seeds. The least threatening pot is likely Pot 2, which houses the African and Oceanic qualifiers as well as the remaining CONCACAF teams: Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, Mexico and New Zealand. That said, it’s a group that still includes a Continental Champion in Nigeria and a New Zealand team that comes in just outside the top 16 teams at the tournament according to the latest FIFA rankings. But what does all this mean for Canada and the top contenders? The possibilities for Canada are vast, since the only guarantees they have are that they will not be drawn with Mexico or Costa Rica out of Pot 2. Since the rules dictate that no team in Pots 2 or 3 can be drawn with a team from their own confederation, Canada will get either New Zealand or one of the African nations in their group. The best news is for Japan. Under the aforementioned confederation rules, they are guaranteed to avoid Australia, Korea Republic and China in the group phase. Brazil, meanwhile, has a 75 per cent chance of getting one of the three. For the other five teams, however, the possibilities are nearly endless. With all due respect to the 24 qualified teams for their achievements in advancing to the Women’s World Cup, here is a best- and worst-case scenario for Team Canada heading into Saturday’s draw based on FIFA’s World Rankings. Best case (FIFA rankings in parentheses): Canada ( Cool

, Switzerland (1 Cool

, Ecuador (49), Ivory Coast (64). Worst case (FIFA rankings in parentheses): Canada ( Cool

, Sweden (6), Australia (10), New Zealand (19). Watch the drama unfold in the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup Draw live Saturday at Noon et/9am pt on TSN1, TSN3 and TSN4. See below for a full table of the seeding pots. Womens World Cup Seeding Pots POT 1 POT 2 POT 3 POT 4 Brazil Cameroon Australia England Canada Costa Rica China Netherlands France Ivory Coast Colombia Norway Germany Mexico Ecuador Spain Japan New Zealand Korea Republic Sweden United States Nigeria Thailand Switzerland Draw rules: No team from Pot 1 may be drawn with a team from their own conference from Pots 2 or 3. Every group will have at least one European qualifier. Youri Tielemans Jersey . The Canadians led for much of the game before Argentina forced overtime in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Canada weathered the storm after squandering a lead with a series of made shots. "Its a fantastic win for our country with 11 first-time Canadian national team members," said head coach Roy Rana. Vincent Kompany Belgium Jersey . While Chelsea stayed two points behind leader Arsenal courtesy of Etoos hat trick, seventh-place United slipped 14 points from the summit this weekend. And the gap from the Champions League places is growing as well, with Liverpool six points ahead in fourth. http://www.belgiumsoccerauthority.com/thorgan-hazard-belgium-jersey/ . Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi.DENVER -- Dillon Gee threw six scoreless innings and David Wright had one of New Yorks four RBI doubles as the Mets salvaged the final game of their series against Colorado, beating the Rockies 5-1 on Sunday. Gee (3-1) kept the Rockies off balance to run his scoreless string to a career-best 16 innings. The righty, 13-6 with a 2.66 since last May 30, surrendered six hits and struck out five, helping the Mets avoid being swept for the first time in a four-game series at Coors Field. Jhoulys Chacin (0-1) was rather rusty his first start this season, lasting five innings and giving up four runs. Chacin spent the first month on the disabled list with a strained right shoulder. Nolan Arenado ran his hitting streak to 24 games with a double in the fourth, the second-longest hitting streak in Rockies history. Justin Morneau accounted for Colorados only run with a ninth-inning homer off Jeurys Familia. After wasting a a 6-0 lead in Saturdays 11-10 loss, the Mets jumped to a 4-0 lead after four innings. Wright, Chris Young and Daniel Murphy had run-scoring doubles, while Curtis Granderson chipped in an RBI single. Lucas Duda added an RBI double in the seventh that increased the lead to 5-0. He also walked three times, including one intentional. Juan Lagares extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games with a single to start the game. Lagares originally had the day off, but was inserted into the starting lineup after Eric Young Jr. was scratchhed. Youri Tielemans Belgium Jersey. Young was hit just below the right eye by a baseball in batting practice before the game. Hes day to day with a bruised cheek. Gee was pinpoint with his command, keeping the Rockies guessing among his curve, cutter and slider. He found himself in a sticky situation in the seventh, but the bullpen bailed him out. With two on and no outs, Carlos Torres got two outs and Scott Rice recorded the third to wiggle out of the inning. This was opening day for Chacin, who was shut down early in spring training after experiencing inflammation in his throwing shoulder. He was teams top right-handed starter in 2013, going 14-10 with a 3.47 ERA. Chacin struggled with his control throughout the game as he gave up eight hits and walked five. He threw 86 pitches before handing things over to the bullpen. NOTES: After Gee went hitless in three at-bats, pitchers for the Mets are now 0 for 51 starting the season. Its the longest hitless streak to begin a season since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Gee is 7-1 in his last 10 road starts. ... Mets manager Terry Collins said Kyle Farnsworth remains his closer despite allowing Charlie Culbersons two-run, game-ending homer Saturday. ... Wright has a .384 average, 10 homers and 40 RBIs in 138 at-bats at Coors Field. ... To make room for Chacin on the roster, the Rockies placed C Wilin Rosario (viral infection) on the 15-day DL. ... OF Michael Cuddyer (strained left hamstring) began exercises in a pool. Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Gear Jerseys From China Youth NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap Jerseys From China ' ' '

Geregistreerd op: 06 Nov 2019 Berichten: 562