FIFA U17 Women's World Cup 28/10 - 16/11

[Napoleon Solo]

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

6:00 AM	New Zealand (U17) 7.00	X 4.00	Canada (U17) 1.35

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

11:00 PM	Costa Rica (U17) 15.00	X 10.00	Germany (U17) 1.05
11:00 PM	Denmark (U17) 1.30	X 4.50	Colombia (U17) 7.25
2:00 AM	Korea DPR (U17) 1.10	X 8.00	Ghana (U17) 12.00

Thursday, October 30, 2008

11:00 PM	Brazil (U17) 2.50	X 3.55	England (U17) 2.25
11:00 PM	Japan (U17) 9.00	X 7.25	USA (U17) 1.15
2:00 AM	France (U17) 1.25	X 5.00	Paraguay (U17) 8.00
2:00 AM	Korea Republic (U17) 1.30	X 4.50	Nigeria (U17) 7.25

[Napoleon Solo]

All the betting is taken from Bwin as I can't find anywhere else doing it.

You can watch the matches live on the FIFA website.

FIFA.com - FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup New Zealand 2008

Me? The 13th Duke of Wybourne? Here? Watching sixteen year old girls playing football? At three o'clock in the morning? With my reputation? What were they thinking of?

[MickeyPaul]

High five!

I bet the standard is bloody shocking though. Where are the potential shocks then? Nigeria? I know natheeng.

[Napoleon Solo]

Dunno Mickey, probably just a watching brief for the first round of matches. Here's my initial thoughts though:

New Zealand v Canada - New Zealand with a mixed bag of results in their build up, no real competitive matches though. Coach seems confident. Canada quite strong despite only qualifying as third placed in the CONCACAF group.


Costa Rica v Germany - Costa Rica did well to finish second in qualifying but the current European champions should be far too strong.

Denmark v Colombia - Denmark are generally regarded as one of the best teams in Europe so should do well. Colombia won the South American qualifying group quite impressively ahead of Brazil so may well provide an upset or two.

Korea DPR v Ghana - Korea were impressive in the Asian qualifying group while Ghana struggled in their final qualifying round.

Brazil v England - Not entirely sure why England are favorites here, Brazil were quite impressive in qualifying, finishing only second to Colombia. England qualified with ease but were brought back down with a bump in the final group stage, only finishing fourth and being hammered by fellow qualifiers France and Denmark.

Japan v USA - Japan are a decent team but were taken apart by a decent Korea DPR side. USA are one of the teams to beat in this tournament after coming through qualifying so impressively.

France v Paraguay - France qualified quite easily from Europe without conceding a goal in 6 matches and are definitely one of the stronger teams. Paraguay qualified third from South America with a definite all-or-nothing approach, winning four and losing three of their seven matches, scoring 22 but conceding 17.

Korea Republic v Nigeria - Korea finished third in qualifying despite some unfavorable results. Nigeria were very impressive in qualifying from a final group containing Ghana and Cameroon and could provide an upset or two. May be one of my first round bets!

[Napoleon Solo]

In fact, two early bets for me on this:

Brazil to beat England @ 2.50
Nigeria to beat Korea Republic @ 7.25

1 point on each.

[MickeyPaul]

Thanks, Solo. Seems I might be a good guesser then. I'm gonna chance Nigeria too.

Page http://www.uefa.com/competitions/wun...id=511096.html

[Napoleon Solo]

As an aside, look how good I am at predicting U17 football:


Finished 1-0 to Estonia! If I actually had some reason other than "I think they're a bit big odds wise" I might have found time to post it as well!

[MickeyPaul]

Awesome. I was on Dundee Utd on Saturday only because their chairman died. Didn't fancy posting that either.

I can't believe it's only bwin covering this. I don't want to join them.

[Napoleon Solo]

These lot are covering it but I've never used any of them myself!

Bet USA - Womens International - Betting Lines - Odds

Sportwetten Gera - Real sports, real bets!

[MickeyPaul]

Canada won 0-1 and from the highlights I've just watched they looked as if they had the bulk of the chances (please someone watch it on the fifa site - at the 2 min 10 mark.... warra miss!!) but I don't think there was as much in it as the odds suggested there may be.

I'm tempted to chance me some underdogs. From what I've read on the FIFA site, Germany are pretty fancied overall so I'm going to overlook Costa Rica but I think Colombia and Ghana as well as Nigeria might be worth having a wee punt on. I still know natheeng however. Just.... maybe it's all a bit tighter than the odds say. We'll see soon enough I guess.

The other match in Group B pits Korea DPR against Ghana in an exciting tie between two sides known for their mental and physical strengths. The Asians booked their ticket to New Zealand way back in March 2007 and perhaps have the edge in terms of preparation. The Africans, however, showed fantastic character to bounce back from a seemingly impossible position to take their place at this tournament, and are sure to prove formidable opponents.

Denmark and Colombia complete the first round of games in Group A in an intriguing clash of styles. The Cafeteritas will be hoping their technique and speed can win the day against the hard-running, well-drilled Scandinavians. In what is expected to be a very tightly contested section, every point will be vital.

"In this age category, every team plays with more or less the same tactics and it's the mental aspect that makes the difference." Colombia coach Pedro Ignacio Rodriguez.

[MickeyPaul]

Reading the FIFA site is going to get me into bother, I know it. They make Nigeria sound great:

Although there has never been a women's world finals at U-17 level before, Nigeria's dominance of African women's football is such that their presence at New Zealand 2008 was always all but guaranteed. The country's senior side have, after all, qualified for all five FIFA Women's World Cups as continental champions, and their youth team progressed to a fourth successive FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup earlier this year.

The U-17 team, nicknamed ‘the Flamingoes', might be the new kids on the block, but the NFA signalled their intent for this fledgling side by appointing Felix Ibe-Ukwu, one of the nation's most experienced women's football coaches, as their coach. Sure enough, the Flamingoes booked their place at New Zealand 2008 with a game to spare, a 3-0 win over Cameroon on 23 June securing their passage. The ease with which they qualified also enabled Nigeria to test some of their fringe players in the second half of their preliminary campaign, helping to finalise the squad that will do battle in New Zealand.

What they said...
"We are going to make the nation proud. I know my girls. Once I tell them to go, they will fly. Once I give the signal, they will play their hearts out," Felix Ibe-Ukwu, Nigeria coach.

I love that last bit. Blimey. How can we not have a punt on these burds?

What they said
"I think that the teams we are going to compete with on the world stage are on the level way higher than us. But if my players train hard on the basics and learn to keep the ball well, we will be able to close the gap," Kim Yong-Ho, after guiding Korea Republic to New Zealand 2008.

The more I read, the more I feel the Nigeria odds are slightly insane.

[MickeyPaul]

Done. I'm on Nigeria to win and think I'm going to ditch Ghana and chance Colombia not to lose @ 2.30

[MickeyPaul]

Colombia grab a draw. And I shouldn't have been so hasty in ditching Ghana as they also grabbed a point and would have been pretty massive on the X2 - also Germany coasted to a 5-0 win.

Just need to pray Nigeria don't blow it although I feel pretty confident they can do well now based on Ghana's showing (Korea DPR are, as far as I know, a class above Korea Republic and Nigeria a class above Ghana). I might need to chance a little more on Nigeria.... wonder what odds we have now.

Denmark v Colombia

Denmark and Colombia fought out a 1-1 draw in front of 6,759 spectators at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium. Matching the intensity and atmosphere served up by last night's thrilling opening match was always going to be a tall order and, in truth, this was a considerably more low-key affair in which neither side really excelled.more

Korea DPR v Ghana

In the second game from Group B of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, two tough, powerful sides played out a lively 1-1 draw in Christchurch. Ghana had marginally the better of the first half, with Deborah Afriyie almost putting the Africans ahead on only three minutes, and Mercy Miles, Florence Dadson and Juliet Acheampong all shooting wide from distance in the opening period. more

Costa Rica v Germany

Germany flexed their muscles in their New Zealand 2008 debut, moving top of Group B with a resounding 5-0 victory over Costa Rica. The Ticas, who were reduced to 10 players late in the match, offered brave resistance but goals from Lynn Mester, Dzsenifer Maroszan (2), Tird Knaak and Tabea Kemme secured the European champions a predictably comfortable win. more

[MickeyPaul]

Nigeria still @ 7.25 and to be honest.... I find that cah-razy. We've already seen how little there is between most of these sides (taking out the mighty Germans of course) and you could even make a case for Nigeria as favourites. They shouldn't be 7.25 should they? What the hell is going on with these odds? I don't think I'm crazy. I could be proved terribly wrong come the early hours though.

[MickeyPaul]

I'm also going to take Nigeria not to lose @ 2.78 - I'm already counting the winnings on this match.