Its Updating Time

Its a cornucopia of news today. Read below for your daily updates!


Hello everyone, back here on Just Another Soccer Fan, doing the usual daily updates. In today's spotlight: Everything.


Oceania Qualifiers- Group A and B have finished up play, and the teams who are going to meet in the Semifinals have been determined. In Group A, New Zealand finished off strong against Tahiti, slamming them 7-0. The Cook Islands grabbed 2nd place in Group A after beating Vanuatu 2-0. As for Group B, Papua New Guinea grabbed the top spot with a total of 9 points after they defeated Tonga 3-0. The Solomon Islands just edged out Tonga by one point to grab the 2nd spot. The Solomon Islands ended with a total of 4 points after they fought to a draw with Fiji. In the Semifinals, New Zealand will face off against the Solomon Islands, and in the other match Papua New Guinea will take on the Cook Islands. In the OFC, only the winner of the regional competition will be headed to Germany. I don't know much about the OFC teams, but I'm going to predict a New Zealand vs. Papua New Guinea Final. I say New Zealand is going to make it to the World Cup. But, this is soccer, and upsets do happen. After all, 2011 is going to be the first Women's World Cup where we won't see China. So anything can happen. The Semifinal matches are going to take place on Wednesday the 6th.


UEFA Loser Play-offs- Yesterday, Switzerland beat Denmark in the first leg of their play-off match-up, 3-1. The 2nd leg will be played on the 7th. On the 6th, Italy will play Ukraine in their 2nd and final leg of the first round of play-offs for the losers. By the 7th we'll know who's facing off for the rights to the 5th spot in Europe, and also the ability to play against the 3rd place CONCACAF team for the final WWC spot.


USWNT vs. China PR- Of course I'm super excited for this one. It will actually be on TV too! Unfortunately we all had to miss the first one, or sit at our computer screens match tracking (which isn't as terrible as we all say it is, but I prefer TV any day of the week for sure). Its the 2nd match of the doubleheader against our long time rivals, China PR. And yes, it is on TV! As always, here's the TV info: Wednesday, the 6th, coverage starts at 7pm ET on ESPN 2. The roster for the match has been released. I'm going to post it here, but I borrowed it from ussoccer.com's WNT blog (which I have on my blog roll. If you're a fan, go check it out, if you haven't already! The blog is funny and informative, and gives you a real inside look at everything the team does. And no, they aren't paying me to list and/or promote their blog. In fact, I don't get paid to do any of this! Seriously though, I recommend you check them out). Here's the roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Ashlyn Harris (Washington Freedom), Jill Loyden (Chicago Red Stars)

DEFENDERS (8): Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Stephanie Cox (Boston Breakers), Ali Krieger (FFC Frankfurt), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia Independence), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Washington Freedom), Brittany Taylor (Sky Blue FC)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (FC Gold Pride), Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Kelley O’Hara (FC Gold Pride), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars), Lindsay Tarpley (Boston Breakers)

FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (California), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

No big surprises really. As for me, I hope Harris gets the start in goal. She really proved herself when she had to step up for Washington after McLeod got injured in this past WPS Season. I'd love to see her get a chance. The same players in our strong defense were called up. I'd like to see Sauerbrunn get a shot on Wednesday though. The midfield has been stellar lately, and in fact 2 midfielders scored our goals on Saturday night. I've personally been impressed with Rapinoe's and Lindsey's performances. There's a deep bench when it comes to the middies. As for forwards, the usuals are there, and rightfully so. I think Wambach averages a goal every 99 minutes or something like that (pretty much averaging a goal a game). You know what that means, right? She's due for at least one on Wednesday. Even though she didn't score on Saturday, she provided an assist. You just can't keep Wambach quiet; she'll find a way to score or help her team somehow. That's why she's one of the best in the World. As for the game, I would like to see a big scoreline in our favor (obviously, since I'm a fan). It seems like we could have netted a lot more than 2 on Saturday, so if the finishing is a little better on Wednesday, I think we can get maybe 4 or 5. We came out swinging against China and according to match tracker, we were the obvious aggressors. Of course, I'd love to see a goal or 2 (or 3) from Wambach, since she definitely deserves them. A team player and great goalscorer, just simply one of the best in the women's game without a doubt. But, I'd also like to see goals from someone who doesn't normally score. I love when I see middies score, for example, Rapinoe. She's got pretty good finishing for a midfielder, and its nice to see her score once in a while. I'd like to see a goal from maybe a defender in this match, or maybe a middie who doesn't usually score, someone like Lindsey. O'Reilly and Rapinoe have scored in the past few friendlies we've had, but how about someone else, like Boxx or Lindsey, or one of the middie subs? I'd love to see that. Or like I said, maybe a defender. I'd like to see LePeilbet or Buehler notch one. When everyone gets in on the scoring, its super fun to watch. That's another thing that I like about the USWNT. Goals can come from anyone. A goal from any of the 24 players on the roster would make me very happy. This is the last match they're going to play before heading over to Mexico for the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, which will be serving as Women's World Cup Qualifiers. In fact, they recently released the schedule for that too. I'll place it here as well. And as usual, I borrowed it, from ussoccer.com. Mark your calendars:


CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying
All Times U.S. Eastern

FIRST ROUND
Group A: Canada, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana
Group B: United States, Costa Rica, Haiti, Guatemala

Thursday, October 28
At Playa del Carmen
Costa Rica vs. Guatemala, 6 p.m.
United States vs. Haiti, 8:30 p.m.

Friday, October 29
At Cancun
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Canada, 6 p.m.
Mexico vs. Guyana, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 30
At Playa del Carmen
Haiti vs. Costa Rica, 6 p.m.
United States vs. Guatemala, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 31
At Cancun
Canada vs. Guyana, 7 p.m.
Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 9:30 p.m.

Monday, November 1
At Playa del Carmen
Guatemala vs. Haiti, 7 p.m.
United States vs. Costa Rica, 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday, November 2
At Cancun
Guyana vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 7 p.m.
Mexico vs. Canada, 9:30 p.m.

SEMIFINALS
Friday, November 5
At Cancun
Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up, 7 p.m.
Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up, 10 p.m.

FINALS
Monday, November 8
At Cancun
Third-Place
Semifinal losers, 6 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Semifinal winners, 9 p.m.

I'm really hoping these games will be on TV. They didn't mention anything in the article on ussoccer.com, but I'm really hoping they televise it. These games are super important, they're WWCQ's for God's sake! If not, I'll be sure to have my ass on this computer, match tracking.


WPS Expansion Draft- I don't know much about this yet, but I do know that each team can protect about 10 players from being picked in the draft. Any of the other players will be at risk for being picked by the new Expansion team (and maybe some other teams) in the draft. The lists are going to be released I think, so I'll be sure to keep up on that and post all the news as it comes it. I think the Expansion Draft is scheduled to take place sometime in November.


All in all, The busiest day this week is gonna be the 6th. UEFA loser play-offs, the Oceania Semifinals, and the USWNT vs. China PR match. That's a lot going on there. The following day (the 7th) is another UEFA loser play-off, and then the day after that (the 8th) is the Oceania Final. There's a ton going on, but I'll be doing my best to report it all and keep you updated. Hope you enjoyed another miscellaneous combo post even if it was rather long!

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll see you again very soon, either tomorrow or Wednesday for sure. Or maybe later today, who knows.

Until then,

Denise