The Women's Rolling Football Thread season 2024-25

[DuncinToffee]

All ready for a brand new season ⚽💪

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/sports/4879827-the-womens-rolling-football-thread-season-2023-24

More than 100 professional women's footballers have signed an open letter urging Fifa to drop the Saudi oil giant Aramco as a sponsor, calling it a "punch in the stomach" to the sport.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c39l89dv90zo

Good luck to them. I believe them when they say they will take things further if they get no change out of FIFA.

As for FIFA "valuing" it's partnership with Aramco...yeah, I bet it does.

How on earth are North Korea so good at football? What are they doing right?

They beat us 4 nil yesterday in the U17 World Cup.

Didn't even know the match was on. Didn't they win the U20s as well?

Anyone watching England v Germany ?😬

That is better

I am. Missed the beginning of the first half. Cracking England goal just now.

Horrible defending from both sides

Yes. Entertaining, though!

I haven't watched any of the matches as most of them are on around midnight.

5 of the starting 11 last night were Arsenal players.

Yes, they did. They are doing something (a lot) right.

We are playing Japan in the quarters.

Lucky you.

Yes, but we were quite a bit worse than they were.

They had 8 shots on target and most were due to our mistakes.

I just showed my husband the highlights and he was concentrating on the NK team and he thought it was the U17 men's team!

They were amazing and make it look so easy. We just couldn't cope with them.

Where can you find the highlights, youtube?

I just did a google search on the match and they came up

Thanks, I found it.

They all have the same haircut.

I don't know, who knows what is going on in that country when it comes to sport.

They all have the same haircut.

Arf! 😀

Thanks, I will see if I can find those match highlights.

I listened to an interview on the Upfront podcast about this. Essentially the north Korean youth players live together all the time in sort of pseudo military academy type institutions and so play and train together all the time. Rather than teams like England, who come together occasionally to train and for competitions.
That's why their youth teams are so good. Apparently at senior level this stops which is why they aren't as good relatively.
There also some question about the ages of players. One of their best players played in the U20 WC and is also at U17s and was conveniently born on 1st Jan 2007, the absolute oldest one can be to play in this U17 WC.

Thanks, that's really interesting.

Yes, some of the U17s looked like old women.

Yes, some of the U17s looked like old women.

Seems harsh! 😀

Not as hash as my husband who thought they were men!

😂
Perhaps they were.
😒

It ended 2-2 and we won 4-1 on penalties.

We've got Spain next in the semis. They beat Equador 5 nil yesterday.

USA v N Korea is the other semi final