TECHNICAL REPORT AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WOMEN’S U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP HONDURAS 2015
TECHNICAL REPORT AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WOMEN’S U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP HONDURAS 2015
INDEX I. INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 II. AWARD-WINNING PLAYERS AND TEAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 III. STATISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 A. MATCH RESULTS (GROUP PHASE, SEMIFINALS AND FINAL) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 B. GROUP TEAM RANKING TABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 C. OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 D. LIST OF TOP SCORERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 E. TEAM STATISTICS DURING THE TOURNAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 F. ACTUAL PLAYING TIME BY MATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 G. CHANGES IN LINE-UP BY TEAMS DURING MATCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 H. MOST VALUABLE PLAYER BY TEAM AND IN THE TOURNAMENT BY TSG RANKING . 25
P. OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
IV. GENERAL COMMENTS
.............................................
40
V. TEAM-BY-TEAM ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
CANADA
.........................................................................
52
HAITI.
...........................................................................
58
HONDURAS.
JAMAICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
PANAMA.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
USA
.....................................................................
.......................................................................
66
84
..........................................................
90
..............................................................................
96
I. MOST VALUABLE GOALKEEPER OF THE TOURNAMENT BY TSG RANKING. . . . 26
VI. CONCLUSIONS
J. SUMMARY TABLE BY TEAM (CARDS, GOALS, CHANGES IN LINE-UP,
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 K. WHEN WERE THE GOALS SCORED? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 L. HOW THE GOALS WHERE SCORED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 M. WHO SCORED THE GOALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 N. TOURNAMENT ATTENDANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 O. ASSISTANCE DU PUBLIC A L’EVENEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
........................................................
102
INTRODUCTION
4
5
I. INTRODUCTION Once again Honduras and its welcoming city of San Pedro de Sula were selected as the venue for CONCACAF’s final pre World Cup tournament, the Eight Edition of CONCACAF’s 2015 Women’s Under 20 Championship.
the title as CONCACAF’s champion. It was evident once again that there are two levels of soccer within CONCACAF: the teams with world class level (USA, Canada and Mexico), and the other teams, which have a lower level and lag far behind.
Before this, the country had successfully held the Men’s U-17 final pre World Cup tournament, exhibiting an excellent organization. It proved once again to be a great venue, and the organizers were recognized for their hospitality towards all of the national teams.
This evidences that there has been an uneven development of women’s soccer in the CONCACAF region, an aspect that constitutes a weakness for our region.
The good work of the local Organizing Committee, which efficiently collaborated with CONCACAF’s personnel to quickly respond to all challenging situations generated by bad weather, made it possible to make the right decisions which guaranteed the success of the event. Two main stadiums served as venues for the matches: the Olympic Stadium and the International School, being the later the alternate venue due to its artificial turf, which was used when bad weather conditions required it.
6
160 players participated in the tournament and 50 of them were originally selected for their outstanding performances in the different matches, but only 11 were selected to form part of the Dream Team. Some of the players displayed outstanding levels and technical capabilities, which differentiated them from the rest of the pack, such as 10 Mallory -USA, 9 Stratigakis -Canada, 9 Palacios -Mexico and 10 Bahr - Honduras. The tournament was an offensive event due to the number of goals that were scored (63) in 16 matches, leading to a high median (3.94).
Eight teams representing 3 regions were present in the tournament: North America (USA, Mexico and Canada); Central America (Honduras and Panama); and the Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti).
Of the 16 matches played, only three ended in a draw, which demonstrated the fighting spirit and determination of all the national teams, which did not rely at any given time on mere speculation with the results.
USA, the traditional champion of these tournaments (4-time champions) arrived in Honduras with a highly competitive team after having done a good job in preparation for the tournament. This allowed the team to remain the fiercest contender and favorite, as it demonstrated in the pitch, where it reclaimed
CONCACAF must achieve a more even development among its regions; it must create more women’s leagues, and must monitor this process closely, starting with the promotion of an organized women’s soccer practice in all countries in the region.
7
AWARD-WINNING PLAYERS AND TEAMS
8
9
II. JOUEUSES ET EQUIPES PRIMEES
EQUIPE IDEALE DU TOURNOI : Gardien
1
Rosemary Chandler
USA
Défense Droite
16
Emely Fox
USA
Défense Gauche
5
Tiema Davidson
USA
Défense Centrale
15
Bianca St. Georges
Défense Centrale
2
Natalie Jacobs
USA
Milieu de terrain Central
6
Savannah Demelo
USA
9
Sara Stratigakis
Canada
MEILLEURE JOUEUSE
MEILLEURE BUTEUSE
Milieu de terrain Central
MALLORY PUGH (10 USA)
(7 BUTS ) MALLORY PUGH (10 USA)
Milieu de terrain Central
9
Kiana Palacios
Mexico
Extrême Droite
15
Jessie Scarpa
USA
Extrême Gauche
13
Ashley Sánchez
USA
Attaquant
10
Mallory Pugh
USA
15
13
PRIX DU FAIR PLAY
ROSEMARY CHANDLER (1 USA)
CANADA – BIANCA ST GEORGES.CP
15 1
6 9
MEILLEURE GARDIENN
16
9
10
10
Canada
2 5
11
STATISTICS
12
13
A. MATCH RESULTS (GROUP PHASE, SEMIFINALS AND FINAL. December 3rd
December 4th
Canada
2-0
Trinidad & Tabago
Honduras
2-2
Jamaica
Haiti
3-2
Panama
December 11th Semifinals 1
December 11th Semifinals 2
USA December 6th
December 7th
December 8th
December 9th
14
2-2
Mexico
THIRD PLACE December 13th
Jamaica
0-7
Canada
Trinidad & Tabago
0-2
Honduras
Mexico
5-0
Haiti
Panama
1-6
USA
Trinidad & Tabago
1-6
Jamaica
Honduras
0-2
Canada
Panama
0-2
Mexico
USA
6-0
Haiti
FINAL December 13th
Canada
0-0
Penalty shots
5-4
USA
7-0
Honduras
Mexico 3ème Place
2-0
Honduras
Canada 2ème Place
0-1
USA Champion
Mexico
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B. GROUP TEAM RANKING TABLE GROUP A
C. OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
MP
MW
ML
MD
GF
GA
GD
YC
RC
POINTS
GAME
Canada
3
3
0
0
11
0
11
0
0
9
1
Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago
Honduras
3
1
1
1
4
4
0
1
0
4
2
Honduras vs. Jamaica
Jamaica
3
1
1
1
8
10
-2
4
0
4
3
Haiti vs. Panama
Trinidad & Tobago
3
0
3
0
1
9
-8
1
0
0
4
USA vs. Mexico
GROUP B
MP
MW
ML
MD
GF
GA
GD
YC
RC
POINTS
Haiti
3
1
2
0
3
9
-6
5
0
3
Mexico
3
2
0
1
9
2
7
2
0
7
Panama
3
0
3
0
3
11
-8
9
1
0
USA
3
2
0
1
14
3
11
2
0
7
KEY
MP: MATCHES PLAYED MW: MATCHES WON ML: MATCHES LOST MD: MATCHES DRAW GF: GOALS FOR
NOTE: The first two positions of each group qualified for the following phase. Group B, which had USA and Mexico as members, was the strongest of all. Haiti and Panama also proved to be good teams and had good matches.
MATCH
NAME
PLAYER
COUNTRY
Sarah Kinzner
10
Canada
Elexa Bahr
10
Honduras
Nerilia Mondersir
9
Haiti
Kiana Palacios
9
Mexico
Sarah Stratigakis
9
Canada
Elexa Bahr
10
Honduras
5
Jamaica vs. Canada
6
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Honduras
7
Mexico vs. Haiti
Maria Sanchez
11
Mexico
8
Panama vs. USA
Mallory Pugh
10
USA
9
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Jamaica
Oshay Nelson-Lawes
6
Jamaica
10
Honduras vs. Canada
Sarah Stratigakis
9
Canada
11
Panama vs. Mexico
Blanca Solis
19
Mexico
12
USA vs. Haiti
Savannah Demelo
6
USA
13
Canada vs. Mexico
Sarah Stratigakis
9
Canada
14
USA vs. Honduras
Ashley Sanchez
13
USA
15
Mexico vs. Honduras
Kiana Palacios
9
Mexico
16
USA vs. Canada
Mallory Pugh
10
USA
NOTE: The teams that had the highest number of outstanding players per match were the USA and Canada, with 4 players each. The three players who received this honor most times were Sarah Stratigakis from Canada, 3 times; she was followed by Mallory Pugh from the USA, 2 times, who also scored 7 goals (Top Scorer) and had 2 assists, and was chosen as outstanding player in 5 games and named the Best Player of the Tournament by CONCACAF’s Technical Study Group. Kiara Palacios, from Mexico, was also named 2 times as Player of the Match.
GA: GOALS AGAINST GD: GOAL DIFFERENCE YC: YELLOW CARDS RC: RED CARDS
16
17
D. LIST OF TOP SCORERS GOALS
PLAYER
GOALS
7
7 USA – Mallory Pugh: (1 vs Mexico, 2 vs Panama, 2 vs Haiti, 2 vs Honduras)
1
5
15 USA - Jessie Scarpa: (3 vs Panama, 1vs Haiti, 1 vs Honduras)
4 Canada - Martina Loncar :(1 vs Trinidad & Tabago).
4
6 Jamaica – Oshay Nelson-Lawes: (4 vs Trinidad & Tabago)
11 Canada – Kats Vital: (1 vs Jamaica).
3
7 Canada – Taylor Pryce: (3 vs Jamaica).
17 Canada – Shana Flynn: (1 vs Jamaica).
10 Honduras – Elexa Barh: (2 vs Jamaica, 1 vs Trinidad & Tabago).
10 Haiti - Batcheba Louis: (1 vs Panama).
11 Jamaica – Khadija Shaw:( 2 vs Honduras, 1 vs Trinidad & Tabago).
18 Honduras – Fátima Romero: (1 vs Trinidad & Tabago).
9 Mexico – Kiana Palacios: (2 vs USA, 1 vs Honduras).
7 Jamaica – Tarania Clarke: (1 vs Trinidad & Tabago).
13 USA – Ashley Sánchez: (2 vs Honduras, 1 vs Canada).
4 Mexico – Rebeca Bernal: (1 vs Haiti).
9 Canada - Sarah Stratigakis: (2 vs Honduras).
10 Mexico – Blanca Solís: (1 vs Panama).
10 Canada - Sarah Kinzner: (1 vs Trinidad & Tabago, 1 vs Jamaica).
5 Panama – Karla Riley :(1 vs Haiti).
9 Haiti – Nerilia Mondesir: (2 vs Panama).
11 Panama - Yassiel Franco :(1 vs Haiti).
10 Mexico – Katty Martínez: (2 vs Haiti).
15 Panama – Estafania Salas: (1 vs USA).
11 Mexico – Maria Sánchez: (2 vs Haiti).
10 Trinidad & Tabago – Tsaianne Leander: (1 vs Jamaica).
17 Mexico – Jackeline Crowther: (1 vs Panama, 1 vs Honduras).
5 USA – Tierna Davidson :( 1 vs Haiti).
2
TEAM
TEAM
PLAYER
2 Canada – Sura Yekka: (1 vs Jamaica).
6 USA – Savannah Démelo :(1 vs Haiti). 7 USA – Marley Canales :(1 vs Honduras).
18
8 USA – Ella Stevens :( 1 vs Haiti). 11 USA – Kelcie Hedge :(1 vs Panama). 16 USA – Emely Fox :(1 vs Mexico). AUTO-BUT
9 Honduras – Cherry Velásquez: (1 vs USA).
19
E. TEAM STATISTICS DURING THE TOURNAMENT COUNTRY
MP
MW
ML
MD
GF
GA
GD
YC
RC
Canada
5
3
1
1
11
1
10
0
0
Haiti
3
1
2
0
3
9
-6
5
0
Honduras
5
1
3
1
4
11
-7
1
0
Jamaica
3
1
1
1
8
10
-2
4
0
Mexico
5
3
0
2
11
2
9
3
0
Panama
3
0
3
0
3
11
-8
9
1
Trinidad & Tobago
3
0
3
0
1
9
-8
1
0
USA
5
4
0
1
22
3
19
4
0
KEY MP: TOTAL MATCHES PLAYED MW: TOTAL MATCHES WON ML: TOTAL MATCHES LOST
MD: TOTAL MATCHES DRAW GF: TOTAL GOALS FOR GA: TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
GD: TOTAL GOAL DIFFERENCE YC: TOTAL YELLOW CARDS RC: TOTAL RED CARD
NOTE: As shown in the table above, many matches were won by a comfortable difference of goals, which proves once again the disparity between the North American teams and the rest of the teams. Out of 16 matches played, only 3 matches ended in draw. USA was the team that scored the most goals with 22, and Panama and Honduras were the teams that conceded the most goals with 11 each. Panama received the largest number of warnings, with 9 yellow cards and 1 red card. Canada received the Fair Play Award and played 5 matches were it displayed excellent discipline inside and outside the field.
20
21
F. ACTUAL PLAYING TIME BY MATCH GAME
MATCHES
1 TO 15
15 TO 30
30 TO 45
1ST HALF
45 TO 60
60 TO 75
Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago
10.30
9.40
9.18
29.28
9.04
9.15
8.39
26.58
56.26
2
Honduras vs. Jamaica
7.52
7.24
9.00
24.16
9.00
9.20
9.32
27.52
52.08
3
Haiti vs. Panama
6.47
6.42
7.53
20.42
8.24
8.13
6.30
23.07
43.49
4
USA vs. Mexico
10.44
10.04
9.17
30.01
9.57
7.58
8.47
26.02
56.03
5
Jamaica vs. Canada
9.18
8.27
8.30
26.15
9.12
7.00
9.56
26.08
52.23
6
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Honduras
8.40
9.25
9.37
27.02
8.54
7.45
7.20
23.19
50.21
7
Mexico vs. Haiti
9.12
8.52
9.47
27.11
9.04
8.27
7.00
24.31
51.42
8
Panama vs. USA
8.40
6.37
9.17
24.34
7.00
6.27
8.42
22.09
46.43
9
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Jamaica
9.10
7.50
7.39
24.39
8.00
7.30
7.00
22.30
47.09
10
Honduras vs. Canada
8.15
9.15
9.18
26.48
9.40
7.50
6.15
23.05
49.53
11
Panama vs. Mexico
10.15
8.47
9.14
28.16
7.21
6.33
8.15
22.09
50.25
12
USA vs. Haiti
9.30
9.24
9.29
28.23
7.37
8.30
9.00
25.07
53.30
13
Canada vs. Mexico
10.27
10.11
9.17
29.55
8.56
7.43
8.15
24.14
54.09
14
USA vs. Honduras
11.04
9.02
9.32
29.38
8.04
5.48
8.39
21.51
51.29
15
Mexico vs. Honduras
9.17
9.54
8.15
27.26
6.41
6.10
8.14
21.05
48.31
16
USA vs. Canada
13.08
11.26
10.57
35.31
10.02
8.57
8.18
27.17
62.48
9.38
9.16
9.36
27.32
8.41
7.50
8.01
24.07
51.53
•
NOTE: In regards to the actual playing time, the chart shows that:
•
The match with the shortest playing time was Haiti vs. Panama, with 43.49 minutes, which is very low due to the amount of interruptions caused by fouls, injuries and the lack of rhythm of the match.
22
TOTAL TIME
1
AVERAGE
•
75 TO 90 2ND HALF
The match with the highest actual playing time was Canada vs. USA (62.48), due to the high level of both teams and the continuity of their actions, the excellent individual technique that enables great ball possession from the back as well as from the midfield, and the combination attacking plays from both teams that played to win.
•
This time is above the time of the match with the highest actual playing time in the Men’s Gold Cup 2015 between USA and Cuba, 58.18.
•
The first period of 15 minutes of the first half was the highest actual playing time of the event, with an average of 9.38 minutes.
•
The first half of the matches (45 minutes) was the period with the highest actual playing time with 27.32 minutes played, which was below the Men’s Gold Cup 2013 that was 27.55, and higher than the Gold Cup 2015, which was 25.09 minutes.
•
The total actual playing time average of the tournament was 51.53 minutes, which is higher than the average actual playing time of the Final of the CFU 2014 (49.04), than the average of the Gold Cup 2015 (50.06), and above the average of the UNCAF Cup 2014 (50.31). However, this average is below the Gold Cup 2013 (54.54) and below Brazil’s World Cup (55.14).
•
This proves that Women´s soccer in the CONCACAF region has substantially improved, and that it is no longer just the North American teams (USA, Canada and Mexico) with good level of soccer.
23
G. CHANGES IN LINE-UP BY TEAMS DURING MATCHES
H. M OST VALUABLE PLAYER BY TEAM AND IN THE TOURNAMENT BY TSG RANKING HIGHEST AVERAGE PLAYER BY TEAM
TEAMS
2ND MATCH
3RD MATCH
4TH MATCH
5TH MATCH
TOTAL
AVERAGE
PERCENTAGE
TEAM
NAME
Canada
2
4
0
0
6
1.00
16.67
Canada
Haiti
1
1
0
0
2
0.33
5.56
Honduras
1
0
0
2
3
0.50
Jamaica
1
2
0
0
3
Mexico
4
5
0
0
Panama
2
2
0
Trinidad & Tobago
3
2
USA
3
TOTAL
PLAYER NO.
POSITION
TP
GS
YC
RC
NL
A
O
MM
RK
Sarah Stratigakis
9
Midfielder
464
2
0
0
0
2
5
3
235. 56
Haiti
Nerilia Mondesir
9
Midfielder
270
2
0
0
0
0
3
1
120.00
8.33
Honduras
Elexa Bahr
10
Midfielder
450
3
0
0
0
0
3
2
185.00
0.50
8.33
Jamaica
Oshay Nelson-Lawes
6
Forward
270
4
1
0
0
0
2
1
95.00
9
1.50
25.00
Mexico
Kiana Palacios
9
Forward
365
3
0
0
0
0
3
2
175.56
0
4
0.67
11.11
Panama
Marta Cox
10
Midfielder
270
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
65.00
0
0
5
0.83
13.89
Trinidad & Tobago
Amaya Ellis
5
Midfielder
270
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
60.00
1
0
0
4
0.67
11.11
USA
Mallory Pugh
10
Forward
387
7
0
0
0
4
5
2
276.00
17
17
0
2
36
AVERAGE
2.13
2.13
0.00
0.25
PERCENTAGE
47.22
47.22
0.00
5.56
PLAYER NO.
POSITION
TP
GS
YC
RC
NL
A
O
MM
RK
10
Forward
387
7
0
0
0
4
5
2
276.00
TOURNAMENT’S PLAYER WITH
6.00 100.00
NOTE: THE MOST UNSTABLE TEAM IN TERMS OF LINE-UP WAS MEXICO. THE TEAM HAD 9 CHANGES IN ITS MAIN LINE-UP IN THE FIRST MATCH, AND 4 CHANGES IN ITS SECOND MATCH. OF ALL THE TEAMS THAT MADE IT TO THE FINAL ROUND, JAMAICA AND PANAMA SHOWED THE MOST STABILITY IN THEIR MAIN LINE-UP.
24
TEAM
NAME
USA
Mallory Pugh
KEY PT
PLAYING TIME
GS
GOALS SCORED
YC
YELLOW CARDS
RC
RED CARDS
NL
NEW IN THE LINE-UP
A
ASSISTS
O
OUTSTANDING
MM
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
RK
RANKING
NOTE: MALLORY PUGH FROM THE USA WAS THE TOURNAMENT’S BEST PLAYER ACCORDING TO CONCACAF’S TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP. SHE ALSO HAD THE BEST RANKING WITH 7 GOALS, 4 ASSISTS, OUTSTANDING IN THE 5 GAMES, AND NAMED PLAYER OF THE MATCH 2 TIMES.
25
I. MOST VALUABLE GOALKEEPER OF THE TOURNAMENT BY TSG RANKING TEAMS
GOALKEEPERS
Rylee Foster
GOALKEEPER WITH THE HIGHEST RANKING
PLAYER
GA
PT
NT
MM
NT
TPOD
TPFW
TPCE
RQ
1
0
300
2
0
12
11
12
12
110.33
CANADA Lysianne Proulx
18
1
180
1
0
7
8
8
7
Jonie GABRIEL
1
9
270
0
0
6
8
9
9
Kerly THEUS
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
55.00
-38.00
HAITI 0.00
Madelinne Nieto
1
6
336
0
0
12
13
14
12
Yadira Perdomo
19
5
148
0
0
4
6
5
4
Mureka Howard
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Shanay Ricketts
13
10
270
0
0
9
2
7
9
Emily Alvarado
1
2
302
3
0
12
12
13
12
107.56
Esthefanny Barreras
12
0
180
1
0
6
8
8
8
65.00
Karen Chavarria
1
2
90
0
0
2
2
2
2
-2.00
Keytin Oglivie
12
9
180
0
0
5
4
6
6
Rebecca Almandoz
1
9
270
1
0
9
8
9
8
Nicolette Craig
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.00
Rosemary Chandler
1
3
450
4
0
18
21
21
23
163.00
Brooke Heinsohn
18
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.00
COUNTRY
GOALKEEPER
USA
Rosemary Chandler
GA
GOALS ALLOWED
PT
PLAYING TIME
NT
NUMBER OF TIMES
MMNT
PLAYER OF THE MATCH, NUMBER OF TIMES
TPOD
TOTAL POINTS FOR ORGANIZING DEFENSE
TPFW
TOTAL POINTS FOR FOOTWORK
TPHW
TOTAL POINTS FOR HAND WORK
TPCE
TOTAL POINTS FOR CENTER EXITS
RQ
RANKING
PLAYER N.
GOALS ALLOWED
RANKING
1
3
163.00
NOTE: THIS RANKING IS BASED ON A COMBINATION OF OBJECTIVE CRITERIA: 1) MINUTES PLAYED, 2) GOALS AGAINST, 3) GOALS FOR, 4) DISCIPLINARY MEASURES (YELLOW AND/OR RED CARDS, 5) PLAYER OF THE MATCH NOMINATION, 6) TECHNICAL LEVEL, 7) OUTSTANDING PER MATCH AND CRITERIA OF THE TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP SPECIALISTS (TSG). THE TOURNAMENT’S BEST GOALKEEPER WAS USA’S (#1) ROSEMARY CHANDLER. SHE CONCEDED 3 GOALS AND DISPLAYED HIGH TECHNICAL LEVEL, TEAM MANAGEMENT AND GOOD BALL HANDLING SKILLS WITH HANDS AND FEET. SHE WAS SELECTED AS THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH IN 5 MATCHES.
28.33
HONDURAS -14.56
0.00
JAMAICA -43.00
MEXICO
PANAMA
TRINIDAD & TABAGO
26
-49.00
-11.00
USA
27
J. SUMMARY TABLE BY TEAM (CARDS, GOALS, CHANGES IN LINE-UP, OUTSTANDING PLAYERS) GOALS
OUTSTANDING
NEW IN THE LINE-UP
RED CARDS
Canada
11
13
6
0
0
Haiti
3
6
2
0
5
Honduras
4
8
3
0
1
Jamaica
8
7
3
0
4
Mexico
11
15
9
0
3
Panama
3
4
4
1
9
Trinidad & Tabago
1
8
5
0
1
USA
22
11
4
0
4
TOTAL
63
72
36
1
27
COUNTRY
YELLOW CARDS
NOTE:
28
•
63 goals were scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.94 goals per match. 36 of them were with assists and 10 were headers.
•
34 goals were scored by forwards, 12 were scored by midfield wingers, 11 by defensive midfielders and 6 by defenders.
•
36 goals were scored inside the penalty area, 17 from the box and 10 from outside the penalty area.
•
72 out of 160 players had outstanding performances in this tournament. 45 were shortlisted to assemble the Dream Team, which consisted of 11 players of the tournament.
•
36 changes took place in the teams’ line-ups in 16 matches, showing instability from the 11 main players (Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Panama, Canada, etc.).
•
Some changes in line-up in some of the teams occurred after they had already qualified after the second match; some others were due to injuries or to having received several warnings, and some were reserving players for key matches.
•
Tournament’s warnings: throughout the 16 matches of the event, 27 yellow cards and 1 red card were given to players. Panama received 9 yellow cards and 1 red card in only three matches.
29
K. WHEN WERE THE GOALS SCORED GAME
MATCHES
1
Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago
1
2
Honduras vs. Jamaica
1
3
15 TO 30
30 TO 45
1ST HALF
45 TO 60
60 TO 75
1
75 TO 90 1
2ND HALF TOTAL TIME 1
2
1
1
4
1
2
5
1
1
4
4
7
1
2
3
3
5
1
1
3
Haiti vs. Panama
1
2
3
4
USA vs. Mexico
2
1
3
5
Jamaica vs. Canada
1
6
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Honduras
1
7
Mexico vs. Haiti
1
1
2
8
Panama vs. USA
2
1
3
1
3
4
7
9
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Jamaica
1
1
2
4
2
1
3
7
10
Honduras vs. Canada
1
1
2
0
2
11
Panama vs. Mexico
2
2
0
2
12
USA vs. Haiti
2
3
3
6
13
Canada vs. Mexico
0
0
14
USA vs. Honduras
3
3
2
4
7
15
Mexico vs. Honduras
1
1
1
1
2
16
USA vs. Canada
0
1
1
1
TOTALS
30
1 TO 15
2
3
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
0 2
9
9
16
34
8
10
11
29
63
AVERAGE
0.56
0.56
1.00
2.13
0.50
0.63
0.69
1.81
3.94
PERCENTAGE
14.29
14.29
25.40
53.97
12.70
15.87
17.46
46.03
100.00
NOTE: As shown in the chart, the highest amount of goals (34) happened in the 1st half, and 16 of those goals happened in the last 15 minutes of the 1st half. 11 goals were scored in the last 15 minutes of the 2nd half, which leads us to conclude that there was a lack of concentration in the final minutes and low physical fitness by some of the teams.
TIME GAME
GOALS
A total of 63 goals were scored throughout the event, with an average of 3.94 goals per match.
31
L. HOW THE GOALS WHERE SCORED GAME
MATCHES
RESULT
PC
VS
D
JI
I
2
-
0
1
1
2
Honduras vs Jamaica
2
-
2
1
1
3
Haiti vs Panama
3
-
2
1
4
USA vs Mexico
2
-
2
5
Jamaica vs Canada
0
-
7
1
6
Trinidad & Tabago vs Honduras
0
-
2
1
7
Mexico vs Haiti
5
-
0
1
1
2
8
Panama vs USA
1
-
6
3
1
2
9
Trinidad & Tabago vs Jamaica
1
-
6
1
1
3
10
Honduras vs Canada
0
-
2
11
Panama vs Mexico
0
-
2
1
12
USA vs Haiti
6
-
0
3
13
Canada vs Mexico
0
-
0
14
USA vs Honduras
7
-
0
15
Mexico vs Honduras
2
-
0
16
USA vs Canada
0
-
1
63
2
1
1
DTE D
Canada vs Trinidad & Tabago
1
1
1
1
TR I
DIR
P
AG
IND
1
1
2
1 1
1
1
1 1
1
2
1 1
1 1
2
1
1
2
1
2 1 13
AVERAGE
0.81
PERCENTAGE
20.63
NOTE: A TOTAL OF 63 GOALS WERE SCORED THROUGHOUT THE EVENT, FOR AN AVERAGE OF 3.94 GOALS PER MATCH. •
MOST OF THE GOALS WERE SCORED IN INDIVIDUAL PLAYS (15).
•
15 GOALS WERE SCORED AS RESULT OF PLAYS THAT STARTED FROM THE WINGS, OFFSET BY DISTRACTIONS IN MARKING BY THE DEFENSIVE WINGERS AND FEW EXITS FROM THE GOALKEEPERS.
•
C
1
TOTAL
32
JE
FOLLOWED BY 13 PENETRATION GOALS FROM THE CENTER OF THE FIELD, THE MAJORITY OF WHICH CAME FROM ASSISTS AND INCURSIONS BY MIDFIELD PLAYERS, THE POSITION OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE TOURNAMENT.
8
7 0.94
0.50
0.44
23.81 12.70
11.11
7
15
0.44
0.94
11.11
23.81
0
1
2
0.06
0.13
0.06 0.00
1.59 0.00
1.59
2 0.25 0.13
6.35 3.17
3.17
5
1
0.31
0.06
7.94
1.59
•
17 GOALS WERE SCORED FROM THE 5.50 AREA.
•
ONLY A FEW GOALS WERE SCORED WITH SET PIECE PLAYS; ONLY 1 GOAL WAS SCORED FROM A CORNER KICK AND 4 GOALS CAME FROM FREE KICKS: 2 FROM INDIRECT FREE KICKS AND 2 FROM DIRECT FREE KICKS, WHICH DEMONSTRATES THE LACK OF EFFICACY OF DROPPED BALL TACTICS IN WOMEN’S SOCCER.
•
10 GOALS WERE HEADERS, 8 OF WHICH WERE SCORED BY FORWARDS AND 2 BY CENTER MIDFIELDERS. 8 OF THOSE PLAYS WERE BY THE WINGS USING CENTER PASSES; ONE WAS A CORNER KICK AND THE OTHER ONE WAS AN INDIRECT FREE KICK.
33
M. WHO SCORED THE GOALS GAME
MATCHES
F
1
Canada vs Trinidad & Tabago
1
1
2
2
Honduras vs Jamaica
2
2
4
3
Haiti vs Panama
3
4
USA vs Mexico
3
5
Jamaica vs Canada
4
6
Trinidad & Tabago vs Honduras
1
7
Mexico vs Haiti
2
2
8
Panama vs USA
5
1
9
Trinidad & Tabago vs Jamaica
5
10
Honduras vs Canada
11
Panama vs Mexico
12
USA vs Haiti
13
Canada vs Mexico
14
USA vs Honduras
2
15
Mexico vs Honduras
2
16
USA vs Canada
TOTALES
34
MW
CM
D
G
2
1
1
1
4
1
7 2
1
5
1
7
2
7
2
2
1 1
1
2
1
6 0
3
NOTE: FORWARDS SCORED 34 GOALS, AND AS USUAL, THIS POSITION IS THE LEADING SCORER. THE MIDFIELD WINGERS SCORED 12 GOALS, FOLLOWED BY 11 GOALS BY CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS. DEFENDERS SCORED A TOTAL OF 7 GOALS
5
1
4
TOTAL
1
1
7
FORWARDS
MIDFIELDERS
DEFENDERS
GOALKEEPERS
34
MW 11 CM 12
6
0
GOALS
GOALS
GOALS
GOALS
2 1
1
34
11
12
6
0
63
PROMEDIO
2.13
0.69
0.75
0.38
0.00
3.94
POR CIENTO
53.97
17.46
19.05
9.52
0.00
100.00
35
N. WHERE THE GOALS WERE SCORED FROM GAME
MATCHES
FROM INSIDE THE 16.50 AREA
FROM OUTSIDE THE 16.50 AREA
TOTAL
1
1
2
1
Canada vs Trinidad & Tabago
2
Honduras vs Jamaica
1
1
2
4
3
Haiti vs Panama
3
1
1
5
4
USA vs Mexico
1
3
5
Jamaica vs Canada
1
4
6
Trinidad & Tabago vs Honduras
1
1
7
Mexico vs Haiti
8
Panama vs USA
9
Trinidad & Tabago vs Jamaica
10
Honduras vs Canada
11
Panama vs Mexico
12
USA vs Haiti
13
Canada vs Mexico
14
USA vs Honduras
1
15
Mexico vs Honduras
2
16
USA vs Canada
TOTALS
36
FROM INSIDE THE 5.50 AREA
NOTE: 36 goals were scored from the 16.50 area (inside the penalty area), in different combinations, individual plays, centers and many mistakes from the defense, such as lack of coverage and defensive blocks when the ball was being played quickly. 17 goals were scored from the box or goal area, and many of them happened because the goalkeepers remained inside the goal or were the result of a rebound that was leveraged by the attackers because the defenders were not well placed in the area. 10 goals were scored from outside the area, which showed a weakness among some of the goalkeepers, who could not reach the ball due to their height, were not properly placed inside the goal, or lacked good technique.
4 2
7 2
4
1
5
1
5
1
7
2
4
1
7
2
2
1
1
2
3
2
1
6 0
6
17 Goals from the box area
36
Goals from inside the penalty area
7 2
1
1
17
36
10
63
AVERAGE
1.06
2.25
0.63
3.94
PERCENTAGE
26.98
57.14
15.87
100.00
10 Goals from outside the penalty area
37
O. TOURNAMENT ATTENDANCE GAME
MATCH
ATTENDANCE
PERCENTAGE
1
Canada vs Trinidad & Tabago
475
6.32
2
Honduras vs Jamaica
1027
13.67
3
Haiti vs Panama
105
1.40
4
USA vs Mexico
457
6.08
5
Jamaica vs Canada
45
0.60
6
Trinidad & Tabago vs Honduras
194
2.58
7
Mexico vs Haiti
60
0.80
8
Panama vs USA
111
1.48
9
Trinidad & Tabago vs Jamaica
68
0.90
10
Honduras vs Canada
305
4.06
11
Panama vs Mexico
63
0.84
12
USA vs Haiti
64
0.85
13
Canada vs Mexico
710
9.45
14
USA vs Honduras
2904
38.65
15
Mexico vs Honduras
676
9.00
16
USA vs Canada
250
3.33
TOTAL
7514
100.00
AVERAGE
470
P. OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE AGE
DATE
TOTAL
GROUP
12/3/15
1502
A
12/4/15
562
239
A
12/6/15
171
B
12/7/15
373
A
127
12/11/15
3614
12/13/15
926
•
The youngest player of the tournament was Rosario Vargas, from Panama, who was 13 years old and was born on August 9th, 2002. She did not play in any of the matches of the event.
•
The youngest national team in the tournament was Haiti, with an average age of 16 years and 3 months.
•
The team with the highest average age was Mexico, with 18 years and 3 months.
AVERAGE
Canada
17.3
Haiti
16.3
Honduras
16.9
Jamaica
17.2
Mexico
18.3
Panama
17.4
Trinidad & Tabago
17.1
USA
17.6
B
12/5/15
12/8/15
TEAM
B
TABLE WITH THE AGES OF THE PLAYERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS EVENT: •
As we can see, there are big age differences among the players who participated in the tournament, some of which are up to 5 years apart.
•
Many of the team rosters were completed with players from different age groups and categories. This is something that should be regulated, since it can turn out to be dangerous for some of the younger players.
•
This proves that there is still not enough gradual development of women’s soccer in the different countries in the region, with the exception of the USA and Canada.
NOTE:
38
•
Clearly, the group with the largest attendance was Group A, which included Honduras that was the home team.
•
The tournament’s total attendance was 7,514 people, an average of 470 spectators per match.
•
The tournament had very low attendance despite being free to the public. It is possible that the communications regarding the event were not at the level as they should have been.
39
IV. GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT SOME KEY ASPECTS GENERAL TRENDS
This proves that there is still not enough gradual development of women’s soccer in the different countries in the region, which is one of CONCACAF’s biggest weaknesses.
The North American teams used a very well organized game system, consisting of combination plays and good ball possession from the back, use of the width of the field, and support of the defensive wingers and midfield wingers. All of the players’ competitive experience was rapidly noticeable.
The teams that had the highest levels of training and preparation prior to this event were those that displayed the highest competitive levels and exhibited the highest degree of professionalism in the field.
Panama, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago proved to be strong fighters, and left their hearts and souls in the field, but had technical and tactical limitations for a tournament of this stature.
A generalized negative trend was the low technical level displayed on shots on goal, particularly from the center and with moving ball. Even the North American teams presented these limitations, despite of having control of the ball and numerous goal opportunities.
Many teams, with the exception of the USA, Canada and Mexico, lacked offensive organization that was the result of lack of ball possession, organized play, and in many cases, low technical level when trying to use combination plays.
The main difference between the national teams lies in the practice and development of women’s soccer systems in each country in our region. We must highlight that the most talented players of this tournament were all part of the United States National Team.
40
One aspect that is worth mentioning is the difference in age among the players in the same team, which in some cases was extreme, such as was the case of Panama, where one of the players was a 13 year-old competing in an Under-20 category.
A trend that was evident in this event was that all teams had better organization in their defensive systems in the defensive third and midfield areas, where they tried to be compact. The best teams in this aspect were the USA, Canada and Mexico. The weaker teams tried this system as a way to prevent conceding too many goals.
The huge gap in terms of the competitive level between the national teams of North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) and the rest of the participating countries was evident.
Honduras, which played as home team, showed an improvement in its performance level in comparison to previous events of this same category, and qualified within the 4 tops teams in the qualifiers, but had a notorious fall when it had to face the strongest teams in the semifinals and final.
which indicates a lack of stable technical work in their development.
All of the Caribbean and Central American teams had this significant inconvenient.
This CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 event was marked by well-defined characteristics from the start.
The remaining teams tried to compensate these differences by playing hard and showing good competitive spirit, but they often lacked an organized game system and a high competitive level.
USA is far apart from the rest of the teams and is the standard to follow in our region.
The USA team, 4-time champions of past editions of this tournament and 3-times world champions in this category, were an example of a team that functioned very well and was professional in all aspects (organization, stamina and physical fitness, tactical scheme and high technical skills). In addition, the USA had excellent players in its roster (10 Mallory, 2 Jacobs, 3 Harvey, 1 Chandler, 5 Davidson, and several others). Great teamwork, constant mobility throughout the pitch, and physical strength were the team’s best qualities.
The teams, and particularly the USA, used rapid defense-attack transition plays, which in the case of the USA enabled it to score the highest number of goals of the tournament (22). Once again, the North American teams displayed good collective mobility of the players within the team’s functioning. This proved to be an essential element, as were also the support provided to the other players while they were in possession of the ball, ball passes, and support from teammates while running with the ball. Honduras displayed some of these characteristics in the qualifying phase. The goalkeepers with the highest levels in this category were the ones from the USA, Mexico and Canada. The goalkeepers from the other countries were well below the level and quality of these teams,
Every team had a player with an individual level that was so high for the category, that they should be defined as DIFFERENT: Jamaica (6 Oshay), Honduras (10 Bahr), Trinidad and Tobago (5 Ellis), USA (10 Mallory and 13 Sanchez), Mexico (9 Palacios), Canada (9 Stratigakis), Panama (10 Cox) and Haiti (9 Mondesir). A generalized trend was the quality displayed by the attacking and defensive central midfielders, who were responsible for the offensive and defensive balance and organization of their teams. The players from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Honduras and Panama did an outstanding job at this. Many of the center backs had an improvement in quality in anticipation plays and coverage, as well as in plays from the back with ball possession, although they still need to improve their technique and coordination in head clearances in kickoffs by rival goalkeepers.
Players in Foreign Leagues From the 160 players who participated in this edition of the Women’s U-20 tournament representing 8 national teams, 50 of them are currently playing in the USA under a scholarship. Most of these players are from Mexico (10) and Canada (9). It is worth highlighting that these players were the ones that had the highest competitive level in each of the teams.
41
of the rival’s goal. There were individual skillful players who exhibited a high level of performance in all teams, such as the following: USA (10 Mallory, 13 Sánchez, 6 Demelo, 3Harvey 1Chandler y16 Fox). CANADÀ (9 Stratigakis, 15 St. Georges). MEXICO (9 Palacios, 16 González).
The stronger teams displayed high individual and collective mobility of their players, which made it possible for these teams to have continuity, rhythm and ball possession, as well as effective use of basic technical elements. The weaker teams lacked mobility and constant support, which led to constant technical mistakes and lost balls. Goalkeepers had good technique, particularly in aerial play with hands and feet. The goalkeepers from the USA, Canada and Mexico were effective and are world-class goalkeepers. The goalkeepers from the Central American and Caribbean countries had technical limitations and were not as effective, which is a result of lack of preparation.
HONDURAS (10 Barh, 3 Reyes).
Tactical Aspects
PANAMA
The majority of teams had flexible systems that enabled them to quickly transition from defense to attack and vice versa, particularly the USA, Canada and Mexico.
(10 Cox, 11 Franco).
Technical Aspects The technical aspect was clearly marked by a significant difference in terms of quality and understanding of the basic technical elements between the players of the North American teams (USA, Canada and Mexico) and those of the other participating countries. One of the most notorious limitations of the Central American and Caribbean teams was the lack of coordination in their movements to receive aerial balls and moving balls.
42
The technical limitations of these national teams did not allow them to have good possession of the ball, continuity, or rhythm in their game, which was often interrupted, as they were not able to generate combination plays when under pressure from the opponents.
The USA and Canada both had good rhythm, continuity, and stable ball possession during the tournament. Mexico also had some but was not at the same level of these teams. The USA was the most forceful team in the attack, using compact play and having among its players a player that was well above the tournament’s level (10 Mallory), who was able to break through the defensive lines due to her speed and skill, turning into the event’s best player and top scorer. The quality of shots on goal and the lack of ability to score in goal opportunities after a center pass and moving balls was a constant deficiency, even for teams such as Canada, USA and Mexico. The use of long distance passes lacked strength and quality, and often ended up in lost ball possession. Something worth noting is that 10 goals were scored using headers, which was therefore one of the most effective ways of scoring a goal opportunity in front
HAITI (9 Mondesir, 5 Chandler). JAMAICA (11Shaw, 5 Plummer). TRINITE ET TOBAGO (5 Ellis y 18 Guerra). There was substantial improvement in the use of passes with the external side of the foot, quick incursions with use of dibbles and feints, combination attacking plays, and combination deep plays. Headers were effective for scoring goals but not as effective in defensive plays, using head clearances to respond to kickoffs from the rival goalkeepers. There was lack of coordination and lack of technical skills in this aspect.
A tactic that was commonly used by the teams was compactly grouping players in the midfield to gain ball possession. The systems that were used by most teams were 1-4-5-1, 1-4-4-2 and 1-4-3-3. All these systems quickly converted from attack to defense depending on the match’s characteristics and the opponents’ level. Again, the most organized, disciplined and focused teams in terms of sustained tactical execution during the matches and that had the best performances in this tournament where the USA, Canada and Mexico. USA and Canada created the highest number of plays from the defense line and midfield with combination plays, great mobility and good use of the width of the pitch. Mexico had more direct in-depth plays based on passes that sometimes ended in lost ball possession, since they would reach the opponents’
43
area quickly and would reorganize thanks to the level of player 9 Palacios. The Caribbean teams, Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago, had a stable system of 1-4-5-1, with two central midfielders in their tactical defensive formation and a block of players in the midfield, but lacking sustained organization throughout the match, mainly due to technical and tactical deficiencies. A characteristic of the teams of this region is to start the tournament with good performances but as the event progresses they tend to become disorganized and lose focus. Honduras really played to the maximum of its abilities, and during the group qualifiers it was able to maintain an acceptable level of discipline and tactical organization, based mainly on using compact plays in the midfield and relying on ball handling and possession in this area, with rapid counter-attacks by player 10, who is fast and skillful and created dangerous plays for the rivals. The team had no reserve players to maintain the level and during the final phase, when they had to face the USA and Mexico, they were not able create an effective game. Panama, a team with good physical fitness and a combative spirit, often recurred to an aggressive game, which resulted in it being the team with the highest number of warnings in the event (9 yellow cards) and the only red card of the tournament, in only 3 matches. The team had two players with good level, midfielder 10 Cox and forward 11 Franco, but had no tactical organization and collective game. They continuously lacked focus in all matches, had no coordination in the attack, had poor continuity in their actions and were surpassed in the group (A) by Haiti, USA and Mexico, teams with higher level.
44
The central midfielders in almost all teams were the players responsible for the team’s organization, quality of game, continuity and rhythm. Some examples of this are the USA (6 Demelo, 17 Roberts and 3 Harvey), Canada (9 Stratigakis and 3 Moreira), Mexico (16 Gonzalez), Honduras (7 Amador and 18 Romero), and Panama (10 Cox and 6 Batista). The other teams had players with
limitations in terms of the organization of the game in this position and who lacked high technical and tactical level to lead their respective teams.
• There was no central midfielder or striker who was effective in the opponent’s goal and on shots on goal.
The majority of the matches were played in the midfield for this was the most densely populated area, where the weakest teams had some ball possession and the best defensive skills when they reduced the spaces and tried to counter-attack.
• The players were not very effective in the use of standard situations (free kicks, corner kicks, etc.) • There were not many compact plays on the opponent’s area. Ball possession was often lost in attack combination plays.
The teams with the highest level, great ability to move around the field, position rotation, and creation of plays that had depth and attack combinations were the USA and Canada.
Attack Analysis Most of the teams used a strategy of trying to place a lone striker (deep) with a player or two who would be deep lying, and that would link the midfield and the opponent’s zone.
Defensive plays generally took place in the midfield, where the teams quickly regrouped and applied pressure in a collective manner to regain ball possession. Women have improved their attitude and have better quality and less aggressiveness when disputing balls on 1vs1 situations.
The width in the attack using the central midfielders and defensive wingers was crucial to teams such as the USA, Canada and Mexico. Unfortunately, the quality of shots on goal and shots on goal with a moving ball was not good. The number of goals with headers (10) is worth highlighting. There was lack of planning and not many effective plays with dropped ball (Corner kicks, direct and indirect free kicks), and only one goal was scored from a corner kick and one from an indirect free kick.
Negative Tactical Aspects • There were unstable line-up systems and changes in position of several players in several teams. Sometimes, a change in line-up would generate an internal shift in players already playing between two or three positions. • Plays and combination plays close to the goal lacked effectiveness and forcefulness.
The USA and Canada had deep counter-attacking plays from the defensive line that were very organized, displayed good soccer, mobility and ball possession in the midfield. Mexico had direct counter-attacking plays and used rapid defenseattack transition plays. The Caribbean teams in general used long deep plays thanks to the speed of their strikers, but lacked the high technical level to be able to have ball possession and creativity in the midfield. The Central American teams had better ball control in the midfield but lacked depth and forcefulness to reach the opponent’s area. They also used counterattacking plays, but in most cases these ended in lost ball possession. The USA and Canada had good position rotations among their midfield wingers, who used their abilities to create dangerous situations for their rivals. There were many high level, fast players in this position, mainly players 13, 5 and 16 from the USA, 2 from Canada, and 5 from Mexico, among others. The teams with the best results, the USA, Canada, Mexico and Honduras, had good ball handling skills and good ball possession starting from their defensive line as a result of the technical level of their central midfielders and the way in which these
45
players organized the game. Only a few teams (USA and Canada) were able to reach the opponent’s area in a compact block using attack combination plays. Many teams displayed limitations in the execution of effective attack combinations, due mainly to lack of mobility of the forwards and midfielders, and lack of a stable tactical attacking pattern. USA and Canada were not forceful and effective enough in the attack, regardless of the number of goals they scored.
3. Some teams had excellent ball possession skills and midfield combinations (USA, Canada, Mexico and sometimes Honduras). 4. There was insufficient depth, forcefulness and effectiveness on shots on goals after centers by the Caribbean and Central American teams.
Most of the teams had a very similar technical level, marked by the low level of precision of their shots on goal and goal opportunities, except for the USA.
5. Some teams had poor technique and lack of precision in center plays from the wings; they also lacked forcefulness by attacking midfielders within the opponent’s goal area.
The Caribbean and Central American teams, including Mexico, had poor technique in long passes in direct counter-attacking plays, which ended in lost possession of the ball.
6. Most of the corner kicks were not precise (only one goal was scored during the event) and many goal opportunities were wasted. Few goals were scored in standard set piece plays.
Combination plays in the attack were not very effective, and they were not forceful enough near the rival’s zone.
Defense Analysis
There were few shots on goal from the mid-range and most of them were not effective. There were also a low number of attacking plays that ended with shots on the opponent’s goal using the wings.
General Comments About the Attack Most teams tend to play with one lone striker supported by a deep-lying striker and attacking midfielders.
46
Palacios from Mexico, 3 Harvey and 10 Mallory from the USA, 10 Cox from Panama, 10 Kinzer from Canada), and sometimes played as attackers.
1. Midfielders and defensive wingers provided support during attacking plays (USA, Canada and Mexico). 2. The teams used one or two deep-lying strikers (acting as a link) between the center midfielders and forwards. These players usually had high technical levels and good work discipline (9
close down spaces. The weakest teams would do this in their own pitch, mainly in the last minutes of a match. Midfield wingers moved towards the midfield and all of them applied intense pressure, with good mobility and position rotation. The most outstanding teams due to their organization were the USA, Canada and Mexico. The teams in general organized their defensive lines in the midfield, with marking by zone and with intense concentration of players in some cases (USA, Canada and Mexico) in this sector who reduced the spaces, except for the USA that in some instances would apply collective pressure where the ball possession was lost. Teams must continue to work on concentration and focus on defensive functions throughout the match, particularly the teams of the Caribbean and Central America that make many tactical mistakes during the last minutes of the match.
Many goals were scored from outside the penalty area and from inside the penalty area due to defenders getting distracted in crucial moments.
Physical and Psychological Analysis There was a big difference in the level of physical fitness preparation between the teams of North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) and all the other countries. The North American teams displayed world-class levels with great mobility and work ethic during the whole match that allowed them to comply with tactical indications and compact play, both in the attack and in the defense. They were superior in disputing balls and in speed in anticipating plays and coverage. However, other teams showed substantial improvement in comparison to past tournaments in the levels of strength, power and speed.
All teams were better organized in the defense than in the attack. Every team had and defended its own pattern within a rapid defense-attack and attack-defense transition system. The USA, Canada and Mexico were the best teams at this. The best quality in the defensive line was that of center backs with quick anticipating plays, good wing coverage, and strong aerial play. All teams started with some type defensive approach, with a line of 4 defenders supported by one or two defensive midfielders, who were capable of performing a defensive balance when the wingers attacked. This type of system was commonly used by the stronger teams. Every team had all of its players playing a defensive line role and had players performing to the maximum of their abilities within their position. Forwards tried to slow down the attack by rival defenders. Teams had a concentration of players in the midfield to form a compact block and therefore
47
These teams were on a similar physical fitness level when they played against each other, but they were outplayed when they faced a stronger team, as was the case of Honduras in the final phase. Haiti, Jamaica and Panama had players that were fast and had good stamina, but that lacked technique, which led to additional physical effort and exhaustion. One of the main trends in this event was the inability of most teams to maintain a compact game in the attack and in the defense during the whole match due to their lack of coordination and focus, which, together with the technical and tactical mistakes and lack of discipline, reflected lack of physical fitness preparation.
Warm-ups Once again, the big North American teams (USA, Canada and Mexico) displayed great professionalism and world-class level in their technical direction and teamwork. The warm-ups had excellent order, discipline and content, and gradually integrated all technical, tactical and physical elements in the execution, leading to an optimal preparation for the players before the beginning of the matches. The other national teams tried to have good organization, but had limitations in terms of organization, content of the different stages, and in many cases, had deficient warm-up routines for the goalkeepers, which was later perceived in the game. • Limited use of technical-tactical exercises in the final stages of warm-up. • Low quality in the work done with the goalkeepers. • Low level of rhythm and continuity to gradually increase the intensity of the exercises.
48
Characteristics Displayed by the Coaches There were 8 coaches, 2 of whom were women (USA and Panama) and 6 were men. Some coaches had control of the systems and tactics developed by their teams and foresaw the changes in line-up whenever these were needed (USA, Canada, Mexico). The other coaches were not always able to carry out a thorough preparation of the teams and did not have individual or collective high-level elements. They also had limitations in the use of 2nd line back-up players. This reflected in the work done by them and in the way that the teams played on the field. Once again, there was a difference in the quality of the warm-ups between the strong national teams, which were more professional, and the weaker ones, that experienced problems in the initial and main part of the warm-up because they did not have a correct gradual transition of the intensity of the exercises and lacked in the preparation of the goalkeepers.
Observations About the Goals
Most goals were scored from inside the penalty area (36), followed by goals from inside the goal or box area (17). This shows lack of concentration in this defensive area close to the goal and in some cases, lack of interception by goalkeepers on the midfielders in this area.
Actual Playing Time
The least amount of goals (10) was scored from outside the penalty area due to lack of shots on goal from mid-range.
Excess calling of fouls in some matches, as well as the low technical level and poor tactical organization of some of the teams, negatively impacted the dynamic and rhythm of the matches. This was the case of Panama. The match Panama vs. Haiti had the lowest actual playing time of the tournament (43:49).
Forwards scored the highest number of goals with 34 goals, together with central midfielders with 12, and the wingers with 11, as result of build-up plays from the back using the sides and the width of the pitch. Worth highlighting is the fact that 10 goals were scored using rebound headers, which proves that women are starting to use parts of the body that were not previously used. Only one goal was scored from a corner kick, which is a negative aspect since it proves the lack of practice of set piece plays.
The tournament´s general average was 51:53 minutes of actual playing time, out of the official 90 minutes. This mean is higher than that of the prior Men’s Gold Cup, which was of 50:06 minutes.
The highest actual playing time was from the 1st to the 15th minutes of the match, with an average of 9:38. Likewise, the first half of the game (minutes 1-45) had the highest actual playing time average, with 27:32 minutes. The match with the highest actual playing time was USA against Canada (1-0), which was a game with excellent technical and tactical levels, strong ball possession, and fair play by both teams, which allowed the crowd to watch good soccer without interruptions and unnecessary delays. This, together with the good job by the referee, made it possible to have an actual playing time of 62:48, a world-class playing time.
A total of 63 goals were scored during the tournament, for an average of 3.94 goals per match. The highest number of goals were scored during the first half (34), and out of the 63 goals scored, 16 were scored between the 30th and the 45th minutes, followed by 11 goals scored between the 75th and the 90th minutes. Many teams lost concentration and stamina in the last minutes of the match. The teams that scored the most goals were the USA (22), and Canada and Mexico, both with 11 goals. The teams that conceded the most goals were Honduras and Panama, with 11 goals each.
49
TEAM-BYTEAM ANALYSIS
50
51
COACH:
DANIEL WORTHINGTON CANADA
CANADA
To train for this event, Canada had three months of camp training in December, March and May, where it played against national teams, closing with an international match against Haiti in Miami that Canada won 2-1. Canada’s game philosophy is based on excellent team organization in the field, where it stands out due to its good individual technique - a fundamental element for ball possession-, and to the tactic culture of each player that supports the functionality of the game model. Its general characteristics are that the team plays with good ball handling skills, has a well-defined tactical organization in the defense and attack with clear defined concepts, which is supported by good physical fitness. The age average of the players is 17 years 3 months of age, which makes it a national team with a bright future.
Canada is part of the Northern zone of CONCACAF. It has won 2 of the 8 past editions of the U-20 tournaments that have been played in the past, thus becoming one of the flagship teams of the Confederation in world-class events. The Canadian Head Coach, Daniel Worthington, has been working for the past two years for the Canadian Federation as Head Coach of the U-23 team, Excel Director, and Head Coach of the U-20 team. He categorically states that the Excel Program is key to the development of women’s soccer in Canada.
During the first qualifying phase of the tournament, Canada won its three matches as follows: Canada 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago, Canada 7-1Jamaica, and Canada 2-1 Honduras. It scored 11 goals and conceded 0, therefore obtaining the first place in Group “A.” During the Semifinals phase it played against Mexico, second of Group “B”, and the match ended in a draw in the 90 official minutes, therefore having to play the 30 extra minutes. The draw continued throughout the extra time and the teams had to go to penalty shots, where Canada won the match 5-4. In the final match against USA, Canada used the players who had the most number of minutes played in the tournament, bet on a 1-4-4-2 system that worked
He has a highly professional technical multidisciplinary group, where each person contributes to the improvement of the technical, tactical, psychological, physical, nutrition and technology (video analysis) aspects.
52
53 The Canadian national team directly qualified for this event, so its preparation was different to the rest of the CONCACAF countries.
1-4-3-3
well against Mexico, and achieved its best game in this event against the USA. The match had good rhythm and an excellent technical and tactical level. Canada lost the match 0-1 due to a huge mistake by its goalkeeper. It obtained the second place in the CONCACAF for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup.
• They had a compact game between the lines and this
allowed them to avoid having unnecessary physical fatigue. They were always in good condition to respond to any physical challenges posed by the match. • The good warm-up session that took place before each
match was very important since it allowed the players to start the game with good rhythm.
CANADA’S ACTUAL PLAYING TIME BY MATCH
TECHNICAL ANALISIS • The individual technical level was very good. Players
had solid foundations in terms of dynamic controls and quality of short passes, which allowed them to translate this into good collective technique that enabled good ball handling under pressure from the opponents. An example of this was the match against the powerful USA team. • In mid-range and long-range shots, which is an
important element in scoring, Canada lacked effectiveness. This is an aspect on which they need to work. The team had poor ability to score within the opponent’s area due to technical limitations, in particularly those of player 7 Price, who made many mistakes.
• They had strong aerial skills in defense and attack.
• The players had physical characteristics that provided
rhythm and intensity during most part of the match. •
4
5
Team
T&T
JAM
HON
MEX
USA
56.26
52.23
49.53
54.09
62.08
Total Average
• Canada’s defensive organization consisted of the line-
55.24
•
For the attack, they mainly focused on having ball possession based on good wide and deep positioning of the players, and maintaining good mobility in the midfield, which gave the team great dynamic in its functioning.
•
The team was always faithful to its game philosophy: in the attack they worked to have ball possession and in the defense, they maintained a block of all of its players in the midfield. This allowed them to have good functioning in their game style.
•
Every player had her own role in the tactical functioning of the team. This gave the team the ability to have consistent responses for any difficult moments during a match.
•
Midfielders Sarah Kizner 10 and Sarah Stratigakis 9 were the points of reference in the midfield for good teamwork in the defense or in the attack.
•
The team had limitations in terms of effectiveness scoring in goal opportunities in front of the rival’s goal, having wasted many opportunities to score.
•
In the last match against the USA, the team gave a great example of organization, tactical discipline and good functioning both in the attack and in the defense
• The defensive line-up participated often in build-up
plays with defensive wingers supporting the midfield. This concentration of up to 5 players allowed them to successfully apply pressure when they lost ball possession.
up of 4 in the back with two defenders in the middle that provided safety for the line-up of 4 defenders (15 Bianca and 20 Richards). Two center midfielders provided support in front of the 4-defender line-up, balancing the defensive line in the last 35 meters.
• They had a compact block in defense and attack and
• In general, the whole team went back to the midfield,
• They only conceded one goal during the event, which
where it formed a strong block, turning this area into a pressure area both for the defense and for the attack. Players showed great support on the mark and regained ball possession in this area most of the time. • The team successfully applied the defensive principles
Canada used a 1-4- 3-3 formation, that it changed in the last two games to 1-4-4-2. The good tactical culture of its players enabled them to adapt to the changes in the tactical formation system, which gave consistency to their way of playing.
them with an elegant soccer style, given that they have the ideal height for each position, are quick and strong. • Physically they had good capacity to maintain a good
3
•
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS 54
2
TACTICAL ANALYSIS
• Players were very intelligent and had excellent
technical ability to confront and feint in the oneon-one. The team’s two center midfielders had high technical level and tactical discipline, which made them crucial to the game system.
1
Actual Playing Time
• The team had great movement and ball possession
when they built-up from the back using combination plays in the midfield. The midfielders did a good job of helping to maintain ball possession under pressure from the rival, and players 9 Stratigakis and 10 Kinzner were particularly outstanding due to their high individual technique.
Match
DEFENSE ANALYSIS
good communication to remain focused during the game. proved that their collective defensive work was effective. • The goalkeeper was excellent and had a very good
technical and tactical level.
of pressure, coverage, concentration and swinging. • Players had good concentration skills that allowed
them to anticipate and intercept many balls and win on the one-on-one in most cases. • Players were strong and effective in aerial play both in
defense and in the attack, a quality that allowed them to win many aerial duels in set piece plays, corner kicks, free kicks and long frontal or side throw-ins.
55
ATTACK ANALYSIS
• In set piece plays, corner kicks and free kicks the team
• The team’s offensive strategy was based on good
• Canada’s players were outstanding in terms of quality,
positioning of the players using a 1-4-3-3 or 1-4-4-2 basic formation that allowed them to have width and depth in the game, with outstanding midfielders such as Sarah Stratigakis 9, who turned into the pivot player and created balance in the attack. • Canada bet on giving priority to organized attack,
building-up from the back with controlled ball, with the defender, Mika Richards 20, acting as the organizer. • The midfield was reinforced with the support of the
defensive wingers who turned into the support bands to break into the attacking third and assist with center passes to the goal zone, using the center Sarah Stratigakis 9, who organized the attack. • In mid-range and long-range shots, the team proved
to be somewhat effective in the qualifiers, having shot 63 shots on goal and scored 11 goals, with an average of 23% effectiveness. However, they missed a great number of opportunities due to technical errors on shots on goal, particularly by player 7 Price, a center midfielder.
they were talented and well prepared. GOALS SCORED: 11
GOALS AGAINST:
1
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
10
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
54.84
THINGS TO IMPROVE • Work on applying individual technique with better
NAME
speed in regards to the collective. • Prioritize in having better ball circulation in the
POSITION
TP
GS
TYC TRC TPM
TS
O
RK
GA
1
Rylee Foster
Goalkeeper
300
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
110.3
18
Lysianne Proulx
Goalkeeper
180
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
55.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
DD
FW
HW
CE
S.C
12
11
12
12
7
8
8
7
defense-attack transitions in the midfield. • Optimize their game model for high competition (World
Cup). • Achieve more speed in defense-attack transition plays.
2
Sura Yekka
Defender
420
1
0
0
0
1
3
1
118.7
• Have better effectiveness and forcefulness in shots on
3
Ashley Moreira
Midfielder
392
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
73.6
4
Martina Loncar
Midfielder
112
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
47.4
5
Sarah Feola
Defender
68
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7.6
6
Anyssa Ibrahim
Forward
347
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
7
Taylor Pryce
Forward
383
3
0
0
0
0
0
8
Emma Regan
Defender
197
0
0
0
0
1
9
Sarah Stratigakis
Midfielder
464
2
0
0
3
0
• Excellent work by the coaching team.
Most of the goals were scored with assists using the wings. Ball possession was based on constant mobility and, as a result of this, they used many combination plays within their attacking lines, as well as block plays and one-on-ones.
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
#
NAME
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
1
Rylee Foster
Goalkeeper
Good hand and feet technique, leadership skills.
20
Mika Richards
Defender
Strong on the mark, good aerial play, individual technique, strong.
9
Sarah Stratigakis
Center Midfielder
Very talented, aggressive in defense and attack.
10
Sarah Kinzner
Center Midfielder
Very good individual technique, organizer.
1
KEY
KEY
TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
53.6
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
0
62.6
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
1
2
50.9
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
5
2
235.6 TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP
goal in front of the opponent’s goal. - Team direction
• The team had good quality attacks using the sides.
56
CANADA’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
showed planning but was not effective.
10
Sarah Kinzner
Midfielder
306
2
0
0
1
0
2
0
129.0
11
Kats Vital
Midfielder
65
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
27.2
O
TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
12
Victoria Pickett
Defender
130
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
29.4
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
13
Marike Saint-Pierre-Mousset
Defender
299
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
33.2
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
14
Camilla Shymka
Forward
35
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3.9 DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
15
Bianca St Georges
Defender
392
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
88.6
16
Alexis Martel-Lamothe
Defender
90
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
10.0
FW
FOOTWORK
17
Shana Flynn
Forward
301
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
53.4
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
19
Alex Lamontagne
Forward
Aggressive in attack, technically resourceful.
19
Alex Lamontagne
Forward
391
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
87.4
15
Bianca St George
Center back
Leader in defense, technical, secure.
20
Mika Richards
Defender
482
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
128.6
5354
11
0
0
4
6
29
7
0.0
TOTAL
57
COACH:
LESZEK BORKOWSKI POLAND
The team trained for 11 days prior to this tournament. They did an international tour of 5 days to Miami to play against Canada, a match that they lost 0-1. Later, the team had the complete group staying together in a location for 6 days before leaving for the event. They did not play any friendly matches on a national level. It is important to remember however that this team has 9 players that are part of the U-17 process, in addition to having one player that plays abroad in the USA. Haiti was part of Group B, the strongest in the event since it had 2 of the strongest teams in women’s soccer: USA and Mexico. The team won its first game 3-2 against Panama, lost the second 0-5 against Mexico, and lost 0-6 against the USA.
Haiti
It obtained the third place in its Group with 3 points after having scored 3 goals and conceded 13, which was the end of its participation in this event. The Haitian National U-20 team qualified for CONCACAF’s Women’s Championship by obtaining the first place in the Women’s Caribbean Cup of the Caribbean Soccer Union (CUF), which took place in Haiti in October. In the group phase, Haiti was part of Group B, were it obtained the following results: it won 8-0 against Bermuda, drew 1-1 against the Dominican Republic and lost 0-3 against Puerto Rico; it qualified first in its group and advanced to the Semifinals, where it won 2-0 against Trinidad & Tobago.
The Haitian National team has improved its tactical and technical levels in regards to its participation in previous tournaments. They were part of a group with elaborate soccer and rivals that have good ball handling skills, as well as a high competitive level. It was hard for Haiti to overcome the scores, having experienced limitations in their collective technique, and having had scarce ball possession and tactical organization during the matches. This made them rely most of the time on an all-out attack.
In the Final, it won 2-0 against Jamaica, qualifying as Champions.
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The team has 20 players with an average age of 16.3 years, most of which are part of the birth year 97-99 categories. This team is made up of players that live in a camp in Port Au Prince, except for an international player who plays in the USA (5 Sabine Chandler). The Head Coach has been in charge of this team since 2012, but he does not live in Haiti, and only travels to coach them when there is a tournament. Therefore the team works most of the time under the direction of the assistant coach.
59
1-4-2-3-1
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS • The team in general had weak technique on a collective
level in terms of ball handling, but they were fast players, which gave them an edge in the attack and in the defense. The team had outstanding players at an individual technical level in the defense (3 Limage), in the midfield (10 Louis, 18 Destinvil) and in the attack (5 Chandler, 9 Mondesir). • Haiti was not able to achieve collective technical results
despite having several players with good individual technical level. This affected the team in the Group phase, where they weren’t able to apply enough pressure on the opponent and lacked ball-handling skills to create effective combination plays and lost many balls due to poor long passing. • The team was more precise in short passing and had a
hard time recuperating ball possession due to the good ball handling skills of its rivals. They lost many balls due to pressure from the opponent but despite of this, they had 77 build-up plays from the back, 47 using the sides, of which 24 were deficient and 23 were good. In addition, they had 30 build-up plays from the center, 17 good and 13 deficient. • Of the 12 shots on goal, most of them were mainly from
long range; 5 of them were good and 7 were deficient, which demonstrated that there were problems with the kicks and the direction in which the ball was shot. The team scored a total of 3 goals in all of their matches. • The team had a mediocre technique in aerial play,
particularly in the defensive line and defending midfielders, who let many balls fall short or directed towards the center, giving the rivals a chance to rapidly regain ball possession. • The goalkeeper had technical problems with aerial balls
and goal kicks, which had to be done by a defender. • Haiti’s poor ball possession, together with its poor tactics,
generated great physical fatigue among the players, who had to travel long distances during the matches.
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS • Players had excellent physical athletic types: they were tall,
strong and fast.
60
• The team was not able to show good rhythm, mainly in
the first half, proving that this was one of its greatest weaknesses together with poor technique and tactics. They showed deficiencies after losing ball possession since they had no use of compact plays and applied no individual or zonal pressure. • Their physical fitness level was not enough to achieve
good dynamic during the matches, particularly when they
faced a stronger team such as Canada that had great game dynamic and ball handling skills. • In regards to rhythm, continuity and match intensity, and in
terms of actual playing times, Haiti had it’s lowest playing time of the tournament against Panama (43:49), due to the fact that the match was confrontational, and the second and third matches against Mexico (51:42) and the USA (53:30) were defined by direct attack by both teams, seeking to win the match. • Haiti was surpassed by both teams in ball possession. This
allowed the other teams to take control of the match, in the defense as well as in the attack, and to have good ball circulation. • During the last match, the physical and mental exhaustion
of the players was notorious after having conceded goals both in the first and second halves. • Given that the team was not able to use the pitch to
warm-up, they focused mainly on the physical aspects of the warm-up and performed initial circular movements, passive stretching, frontal passing with their legs and head, and back and forth skipping. When they had the chance to do this in the pitch, they only did passing in circles and changes in position. This phase lacked the element of real play situations, and there wasn’t a special phase in the warm-ups, since the team had no knowledge of how to do this given it lacks activities with a dynamic that is closer to real play situations.
• In general, the team lacked an elaborate soccer
particularly in the matches against the USA and Mexico, although sometimes they tried to start build-up plays but immediately lost ball possession due to collective technical limitations. They usually played wide and in depth using the wings. • The team showed its intention to initiate build-up plays
throughout the tournament with a total of 77 build-up plays, 47 of them through the sides and 30 using the center. In the first match against Panama, the only one that they won, the team showed better tactics and ball handling, but this changed before Mexico and the USA since both these teams applied pressure and imposed their rhythm, diminishing Haiti’s effectiveness. • Players such as 18 Destinvil, 17 Macean and 10 Louis were
not able to achieve a balance in the midfield in the defensive and in the attack. • Tactically, the team was not able to have good combination
plays between the attacking third, the middle third, and the defending third; they changed the line-up during the matches and particularly changed positions in the midfield between the defensive wingers and midfield wingers.
• The team made two changes in line-up to the initial line-up
in the second and third matches against Mexico and the USA, specifically in the midfield and attacking third. It had a more stable line-up in the defensive line. • The changes in line-up did not improve the tactical behavior
on the attacking level, and the team kept the same level of individual and zonal defensive game. • The team did not perform planned plays in standard
tactical plays in free kicks and corner kicks, which were only 2 in all matches. • The team made changes to its attacking line-up, and only
one player (5 Chandler) remained as forward in the center in the attacking system. Player 9 Mondesi often joined the attack down the center given her excellent soccer qualities, and 10 Louis and 8 Nicolas would also join, remaining as defensive midfielders but without joining the attack or the drop-back. Defensive wingers 7 Lamour and 4 Estime had slow rebounds after losing the ball, which opened up spaces that Mexico and the USA leveraged. • The goalkeeper had good height but had poor aerial play
skills when she needed to jump. She did not goal kick the ball from the box, was not well positioned in regards to the ball, lacked leadership and didn’t have team direction skills.
• The warm-up for the goalkeepers lacked structure and
direction in terms of activities specifically designed for them. They either warmed-up by themselves or with a person who had no special knowledge in this area.
HAITI’S ACTUAL PLAYING TIME BY MATCH Match
1
2
3
Team
PAN
MEX
USA
Actual Playing Time
43.49
51.42
53.30
Total Average
49.40
TACTICAL ANALYSIS • The team used the same initial basic tactic system of
1-4-4-2 in each match, which it changed after the match started to 1-4-5-1 or 1-4-3-2-1. • They were better organized in the defense than in attack,
but its defense-attack transitions and vice versa were slow, leading to insufficient compact game and leaving ample space between the defensive and attacking lines in both transitions.
61
DEFENSE ANALYSIS • Haiti used a 1-5-4-1 (defense zone) and 1-4-2-3-1
(middle third and attacking third) basic formation. • The team was slow regaining ball possession in the
attack-defense transition and left a lot of space open between the lines since it wasn’t able to organize as a block, specially when it faced Mexico and the USA that had fast transitions and good organization in the attack. When it faced Panama, it had less pressure when it had ball possession, but also experienced problems keeping a compact block. • They were not effective applying pressure all over
the field, used more individual mark than collective marking and its only forward was always applying pressure on the rival’s defenders. On the defensive line they played with a well-defined line-up of 4 and two defensive midfielders. • The last defensive line was led by player 3 Limage,
a center back, who had good coverage, closes and anticipations. Player 2 Beaubrun, left center back, played in a non-linear manner and didn’t play specific defensive functions, leaving the left side weaker, which
62
was leveraged by the opponent teams to attack more. • The left wing back, 4 Estime, had problems in all three
matches building up plays and lost many balls. Player 7 Lamour, right wing back had good performances, was secure, had good technique in building-up plays and joining in the attack. • 17 Macean and 18 Desvintil kept losing ball possession
in the midfield when they were under pressure from the opponent and left the area, which opened many spaces that were leveraged by the rivals. Both players were very good at regaining possession, although they rapidly lost it again. • Player 5 Chandler kept the pressure in the opponent’s
goal without any support, having to do many runs and getting increasingly fatigued as she played more matches. • Players had good stamina in one-on-ones, they were
good in zonal marking, but lacked organization for applying mixed marking. • The team understood the concept of building-up plays
to create goal opportunities and had to rely on direct soccer. • When corner kicks were taken the whole team was
defending, except for its forward (5 Chandler).
ATTACK ANALYSIS • Basic formation systems used were 1-4-4-1- 1 (defensive
third) and 1-4-2-3-1 (midfield) and 1-3-2-3-1 (attacking third) with the addition of a defensive winger. • The team lacked organization in the defense-attack
transitions, which were limited in all matches except in the first match against Panama, where they had more attack options due to the spaces left open by the rival team. But in the matches against Mexico and the USA, the team had insufficient ball possession. It attacked the opponent’s goal very sporadically, for a total of 78 times in all matches. Of these 78 attacks, 30 were good and 48 were deficient, particularly the attacks down the center and using the right wing, where they lost possession in the midfield and close to the box, having created only 16 goal opportunities throughout the tournament.
• Haiti’s attacks were very predictable, having focused on
its only forward (5 Chandler), who is a skillful player but not fast enough. She often lost ball possession in oneon-ones due to lack of support. • Player 9 Mondesir, was very good attacking on the left or
right wings, since she often changed positions, as were 8 Nicolas and 15 Lebrun, center backs and wingers. They often lost possession of the ball in the attack since they lacked combination plays that created spaces and positions for a better-organized attack. • The team lost many balls in its approach using direct
soccer with more width than depth. They had 121 passes in the tournament, of which 47 were good and 74 were bad, many of them directed to 5 Chandler. The passes lacked precision and they had to dispute the ball on oneon-ones that were also anticipated by the rivals. • Haiti was not able to achieve a compact game in
defense-attack transition plays. They tried to play the width with centers in the midfield, with players 7 Lamour, 8 Nicolas and 15 Lebrun, but were able to reach the attacking third in rare occasions.
from the defensive zone but due to their poor mobility in the middle and attacking thirds they weren’t able
63
• The team attacked using the flanks 42 times during
the tournament, mainly on the right, of which 17 were effective and 25 were deficient. They had problems with individual penetration and tried to use combination plays (10 Louis, 18 Destinvil, 9 Mondesir) in the attack, but achieved this only a few times due to pressure from the opponents. • The changes in line-up in the attacking zone between
the wingers 8 Nicolas and 9 Mondesir, and its forward 5 Chandler, created a lot of space for the opponents. • The team only had 2 corner kicks during the tournament,
which portrayed their limitations in the attack, lack of depth and lack of width.
HAITI’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
• On a physical level, they need to work on aerobic and
anaerobic resistance, which will give them better game dynamic and tactical positioning in the defense and attack. • On a psychological level they need to work on having more
concentration when they are under pressure and in the handling of collective and individual tactics.
GOALS SCORED: 3
GOALS AGAINST:
9
GOAL DIFFERENCE :
6
TYC TRC TPM
TS
O
RK
GA
DD
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
• The team needs to work on their technical limitations on
shots on goal from short and mid range. • They need to work on mid and long distance passing,
player’s mobility, and strengthening collective technique. • Haiti needs to do more specific work for goalkeepers.
POSITION
TP
GS
1
Jonie Gabriel
Goalkeeper
270
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
-38.0
12
Kerly Theus
Goalkeeper
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
THINGS TO IMPROVE • The team needs to focus on collective technique to
improve ball positioning and generate combination plays and continuity. • They need to get better organized in the attack using the
center and the width of the pitch to create dangerous situations and goal opportunities. • They need better organization in the defense and in the
attack. The team lacks compact game, more in attacking situations than in defensive situations.
2
Soveline Beaubrun
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
60.0
3
Jennyfer Limag
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
45.0
4
Verlene Estime
Defender
252
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
18.0
5
Sabine Chandler
Forward
249
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
57.7
6
Mikerline Saint Felix
Midfielder
36
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.0
7
Catrina Lamour
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
30.0
8
Nelourde Nicolas
Forward
144
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
-4.0
9
Nerilia Mondesir
Midfielder
270
2
0
0
1
0
3
0
120.0
10
Batcheba Louis
Midfielder
136
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
57.1
11
Melissa Dacius
Midfielder
123
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
13.7
13
Zila Lafleur
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
• The Haitian team needs to apply pressure after losing
the ball, by working on doing more individual and zonal marking. They often lose the block in transition plays.
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
64
49.40
#
NAME
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
14
Emeline Charles
Midfielder
22
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.4
3
Jennyfer Limage
Center back
Good aerial play, good technique and good at reading the game and regaining ball possession, strong in one-on-one.
15
Isnada Lebrun
Forward
200
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
22.2
18
Kensia Destinvil
Center Midfielder
Good in one-on-one, strong in regaining ball possession.
16
Lovelie Pierre
Forward
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
9
Nerilia Mondesir
Forward
Good at creating dangerous situations for the rivals in the attack, strong, fast, good game dynamics.
17
Magdala Macean
Midfielder
176
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
34.6
Kensia Destinvil
Midfielder
212
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
23.6
Sabinae Chandler
Forward
Good technique, creates dangerous situations for the rivals, fast.
18
5
19
Johane Laforte
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
20
Phiseline Michel
Midfielder
102
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1.3
3002
3
5
0
1
2
10
1
TOTAL
FW
HW
CE
T.M
S.C
9
6
8
9
9
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP
O
TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
65
COACH:
MIGUEL ESCALANTE HONDURAS
Three recruitment events with three days of training were held during the six months prior to the beginning of the competition in order to select the final team, which consists of 20 players. The best and main player in the team is Elexa Bahr 10, forward, who plays in the US league, and is skillful, fast and dangerous. The team played three friendly matches in the last phase of training for the official tournament. Honduras played 2 matches against Panama, lost the first 1-5 and won the second 4-1. They lost the match against the strong USA team by a score of 5-0. The coaching staff is comprised of 7 people, including its Head Coach, Miguel Escalante, a coach with a strong background and experience in men’s soccer, who has coached teams on a national level and Honduran National teams.
HONDURAS
The Honduras National team automatically qualified for CONCACAF’s Women U-20 Tournament because Honduras was the host of the event. Although Honduras has not been one of the most developed teams in women’s soccer in the region, it has been improving in regards to past competitions due to the work done by its coaches and the effort of its players. The team consists primarily of young players with an average age of 16 years 9 months. There are no regular women’s soccer competitions in Honduras that allow for a gradual development of this type of soccer. They play freely among their regions and tournaments are privately organized.
66
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS •
The team had a variable individual technical level, particularly when the players were under pressure from the opponents. Players 10 Bahr, 3 Reyes, 7 Amador and 18 Romero, had better level and technical skills. The rest of the team had a low level.
•
From a collective perspective, it was possible to perceive that the Head Coach was demanding the team to have a compact game between the lines in the midfield, which allowed the team to have better organization and ball possession during the qualifiers and helped it qualify to the next round.
Preparation for the National team started with a recruitment process organized in three different areas of the country (North, Center and Atlantic Coast).
67
Players who were recruited were called and started training. Two or three of them were part of the U-17 team that participated in CONCACAF’s tournament two years ago. 1-5-4-1
•
•
•
•
•
They were usually successful with short passes, particularly in the defense and midfield areas where the team had a more compact game and better supported one another.
TEMPS REEL DE JEU POR RENCONTRE DU HONDURA
Long passes were usually sent to player 10 Bahr, and were often lost due to technical insufficiencies and poor positioning of the ball. The team had very few shots on goal, and most of them were deficient due to poor technique. The team used combination attacking plays based on counter-attacks, but many of them were unsuccessful as a result of lack of support in terms of depth by the midfielders and players not supporting player 10. They had limited ball possession in the attacking third. The team was able to qualify because they were better organized, compact and tactically disciplined in the qualifying phase than their opponents, which allowed them to be efficient with their limited technical and physical resources.
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS
2
3
4
5
Team
JAM
TRI
CAN
USA
MEX
Actual Playing Time
52.08
50.21
49.53
51.29
48.31
Total Average
50.28
The players were aggressive in regaining ball possession, but were usually surpassed by the rivals in strength and speed in one-on-ones.
•
The team was able to have anticipations and coverage with a line-up of 5 defenders that allowed it to qualify for the next round and be part of the 4 semifinalist teams.
•
2, with greater reliability and organization in the defensive functions. • They were able to play with a compact game in the
.
defensive in the qualifiers, which allowed them to make up for the insufficiencies in physical fitness when facing teams that were physically stronger but less organized tactically. • Due to their organization in the qualifying round,
the team was able to optimize its positive aspects of passing and support in the midfield and they were able to have ball possession and effective counter-attack plays with player 10 Bahr, that yielded positive results.
The goalkeeper did not have a good level and ended up getting injured, so the team had to play with an improvised goalkeeper.
•
• The team used a basic formation system of 1-5-3-
Honduras displayed better level in its defense than in its attack. Its organization, compact game and tactical discipline in these functions enabled the team to make up for its technical and physical insufficiencies, therefore being able to optimize its limited capacities and be more effective in the first matches.
ATTACK ANALYSIS • The team played all matches with a lone striker (10
Bahr), who was isolated and alone among the rival defenders. They were not able to have a supporting player (13 Abdalah), since she was very slow and had a poor physical fitness level. • The team often used direct build-up plays and long
passes in the counter-attack, which were inefficient because they lacked quality. • Honduras’ attacks were mainly individual using player
10 Bahr, who was always isolated among 3 and 4 rival defenders. The team had very few combination plays and collective game. • Honduras was not really organized in the attacking
functions, which was due in part to the lack of players with good physical and technical skills and level, except for 10 Bahr.
•
• Physical exhaustion and the lack of players with good
levels were crucial aspects in the Semifinals and Final phases of the tournament, where they had to face stronger teams and failed. The team ended up playing with an improvised goalkeeper.
• The players were not fast or strong in general, except
for 10 Bahr. This limitation prevented them from generating dangerous in-depth attacks and fast incursions.
1
TACTICAL ANALYSIS
• The majority of players showed vitality in the qualifying
phase of the event. However, it was obvious that there were insufficiencies in one-on-one disputes for the ball and in controlling the ball. The players also had limited speed and power to travel medium distances.
Match
•
• The team’s game was based on organization, compact
game in the defensive and midfield areas, and use of sporadic counter-attacks. The players had poor physical fitness and the team did not have enough quality reserve players with good level.
• The players were not very tall, which was a
disadvantage in aerial plays when facing the bigger teams. • The team’s collective physical fitness level started
decreasing as the tournament progressed, which made it harder for the team to keep a compact block in the defense and in the attack. This was very obvious in the Semifinals and Final against powerful teams such as the USA, Mexico and Canada
DEFENSE ANALYSIS •
68 •
The team mainly used a compact defensive block in the defensive area, where players 3 Reyes and 17 Bonilla were outstanding, reinforced by 2 defensive midfielders that quickly reorganized after losing ball possession. All players had defensive functions, which demanded a strong physical effort. This was evident in the final matches, when their stamina and physical strength was diminished and they couldn’t keep a compact game, therefore giving their rivals an edge.
69
• The team rarely used a compact game in the attack on
the opponent’s side of the pitch, which was mainly due to their poor stamina. • They were ineffective and lacked the ability to create
dangerous situations in corner kicks.
HONDURAS’ OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
• Honduras needs to focus on improving the technical
individual skills of its forwards, as well as the attacking combination plays. • The team needs to look for and develop players who
.
are strong and fast attackers.
THINGS TO IMPROVE
• They need to work on developing physical
BUTS MARQUES 4
• The team needs to work on maintaining ball
possession under pressure, regaining possession and having better mobility of its players. • They need to work on their attack and combination
plays in the rival’s pitch to have a more compact block. • They also need to work on kicking the ball and on shots
on goal.
skills in order to improve the quality of its game and to be able to consolidate the team’s tactics.
focus and believe in themselves as a team.
TEAM DIRECTION • It is important for the team to have more preparation
time and to establish a developmental process for women’s soccer in the country that is gradual, logical and stable, in order to be able to do a more efficient job in the future. • The coaches have good ability and skills.
• They need to work on the players’ coordination and
control of technical defensive moves such as coverage, interceptions and strength in one-on-ones. • They also need to work on their aerial play.
OUTSTANDING PLAYER
70
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
-9
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
50.28
POSITION
TJ
GA
TJA
TJR
M
NA
D
A
RQ
#
NAME
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
3
Mirian Martinez
Defender
Good defender. Very technical and intelligent.
7
Katherine Amador
Defensive midfielder
10
Elexa Bahr
18
Fatima Romero
1
Madelinne Nieto
Goalkeeper
336
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
28.3
19
Yadira Perdomo
Goalkeeper
148
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
-14.6
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
3
Dania Reyes
Defender
450
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
110.0
17
Lisbeth Bonilla
Defender
450
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
95.0
5
Alisson Hernandez
Defender
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
2
Mirian Martinez
Defender
360
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
40.0
6
Victoria Rivera
Midfielder
44
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.9
7
Katherine Amador
Midfielder
450
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
95.0
14
Emily Quiroz
Midfielder
333
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
52.0
4
Ana Valladares
Defender
211
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
23.4
9
Kendra Haylock
Forward
34
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3.8
13
Jinan Abdalah
Forward
363
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
76.3
12
Katherine Mejia
Forward
131
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
14.6
20
Gabriela Ponce
Midfielder
450
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
50.0
18
Fatima Romero
Midfielder
369
1
0
0
0
1
3
0
106.0
Good technique and tactical skills.
11
Suzana Coello
Defender
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
Forward
Good technique and tactical skills.
8
Cherry Velasquez
Defender
406
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
50.1
Midfield winger
Good technique and tactical skills.
16
Ericka Estrada
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
15
Shirley Vasquez
Forward
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
10
Elexa Barh
Midfielder
450
3
0
0
2
0
3
0
4985
4
1
0
2
3
19
3
Defender
G.P
D.D
T.P
T.M
S.C
9
6
8
9
9
• The Honduran team needs to improve their ability to
• Honduras needs to improve its collective technical
Lisbeth Bonilla
13
characteristics such as speed, stamina and strength. NOM
17
GOALS AGAINST:
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP
O
TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
Strong, secure and good technical skills.
TOTAL
158.0 CE
CENTER EXITS
71
COACH:
HUBERT BUSBY CANADA
The team’s Head Coach, Hubert Busby, has been the team’s coach for a year, and he used a 1- 4-42 basic formation system, which he changed in a match for a 1-4-5-1 system. To be able to participate in this event, he had to use U-17 players and 11 players who study in the USA, which was a limitation for his basic tactical work since he didn’t have much time to prepare for the event. The average age of the team was 17.2 years.
Jamaica
The team had good physical characteristics for this type of tournament and showed major tactical and technical improvements, but still has limitations. The players had good speed and power, were organized in the tactical aspect and had good speed in the counter-attack, which made them difficult to mark.
The Jamaican National team represents the Caribbean zone of CONCACAF. It is a team with good conditions, strong in the defense and attack, powerful and with good speed when handling the ball. This makes them one of the hardest teams to beat, as they have good physical characteristics and good individual technique. They played 7 matches before the tournament, winning 5, drawing 1 and losing 1. They had a positive balance, having scored 19 goals and conceded 6, which shows their level of preparation.
They had good aerial play, which is one of its strengths, as well as the good communication skills of its goalkeeper who was good at organizing a strong defense, lead primarily by players 5 and 4. Jamaica was part of Group A. It obtained a draw in its first match against Honduras (2-2), lost against Canada by a big margin of 0-7 and later beat Trinidad and Tobago 6-1, for a total of 8 goals in favor and 10 against, and got eliminated in the Group phase. Jamaica was an unstable team in terms of performance, having played differently in each
•Granada 0-5 Jamaica •Santa Lucia 0-3 Jamaica •Jamaica 4-1 San Vicente •Jamaica 2-0 Curacao
72
73
•Trinidad & Tobago 2-2 Jamaica •Jamaica 2-1 Puerto Rico •Haiti 2-1 Jamaica
1-5-3-2
match according to the rival’s competitive level. The team had a good level when it faced a weak Trinidad and Tobago, the last team in the event, and it had a mediocre performance when it faced an average Honduras, having lost this match. It did very poorly when it faced Canada.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS • In general, we can say that the technical level was
variable among the different players, who had great limitations to be able to achieve a collective game due to low ball possession and continuity in their actions when pressured by the opponents. Its game system with long build-up plays implied a great amount of passes that where lost as a result of their technical limitations. • Its defense and midfield lines were the ones with the
best technical level and ball handling skills, more on an individual than on a collective level. • The team had a good passing technique from its
defenders to its attackers, which sought to leverage their speed. They used short passing and were good with combinations using players 11Shaw and 18 Hughes, who were the creating building-up plays using the wings, together with wingers 3 Robinson and 15 Nelson. • The team had mediocre shots with dropped ball. They
had 28 shots on goals in the 3 matches, 18 of which were positive and 10 negative. They must improve the use of long passing, since the balls got lost in most occasions. • They played using more a long than a short game,
but from time to time players with good technique got together in the midfield and had good triangulations for short passing (11 Shaw and 18 Hughes), and did 3 or 4 good passes but sometimes failed due to pressure from the opponents. The team had limitations in the continuity of its actions. • The players’ strength, power and speed made them very
different to their opponents. They are not intimidated by the rivals and had good technique with the ball, but lacked in skills.
74
• Constant changes of the same player or different
players in different positions affected the team’s collective performance and showed lack of time to prepare and tactical group instability.
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS • The players had great physique that made them apt for
this competition, although some of them were 16 and 17 years old. They were strong and fast, and always won in one-on-ones and aerial play. • They were well prepared prior to the tournament. The
coaching staff’s work was good, as was evident in the performance throughout the event. • Their basic formation system 1-4-4-2 for the attack
turned into 1-4-5- 1. This allowed them to maintain a well-balanced team in its two defensive lines when they had a rival that was better than they were. • They marked by zone and never lost their order. They
had good communication among them that allowed them to be compact when defending.
JAMAICA’S ACTUAL PLAYING TIME BY MATCH
as lone striker ready for the counter-attack, had each player manage their own zone, and the team would get stronger and keep a high level of competitiveness. • The team handled the midfield really well, with good
progressions and good management of plays by players 11Shaw and 18 Hughes, who created build-up plays and did short and long passes. However, the team still lacked in the collective and in the continuity of its actions. • The leaders of the midfield, players 11Shaw and 18
Hughes, were the backbone of the team, but 11 Shaw was not constantly clear about her functions and kept abandoning her position, therefore disorganizing the team’s functioning in the midfield. This was a crucial aspect in the poor performance against the powerful Canadian team.
Match
1
2
3
Teams
HON
CAN
T&T
Actual Playing Time
52.08
52.23
47.09
50.47
TACTICAL ANALYSIS • Jamaica started playing with a 1-4-4-2 basic formation
system, which was positive in its first match and leveraged the collective and individual game of players 11 Shaw, 18 Hughes and 7 Clarke, and the speed of 6 Oshay. But the final score of the match, a 2-2 draw, was not positive although the rival team, Honduras, was not as good. • The team changed its basic formation to 1-4-5-1 in its
second match against a superior Canada, using variants in formation that did not favor its collective performance, rotating the positions of 3 players: 14 Blackwood, who changed from attacker to right back, player number 9 who changed from attacker to right midfielder, and 6 Oshay, who changed from midfielder to striker. • The team kept its 1-4-4-2 formation in the attack, but
when it saw that the rival was superior they changed to 1-4-5-1 in order to remain well structured in the defense to counter-attack, using its speed in the in-depth attack. • If the rival it was facing was superior, the Jamaican team
would regroup, form compact lines, leave one player
• The team had good aerial play both in the defense and in
the attack. • Jamaica was an unstable team in terms of its functioning.
It was good sometimes in front of rivals with lower level, being well organized in the defense and attack. When it faced Canada it had severe limitations in its defensive and offensive structure, not being able to have a compact game and being disorganized in the midfield. • The defensive system for dropped ball was a 1-4-5-1
formation and for the attack they used a 1- 4-3-3. • The team tried to keep the balance in the midfield;
DEFENSE ANALYSIS • The team kept a line-up of 4 strong defenders, based on
Total Average
or equal capacity as them using their fastest player, 6 Oshay, who was effective against Trinidad and Tobago, but ineffective and unstable in front of the goal with Honduras and Canada due to technical limitations.
the support of midfielder 18 Hughes. Depending on the rival’s level, they were difficult to beat in the defense, in one-on-ones and in aerial play. In the match against Canada the team had many defensive insufficiencies in all aspects, and took a beating of 7 goals to 0. • The Jamaican team played with several variants; the 2
center midfielders were irreplaceable but there was no stability with the wingers, mainly on the right, and player 14 Blackwood ended up playing 3 positions in just one match. She started as right-winger, then she was a right midfielder and finally ended up playing as left midfielder. Confused as she was with all the changes, she neither defended nor attacked. • The goalkeeper was unstable in terms of performance
in the 3 matches. The defenders and midfielders had a compact game and were aware for any coverage; they closed the lines for short and long passing when they played against Honduras and Trinidad & Tobago, but didn’t do the same when they faced Canada, where it was obvious that they did not have a stable functioning when they were under pressure from a rival with good level. • The defensive leaders, 4 Walters and 5 Plummer, were
ready to cover and close and prevent any mistakes from their teammates. • Due to their speed and strength, the players were
good at one-on-ones. They leveraged their physical characteristics, but it was evident that they need to work on anticipations, an aspect that was deficient against Canada. • Their lethal weapon were the one-on-ones, which they
almost always won, usually when the rivals had less
they applied pressure in the midfield, in zones and collaborated to support the team. • They tried to build-up plays from the back with players 5
Plummer and 4 Walters, and with the support of players 11Shaw and 18 Hughes; they had ball possession and good progression when the rivals allowed them to. However, they lost the ball when they had to use long build-up plays that were mostly ineffective when they were under pressure by teams such as Canada.
ATTACK ANALYSIS • With the goal kicks from its goalkeeper and defenders,
which were sometimes effective and sometimes not so much, the team would regroup in the midfield to have the chance to gain the rebound for more ball possession. • In the attack (1-4-3-3), using center midfielders that were
good, and fast right and left midfielders and two strong forwards, they were hard rivals for their opponents. • The team was good in one-on-one disputes; they had
good speed with the ball, and were good in aerial play. • They controlled the game in the midfield with players
11 and 18, who had good control of the ball and made their teammates play to create a greater game volume. When they were pressured, their individual skills came out or they used long passes directed towards their fast forwards, which were very effective for the game’s development. • When the rivals lost ball possession, they usually
attacked fast and individually. • They need to improve in this, since they didn’t exploit this
aspect and they did leverage their aerial play.
75
• The team also needs to work on their shots on goal from
mid and long range, since most of their shots on goal are from this distance.
analyze the organizational tactic aspects with player 11 Shaw.
• They need to leverage their approach using the wings,
• The team needs to improve its compact game in the
which would certainly help them score more goals.
attack and in the defensive against stronger teams.
• Their control of the game in the midfield and good
mobility in the attack gave their midfielders the ability to generate more plays in short and long passing. • The team needs to improve because they have good
conditions and the capacity to attack on both sides, but they lose focus when they need to center and enable their attackers. • They flow in the midfield and attack using the wings,
mainly on the right. • The team did not use prepared plays, and always used
• They also need to work on having better focus on
the game from beginning to end and on the diverse functions.
• The team needs to improve their ball handling skills
and passing; they need to have better control during matches and better mobility in the attack. They also need to improve the continuity of their actions, their ability to have ball possession and therefore to have better game rhythm.
scoring goals and in the quality of their center passes. • They need to learn how to leverage their strengths,
such as speed and power.
POSITION
GOALS AGAINST:
10
TP
throughout the match, regardless of whether they are wining or losing.
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
GS
TYC TRC TPM
-2
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
TS
O
RK
GA
DD
1
Mureka Howard
Goalkeeper
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.00
13
Shanay Ricketts
Goalkeeper
270
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-43.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
• The players need to learn to have better concentration
HW
CE
T.M
S.C
10
9
2
7
9
Chanel Hudson-Marks
Forward
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
3
Tiffany Robinson
Defender
161
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
17.9
TEAM DIRECTION
4
Rachel Walters
Midfielder
270
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
45.0
• The coaches need to improve on line-up stability
5
Konya Plummer
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
75.0
6
Oshay Nelson-Lawes
Forward
270
4
1
0
1
0
2
0
95.0
7
Tarania Clarke
Defender
210
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
58.3
8
Sherice Clarke
Midfielder
45
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
-5.0
9
Asia LeeFatt
Forward
136
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
15.1
10
Jessica Johnson
Forward
143
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
22.9
11
Khadija Shaw
Midfielder
203
3
0
0
0
0
3
1
114.6 O
12
Shanhaine Nelson
Defender
102
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
18.3
and keeping players in their positions, eliminating improvisations, paying more attention to team functioning, gaining more ball possession and having better continuity of game actions.
organization and line-up stability, and in keeping players in their position to be able to face teams with higher levels.
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
#
NAME
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
3
Rachel Walters
Defender
Strong, dynamic and ready for coverage.
7
Konya Plummer
Defender
Hard to surpass and leader in defense.
10
Khadija Shaw
Attacking midfielder
Agile, dynamic and very good technique.
18
Jorja Hughes
Defensive midfielder
Disciplined and good in marking.
17
Oshay Nelson-Lawes
Forward
Fast, skillful and powerful in attack.
14
Deneisha Blackwood
Forward
180
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
10.0
15
Asheina Nelson
Midfielder
187
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
20.8
16
Dominique Bond-Flasa
Defender
270
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
50.0
17
Lacey Murray
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
7.0
18
Jorja Hughes
Midfielder
270
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
45.0
19
Alexandra Taylor
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
20
Rena Gordon
Forward
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
2987
8
4
0
1
3
13
4
TOTAL
50.47
FW
2
• The Jamaican team needs to work on the team’s
76
GOALS SCORED: 8
• The team needs to work on being more effective for
centers that were sometimes good and sometimes bad.
THINGS TO IMPROVE
JAMAICA’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART.
• They need to maintain organization in the midfield and
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
77
COACH:
ROBERTO MEDINA MEXICO
Three months before the final phase of CONCACAF’s U-20 Championship, the players got together for one week every month, then for two weeks, and then for three weeks in the last month of preparation. Five players were not able to join the team until the last week due to school commitments. The team was able to play several friendly matches during its preparation. The first two were against a Mexican National team, which they lost 2-1 and 3-1. They participated in a difficult tournament in California, USA, where they faced the Brazilian, USA and Japan national teams, which are considered as some of the top teams in the world. The scores were as follows: Mexico 0-1 Brazil, Mexico 0-1 USA, and Mexico 0-1 Japan.
Mexico
The team’s Head Coach, Roberto Medina, is very competent and has extensive experience. He was a professional soccer player, a former general manager of a first division professional soccer team in Mexico and a member of the coaching staff of Mexico’s Women’s National team. The Mexican National team qualified directly to CONCACAF’s Women U-20 Tournament as member of the North American region. It is without a doubt one of the best teams in the region and it has proven to have stable growth in terms of women’s soccer.
He has ample soccer knowledge, is very knowledgeable about organization and tactical discipline, and has the necessary professional qualifications and background to lead this Mexican team.
The team’s average age was 18 years and 3 months, the highest of all participant teams. The girls who participate in the tournaments in Mexico are initially organized on a regional, college and school level, and they still do not have a professional league. Ten of the players play in foreign teams, particularly in college teams in the USA. Some players that were born in the USA and have double nationality have expressed an interest in playing in the Aztec team.
78
Preparation of the Mexican team started with the coaching staff watching the games in the different school and college leagues organized throughout the country to identify the best players.
79
They also had the opportunity to see the matches that are played each year as part of the Olympics organized by the government each year and that include players from U-15 to U-20. 1-4-5-1
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS •
•
•
•
•
The majority of players had good skills to control all of the basic technical moves that are essential in soccer, such as long and short passing in all areas, and reception and control of balls being played. Some of them had perfect control of specific techniques, such as feints and combination plays, and continuity in the attacks when they were under pressure from the opponents. They had good ball possession in the defense and midfield, and good organization and ball handling by its two center midfielders, which were all key elements for the team’s performance. The team had some technical limitations in goal opportunities and shots on goal, and sometimes had problems with long passing, which was one of the main tools used by them in the counter-attack. They had good aerial play.
•
Mexico needs to work on effectiveness and creation of attacking combination plays in the rival’s pitch, since in most cases they are not as effective in the opponent’s defensive third.
TEMPS REEL DE JEU POR RENCONTRE DU MEXICO
Match
1
2
3
4
5
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS
Teams
USA
HAI
PAN
CAN
HON
• Mexican players were not very fast, but they were
Actual Playing Time
56.03
51.42
50.25
54.09
48.31
powerful and had good coordination. • They were able to maintain a compact game during
most matches, showcasing this as one of their greatest strengths. • They were also able to maintain the links between the
lines and spaces closed in a compact manner, both in the defense and in the attack. • The players were mentally strong and had a desire
to win and collaborate among themselves; they were willing to take risks and had good confidence in themselves.
•
The goalkeeper had very good technical skills.
52.02
The team used a 1-4-2-3-1 basic formation, which it could turn into 1-4-5-1 depending on how the match evolved. This was determined by the position and the capacity of player 9 Palacios, who was the team’s attack organizer, playing as attacking midfielder and who also would go deep into the rival’s area. The players were organized, very disciplined in the tactic aspects, and compact in the midfield, which was the team’s greatest strength and where they were able to have good ball possession with three outstanding players: 16 Gonzalez, 3 Flores and 11 Sanchez.
•
All players gave their all in the fight to regain ball possession as a collective, starting with the forwards.
•
The players had a great tactical culture and discipline that allowed them to have good quality soccer, and they were very organized.
•
Thanks to their compact game in the defense and in the midfield, the Mexican team always had a superior number of players next to the ball, a factor that was key in the matches against the USA and Canada. Mexico did not lose any games in the official time, and only lost against Canada by penalty shots in the Semifinals.
•
80
•
The Mexican National team had excellent tactical direction in each of its matches. They played in an effective and rational manner, and were conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as of those of their rivals.
•
The team used a game based on counter-attacks with the strongest teams and had better flow with the other teams. They did an amazing job in handling substitutions in the right moments and had stability in the line-up.
Total Average
TACTICAL ANALYSIS •
•
Mexico was superior in terms of the team´s organization in the defensive functioning in the attack, which in the majority of cases was in the form of counter-attacks with long build-up from the defense when they faced the strongest teams. This worked well when player 9 Palacios, who is skillful and had a very good technical level, was able to control the ball and get organized with the other striker. However, this ended in some occasions in lost balls, as they lost some direct long passes that were intercepted by the rival defenders. They tried to build-up using the sides, mainly with player 5 Flores, defensive winger, and 11 Sanchez on the left, which gave width to the attack.
DEFENSE ANALYSIS
• The line-up consisted of 4 well-organized defenders
near the goal, some of which had an outstanding technical level (4 Bernal and 13 Mejia). The team had an excellent goalkeeper (1 Alvarado) who gave the team confidence and direction. The team also had two defending midfielders who would quickly reorganize and who were the first defensive line. • Mexico had a stable and secure defensive functioning.
It only allowed 2 goals in the tournament, which were scored by the powerful USA team, thanks to the fact that its defense started with the forwards who, upon losing ball possession, would initiate an amazing defensive work strong physical commitment. • Its main achievement was the team’s excellent tactical
discipline in the defensive function, since they always played a compact game, tightening the spaces, mainly in the in the midfield where all players would regroup to display a fighting spirit and applied constant pressure on their opponents. • Regardless of the defenders not being very tall, they
always won the aerial play duels against their rivals. In the one-on-ones they usually won and in most cases, two Mexican players would come up and apply pressure on the rival player. They were always ready to rapidly react and win the balls after a rebound. • Its center backs were crucial in the execution of well-
organized coverage and anticipation plays.
81
ATTACK ANALYSIS
THING TO IMPROVE
• The players used short passing in the goal area, with
• The team needs to work on their effectiveness in shots
good ball possession, and depending on the rivals, they did in depth-passes looking to re-organize their counter-attacks with player 9 Palacios, who was key to the team’s build-up plays and who was selected to be part of the Dream Team in the tournament. • The team used the width of the pitch mainly with
its defensive winger (5 Flores) and its forward (11 Sanchez), who was always open on the left wing and who is a skillful and powerful player. • The Mexican team was able to use direct in-depth
build-up plays and counter-attacks when it faced strong opponents (USA and Canada) that many times resulted in lost balls. However, when its forwards won the ball, they created very dangerous situations, particularly due to the high technical level of player 9 Palacios who had a very good relation with her teammates in the in-depth attack.
on goal and goal opportunities. • They need to improve the quality, effectiveness and
power of long passes in build-up plays.
• The team must improve the technical effectiveness of
its players for shots on the opponent’s goal.
attack transition to guarantee the quality of the first pass in build-up plays. • They need to work hard on finding a striker that is fast
and a good scorer, who can work with player 9 Palacios in the attack.
16 9 11
82
1
NAME Eva Gonzalez Kiana Palacios
POSITION Midfielder Forward
GOALS AGAINST:
2
NOM
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
9
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
POSITION
TJ
GA
TJA
TJR
M
NA
D
A
RQ
1
Emily Alvarado
Goalkeeper
302
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
107.6
12
Esthefanny Barreras
Goalkeeper
180
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
65.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
• The players have good physical fitness, but must
continue to work on forcefulness and speed to undermine their opponent’s height.
52.02
G.P
D.D
T.P
T.M
S.C
2
12
12
13
12
6
8
8
8
2
Jaqueline Rodriguez
Defense
91
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
25.1
3
Vanessa Flores
Defense
348
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
38.7
4
Rebeca Bemal
Defense
441
1
1
0
0
0
2
1
96.0
TEAM DIRECTION
5
Monica Flores
Defense
392
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
73.6
6
Liliana Rodriguez
Defense
392
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
80.6
• The coaching staff is excellent and the Head Coach is
7
Sonia Vazquez
Midfielder
220
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
46.4
8
Gabriela Alvarez
Forward
186
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
20.7
9
Kiana Palacios
Forward
365
3
0
0
2
0
3
0
175.6
10
Katty Martinez
Forward
223
2
0
0
0
1
1
0
59.8
11
Maria Sanchez
Midfielder
388
2
0
0
1
0
2
1
125.1 O
13
Annia Mejia
Defense
438
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
63.7
• They must continue to work on the player’s
psychological concentration in the game and willingness to always strive for victory.
very capable and active. • He was able to achieve organization, concentration and
sustained tactical discipline in all matches, even in the most difficult moments of the matches.
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
#
GOALS SCORED: 11
• They also need to work in the speed of the defense-
• The Mexican team played with a packed defense; it had
a compact and effective defense, which was its main weapon, consisting of rapid defensive transitions and reorganizing for the counter-attack thanks to a great player (9 Palacios), who made it possible to have this type of game.
MEXICO’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
DESCRIPTION
14
Natalia Villarreal
Midfielder
192
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
26.3
15
Evelyn Gonzalez
Midfielder
62
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
6.9
16
Eva Gonzalez
Midfielder
371
0
1
0
0
1
3
1
83.2
17
Jacqueline Crowther
Forward
205
2
0
0
0
1
2
0
92.8
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
Organizer, very skillful and tactical. Dangerous in the attack, fast.
Maria Sanchez
Attacking midfielder
Agile, dynamic and very good technique.
18
Belen Cruz
Midfielder
164
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
18.2
Serge Lesperance
Defensive midfielder
Disciplined and good in marking.
19
Blanca Solis
Forward
294
1
0
0
1
0
1
2
106.7
Emily Alvarado
Goalkeeper
Good technique and team direction
20
Vivian Vega
Forward
90
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
10.0
5344
11
3
0
4
9
26
7
TOTAL
83
COACH:
RAÍZA GUTIÉRREZ PANAMA
It is worth highlighting that there is no women’s league in Panama. The team played 6 matches against men’s teams and it had 6 players from the previous tournament among its ranks. To recruit players, they work through coaches that are colleagues. All their matches and trainings are done on synthetic fields, an aspect that affects the performance of the players when they play on grass. If women’s soccer had more support in Panama, their national team would become a top team in our region.
Panama
Panama was a national team with good stamina and powerful players with good technique and good virtues that, together with the individual technique of its players, make it a difficult rival. The team must improve in terms of organization and tactical discipline. Panama’s National team represented the UNCAF zone. It was a strong team with great energy when it needed to play and mark the opponent. The team was not afraid of any rival team and had good ball handling skills in the midfield, particularly by two of its players (10 Cox and 11 Franco), who had good technical criteria.
The team does not surrender to any opponent even if it is a better team. With good preparation, Panama could before a top team in women’s soccer in our region.
The team had stronger defenders led by player 5 Pinzon in the defense. The initial basic formation system used by the team was 1-4-4-2, which it later varied to 1-4-5-1. They qualified in the UNCAF by wining 3 matches against Costa Rica (2-0), Salvador (2-1), Guatemala (3-0) and drawing one against Nicaragua (0-0). The team had an average age of 17.4 years, and the players had a strong built.
84
Panama’s Head Coach, Raiza Gutierrez, who has been leading the team for 6 months conducted a two month preparation prior to the qualifiers for UNCAF. She was able to dedicate time to the team and trained every day to obtain better performances both in the technical and in the tactical aspects, and played 2 international games.
85
1- 4-4-2
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS • They usually had good technique, which was sometimes
unproductive due to lapses in the matches. When the team regrouped and did short passes, they had good progression through the center and the wings, but they were not able to score. • Two outstanding players on an individual level were 10
Cox and 6 Batista, who had good technique in incursions. They improved when they kicked the ball long and attacked with their forward, who was usually very isolated from the midfielders. • They were always organized in the defense and midfield.
Depending on the opponents they would leverage their short passing game. When players 10 Cox, 6 Batista and 8 Romero regrouped in the midfield, they had good quality ball possession. • The team never succeeded with long passes in build-
up plays from the defensive line; they were always too confrontational and very difficult for its forwards (17 and 9), and very distant from their teammates. They had good use of triangulation in the midfield, but lacked depth using the wings, which generated disorganization in the attack. • In the 3 matches that Panama played, the team had 27
shots on goals, of which 17 were positive, with good direction towards the goal; the y scored 3 goals in the 3 matches they played. Their main weapons were plays with set piece, which the team did not leverage due to poor throw-ins and straight balls. • The team had 20 shots on goal from the midfield and an
average productivity. The 3 goals scored are a very low percentage for this type of competition. • The team had good technique in the midfield with players
10 Cox, 8 Romero and 6 Batist; they had good ball handling skills in short passes, leveraged the team’s good technical quality and avoided passing lines with 1 or 2 touches, and also avoided the rival’s pressure. • Players 10, 17 and 9 had an outstanding individual game
that was the result of their good ball handling skills with both legs, good technical skills and strong one-on-one duels.
• They had positive performances in all 3 matches. Their
stamina allowed them to play and fight until the last minute of the match, which made them a difficult rival. • Their performance in every match was intense and
disputed. Against Haiti the actual playing time was 43:09, against the USA was 46:43, and against Mexico it was 50:25. • In some occasions, due to their aggressiveness, they
committed too many fouls and got too many warnings, which constantly interrupted the game and made them lack continuity
PANAMA’S ACTUAL PLAYING TIME BY MATCH: Match
1
2
3
Teams
Haiti
USA
MEX
Actual Playing Time
43.49
46.43
50.25
Total Average
47.12
TACTICAL ANALYSIS • The team used a 1-4-4-2 basic formation in the first
match, which it later changed in the last two to 1- 4-5-1, with better functioning, order and game control. • The team was a compact team in the two defensive lines
and in the midfield with players 10, 6, 8 and 9, who had good control of the game, but lacked depth in the attack using the flanks with players 8 and 3. • The team had 5 players in the midfield who are technically
good and have good ball handling skills. They used more individual than collective game and had long passes to an isolated forward (11), who had no support from her teammates. The team was disorganized in its collective attacking functioning. This was their main weakness. • Panama never varied its game. The team was always
in the same order and very compact, with a 1-4-5-1 formation system at the beginning and end of the game, with an attack variant of 1-4-4-2, with direct plays directed to the forward, which in many occasions ended in lost passes.
• There was no good communication between the
defenders and center midfielders, they had no success closing spaces, were not able to have coverage and were left vulnerable. The team did not rotate during the match and they kept the same positions with which they started.
86
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS • Depending on the rival they faced, if the rival was superior
they would use a 1-4-5-1 basic formation system, having a good number of players grouped in the midfield in order to be able to apply pressure in the area where the rival was playing.
• Sometimes during the match they would keep the order,
depending on the opponents’ level, but when they faced superior teams that had good ball handling skills and good incursions, but their system and tactics would fail.
was ineffective in the creation of build-up plays in the rival’s pitch. • The Panamanian players had good individual technique,
and were very powerful in the individual functions but not so much in the collective functions.
• They kept ball possession in the midfield down the center
with players 10, 6, 8 and 11, but were not very effective in depth and using the wings both on the right and on the left sides. • The team had a good number of players in the midfield,
a strong defense with players who had good individual technique and good triangulations, but this was not very effective. They mainly played in the midfield but without fast transitions in the attack and support of forwards. The team didn’t have a lot of collaboration from the wingers, and the right-winger (2 Stuart), who usually carried out the attack, had many build-up plays but few of them were productive.
• The team played best and had the best ball possession in
the midfield with players 10, 6, 7 and 9, who were slow in combination attacking play progressions. • They mainly attacked as a result of individual plays and
not of collective plays. They lacked quality in attacking combination plays, which is an aspect the team needs to work on. • Panama had strong, powerful and fast players, with good
physique and presence both in the midfield and in the attack; they need to work on making the goalkeepers stronger. The players had good performance throughout the whole match, making them a hard rival for their opponents, since they had the stamina to play during the whole match.
• They had few anticipating plays in all matches; the team
leveraged its physical strength to dispute the ball in the one-on-ones, but they need to improve on this. • The team was difficult to beat in one-on-ones in the
defense, but had a hard time when they faced faster and more agile players in the attack. They often won the duels due to their power and good technique.
DEFENSE ATTACK • The Panamanian team always used a 1-4-5-1 basic
physical characteristics, they always won in aerial play, but they need to improve the heading technique.
formation, with 4 stable defenders and 2 center backs that were strong in the defense (6 and 10). The team kept a compact block to apply pressure on the opponent and regain ball possession.
• They always used a 1-4-5-1 basic formation system and
• The team greatly relied on its players in the midfield that
• They conceded very few goals by headers. Due to their
always kept this order, regardless of the score, which they maintained throughout the competition.
gave the game a bit of flow through the center and the wings. They abused the use of long passes, which would affect the game they were trying to implement in the midfield and were unproductive. The team was not able to build-up plays using the wings and had very few center passes to their forwards.
• The team did a good collective job with its 4 defenders
and 5 midfielders in the midfield and defensive zones, by having control of the ball next to their goal area and applying pressure on the opponents in this zone. • The team rarely used elaborate build-up plays in the
defensive with short passes. They mostly used a direct game with long build-up plays that were not very effective, trying to win on the rebound in the second play to be able to regain ball possession in the opponent’s pitch.
• They changed the position of player 3 in one match, from
winger to left-winger, and in the last match she played as right midfield, which yielded a negative result for the functioning of the team.
• They would always use a 1-4-3-3 for the attack, which
• The team always used a 1-4-5-1 basic formation, and they
were compact in the 2 defensive lines in the midfield and defense zones. • They had a hard time and lacked communication for
marking and coverage in the defense. • They were always compact in the defense and midfield,
but the team changed drastically when it faced a rival that had good ball possession. They lacked communication and since they were not able to have good support among them, had a hard time with relieves, closing down spaces and coverage.
ATTACK ANALYSIS • The team was not productive or effective in the attack;
they lacked clarity in build-up plays on the opponent’s pitch, the defense-attack transitions were slow, staying for too long in the midfield and without rapid incursions in the attack. This excess of individual game in the midfield delayed the team and made them ineffective in the attack.
• The team had very few mid and long range shots on goal
with poor results, an aspect that they need to improve.
87
• Since the team lacked depth in the attack, they were
isolated and had few opportunities to be able to score a goal or shot on goal, therefore being ineffective. • Given that they had good triangulations in the midfield
with players 10, 6, 7, 9 and 17, and had good technique in ball handling, for some periods during the matches they would seem as a good team, particularly in the midfield. • Sometimes in the attack the players seemed very static
and lacking mobility, which made them look as an easy target for the opponent in one-on-one duels, but they usually won these due to their strength and technique to handle the ball quickly. • The team had few attacks using the left and right wings;
the majority of their attacks and centers were ineffective. They rarely used the width of the pitch. • Their best game was through the center with good
triangulations, but they had better flow for build-up and attacking plays on their right. • The team always had a slow game in the midfield, rarely
using fast attack transition plays and changed their rhythm in the attack; they lacked progression to score on their opponents and did not have enough preparation for corner kicks or free kicks.
THINGS TO IMPROVE • The players need to work on the tactical aspects of rapid
defense-attack transitions to leverage the speed and power of their attackers.
effective collective game in the attack. • They need to improve their communication in defensive
plays for better coverage and closing of spaces; also, they need to work more with the goalkeepers. • They need to work on centers using the left side of the
pitch and the right side for incursions, on set piece plays and on enhanced mobility.
GOALS SCORED: 3
POSITION
• The players must learn how to use their power and
strength so that they don’t generate so many unnecessary fouls. • They need to improve in terms of the dialogue among
themselves and with their opponent, and must learn how to control their character, since Panama was the worst behaved team in the tournament with 9 yellow cards and one red card.
GOALS AGAINST:
11
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
TP
GS
TYC TRC TPM
-8
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
TS
O
RK
GA
DD
0
0
1
0
0
-2.0
12
Keytin Oglivie
Goalkeeper
180
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
-49.0
2
2
2
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
9
5
4
6
6
1
0
0
0
0
10.0
TEAM DIRECTION
3
Maria Murillo
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
30.0
4
Katherine Castillo
Midfielder
214
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
13.8
• They need to work on improving ball handling skills
5
Yomira Pinzón
Defender
180
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
30.0
6
Laurie Batista
Midfielder
270
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
20.0
7
Nicol Flores
Midfielder
148
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
16.4
8
Gilean Romero
Defender
121
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
3.4
9
Karla Riley
Forward
220
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
34.4
10
Marta Cox
Midfielder
270
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
65.0
11
Yassiel Franco
Forward
204
1
1
0
0
0
2
0
62.7
13
Ivonne Férnandez
Forward
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
14
Solemar Ortiz
Defender
270
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
20.0
15
Estafania Salas
Midfielder
61
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
26.8
16
Rosario Vargas
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
#
NAME
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
17
Darlin Branda
Forward
189
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
51.0
5
Yomira Pinzon
Defender
Leader, strong and good team organization.
18
Keisilyn Gutierrez
Forward
42
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.7
6
Laurie Batista
Defensive midfielder
Good technique and very dynamic.
19
Mariana Molina
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
10
Marta Cox
Attacking midfielder
Agile, dynamic and very good technique.
20
Miluska Guevara
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
2999
3
9
1
0
4
9
0
TOTAL 11
Yassiel Franco
Forward
Strong and very dynamic.
9
Karla Riley
Forward
Good technique and strong.
S.C
0
0
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
T.M
0
0
defense and maintain a compact team in all areas of the field; they also need to work more on set piece plays both in the defense and in the attack.
CE
90
270
communicate with the players, and how to be the only one speaking with the players and not have all of the coaching staff doing this. She must avoid stressing the players and learn not to fight with the rival coach.
HW
Goalkeeper
Defender
• The Head Coach must learn how to better
FW
Karen Chavarría
Ariadna Stuart
and the technique for long passing (players often missed passes in goal kicks) and not to use only this tactic in their attack.
46.72
1
2
• They need to improve mobility in the collective attack and
88
PANAMA’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
• The teams should work on having a more powerful and
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP
O
TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
89
COACH:
JASON SPENCE TRINIDAD & TABAGO
It is important to mention that this team had 6 players that are part of the U-17 and had 3 players who play in the USA and 1 who plays in Canada. The team was part of Group A together with Jamaica, Canada and Honduras; it lost its first match (0-2) against Canada, lost its second match (0-2) against Honduras and lost the third match (1-6) against Jamaica. It obtained 4th place in its Group and last in the Tournament, with 0 points, 1 goal in favor and 10 against. The Trinidadian team was not able to win any matches, evidently losing stamina as the matches went by and having technical limitations on a collective level and not much ball possession during the matches.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The team had a low level. They used build-up plays using the wings and the center, which was the reason why they lacked width and depth. The Trinidadian Women’s U-20 team was able to qualify to CONCACAF’s U-20 Women’s Tournament by obtaining the third place in the Women’s Caribbean Cup of the Caribbean Soccer Union (CUF), which took place in Haiti in October.
Their greatest weakness was their lack of ability to have ball possession. The Head Coach tried to look for solutions to this on a tactical level by varying the line-up, but was not able to achieve the effectiveness needed to win any matches.
In the qualifiers for this qualifying Tournament, it obtained the following scores: it won 4-1 against Curacao, had a 1-1 draw with Saint Vincent and 2-2 with Jamaica, and it qualified for the Semifinals where it lost 0-2 against Haiti. The team played the match for the third place and won 4-3 by penalty shots against Puerto Rico. The team has 20 players with an average age of 17.1 years.
90
The Head Coach has led the team for 8 months; prior to this Championship, the team trained for a month beginning on November 1, two times a week with the whole group. They only played one match against the national men’s team and had no friendly international matches.
91
1- 4-4-2
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS • Trinidad &Tobago was a team with low technical individual
and collective skills, which led them to having an ineffective game in the Group phase. • They had poor ball possession, so they bet on direct build-
up plays for the attack. They lost many passes, since most of the time their lines were wide apart. • The players that were outstanding on a technical level were
5 Ellis, defending midfielder and in the attacking zone, player 9 Campbell, who displayed certain individual ability and capacity to generate danger in the matches. Some players showed technical deficiencies in their ball handling skills and on one-on-ones (3 Mike, 8 Arjoon), and others had an average individual technical level, but not ideal for a Pre-World Cup qualifying tournament. • The team’s game style was based primarily on long
passes, since they rarely had ball possession during the tournament and lost many balls without being able to do effective combinations. • They had a total of 148 build-up plays, 102 of them using the
wings; 63 of them were bad, 39 were through the center, 19 were good and 27 were deficient. • Shots on goal were one of the biggest weaknesses of this
team, given that they lacked organization in the attack that made it difficult for them to finalize the plays. They one did 9 in all of the matches, all from long distance. They only scored 1 goal, and had 5 good and 3 deficient shots on goal. • The team did not have good aerial play, particularly in the
defensive line and within the defending midfielders, leaving many balls to fall short or directed towards the center, which favored the rival’s team speed for recovery. • Its goalkeeper had technical problems with aerial balls and
had other players perform goal kicks.
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS • The players had a good athletic biotype, and were tall,
powerful and fast, but had a low level of stamina during the matches. • This was a weak aspect for the Trinidadian team, together
92
with the technical and the tactical aspects. It was not able to have a good rhythm during the first half, they had deficiencies after they lost ball possession since they had no compact play and could not press on a zonal manner but instead tried to do so individually. The physical fitness of the players was not enough to have a good dynamic throughout the match, particularly when they faced Canada that had great game dynamic and ball handling skills that could not be counteracted by Trinidad and Tobago.
• The team decreased its block plays and the defense-attack
and attack-defense transition plays after the first thirty minutes. They showed evident signs of physical and mental fatigue in the last match after having conceded some goals, mainly in the first and second thirds of both halves. • Warm-ups were mainly focused on the physical aspects,
and the activities with the ball had no logic structure or dynamic that resembled an actual game situation. The team did articulation movements, and in the development phase they did few activities that were similar to a real game situation in a reduced space of 6x6 in 4vs1. After this they did long 20m passes and in the special phase they did direct passive shots on goal without marking. • In addition, the goalkeepers’ warm-up routine lacked
structure and direction in terms of specific activities for them. • This is one of the aspects that they need to work on since
it is important for the players to enter the field prepared to face real game situations.
1
2
3
Teams
CAN
HON
JAM
Actual Playing Time
56.26
50.21
47.09
• In the midfield 6 Henry and 18 Guerra lost possession often
third matches against Honduras and Jamaica, specifically in the midfield and attacking zone. The defensive zone was more stable from a tactical standpoint.
when the rival applied pressure on them and they left the area, which generated many spaces that were leveraged by the opponent team. Player 18 Guerra, did a better job of recovering ball possession. The midfield was one of the least stable zones since they had initial variants in line-up in the matches against Honduras and Jamaica.
• The team was not able to improve their tactical behavior
with the substitutions when they had conceded goals in the three matches, and maintained the same defensive individual and zonal game, without being able to improve the tactic from an offensive perspective. • The Trinidadian team did not use any planned plays with set
piece for free kicks, nor did they have any plans for use in corner kicks, which were only 4 in all matches. • The team had very few changes in line-up in the offensive.
Only one player, 9 Campbell, center forward, would incorporate into the attacking plays in a few occasions, together with 8 Arjoon, 14 John and 20 Theodore, while the defending midfielders and defenders would remain in their places and would not join the attack. They used this game style throughout the tournament. • The goalkeeper lacked leadership and team direction to
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO’S ACTUAL PLAYING TIME PER MATCH Match
• They changed the line-up of three players in the second and
improve the tactical behavior Total Average
DEFENSE ANALYSIS • The basic formation systems used were 1-5-4-1 (goal area)
51.19
TACTICAL ANALYSIS • The initial basic formation used in each match was 1-4-4-
2, but it changed to 1-4-5-1 and 1-4-2-3-1 once the game started. • Their organization in defense was better than in the attack,
but their defense-attack transition plays (and vice versa) were slow, which hindered their ability for compact play and opened up spaces between the defensive and attacking lines during transition plays. • Generally speaking the team lacked an elaborate soccer.
The team sometimes tried to have build-up plays but immediately lost possession of the ball due to technical collective limitations, so they resorted to playing with width and depth with the ball close to the lines. • The team was not tactically able to have good combination
plays between all areas of the pitch; they rarely changed positions during the matches and had modifications in the midfield between the defensive wingers and the defensing midfielders.
and 1-4-2-3-1 (midfield and attacking third). • The attack-defense organization was slow for recovering
ball possession and opened up many spaces between the lines due to the loss of their compact game. They had problems with this particularly with Canada that had rapid transitions. Honduras was also a problem for them in this sense, but in the match against Jamaica they had more problems with fatigue, making many marking mistakes and not using block play, which caused them to concede so many goals. • The team was not effective in applying pressure in the field,
for which they had to use individual marking instead of mixed marking. The forward always pressed by herself. • The last defensive line (5 Ellis and 3 Mike) played in a line.
They had no effective coverage or anticipations, which rival teams used to recover balls behind them and do penetration passes using the center. Midfielder 5 Ellis, did an outstanding job leading the defensive line with good technique, individual marking and aerial play. • Defensive left winger, 4 Woznuk, had many problems
trying to build-up plays in the three matches, losing ball possession often; and player 2 Govia, had good participation in build-up plays, but showed evident signs of fatigue in the third match where she made many mistakes.
• The players had good stamina on one-on-ones for zonal
marking, but in the last match against Jamaica they were already suffering from fatigue from not being able to have ball possession and having to pressure the opponent, which resulted in the team conceding 6 goals. • They usually had build-up plays from the defensive area.
They had a total of 66 deficient build-up plays throughout the tournament, both using the center and the wings, some of which was due to lack of mobility in the midfield and attacking zone to generate more spaces. • When the rival team had corner kicks, the whole team was
defending, even forward players 9 and 10 would go down to recover balls given that they had good height and could contribute with their aerial play.
ATTACK ANALYSIS • The basic formations used were 1-4-2-3-1 (in the goal area
and midfield) and 1-3-3-1 (in the goal area) with the sporadic incorporation of a defensive winger since they lacked organization. • The defense-attack organization was limited, and except for
the second match against Honduras, in the other matches against Canada and Jamaica they had some ball possession in the midfield, with few sporadic attacks on the opponent’s goal. They were able to create 100 attack opportunities in the three matches, 40 of which were good and 60 deficient. The team had particular problems with lost ball possession in the attack in the opponent’s goal and on shots on goal, having only 9 in the whole tournament. • Their attacking plays were very predictable, focusing on only
one forward (9 Campbell), who is a strong and fast player that can make plays using the wings that could create danger for the opponent, but who was always forced to use one-onones due to lack of support. Player 14 John, on the right, was the second most used player, and 8 Arjoon and 20 Theodore were attacking players but also lost ball possession often in the attack, since they lacked combination plays that were able to create spaces and position for a better organized attack. • The team lost ball possession many times with the direct
attacks. During the tournament they had 105 passes of which 29 were good and 76 were bad, many of them directed to 9 Campbell, but lacking in precision and sent in a manner that had to be disputed on one-one-ones because they were
93
anticipated by the rivals in the majority of occasions. • They were not able to have a compact game in defense-
attack transition plays; they tried to use a wide game with centers to the middle third with players 19, 12, and 3, but had few goal opportunities. • The team attacked using the wings 38 times in the
tournament; 18 of them were effective and 20 were deficient. They had penetration problems in their individual plays, which was the move they used most of the time with player 3, trying to have combination plays in the attacking zone but rarely achieving it. The players were not very effective since the ball was almost always in their defensive area where they had a pressure from the opponent. • They only had 3 corner kicks in the tournament, which proves
that they had deficiencies in the attack and lacked width and depth in them.
THINGS TO IMPROVE • The team did not have good ball handling and control skills,
which affected the ball’s positioning in the matches. • They need to improve in their continuity and rhythm to have
better flow in their game. • They need to work on their organization down the center
• The team had technical insufficiencies with ball handling
and ball control that affected their positioning, continuity and rhythm. • They lacked compact game in the attack and in the depth of
their actions, making them resort to individual play. • The players had technical limitations in short and mid
range shots on goal.
GOALS SCORED: 1
GOALS AGAINST:
9
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
-8
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
NAME
• They need to work on their organization in the defense and
attack, since they lack compact play at times, more in the attack than in the defense. • The team needs to improve pressing after lost ball
POSITION
TP
GS
• From the psychological standpoint, the team needs
to work on maintaining focus under pressure, and on managing tactical functions from a collective and individual perspective. • The team needs to work on mid an and long distance
passing and player mobility that strengthen the collective technique.
TS
O
RK
GA
1
Rebecca Almandoz
Goalkeeper
270
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
-11.0
12
Nicolette Craig
Goalkeeper
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
possession, on their zonal and individual marking, and on not losing block in transition plays. fitness conditioning, which will allow them to have better game dynamic and tactical positioning for the defense and attack.
TYC TRC TPM
2
Shaunalee Govia
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
30.0
3
Renee Mike
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
30.0
4
Sawsha Woznuk
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
30.0
5
Amaya Ellis
Midfielder
270
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
60.0
6
Kelsey Henry
Midfielder
116
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12.9
7
Maya Matouk
Forward
66
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
7.3
8
Summer Arjoon
Midfielder
212
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
38.6
9
Raenah Campbell
Forward
206
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
52.9
10
Tsaianne Leander
Forward
178
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
54.8
11
Celeste Thomas
Midfielder
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
13
Chelsea Frederick
Defender
25
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.8
DD
FW
HW
CE
S.C
9
9
8
9
8
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
TYC
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP
O
TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
#
94
NAME
51.19
and using the width of the pitch to create goal opportunities.
• They need to improve their aerobic and anaerobic physical
DEFICIENCIES
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
14
Chevonne John
Winger
228
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
15.3
Defender
66
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
7.3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
5
Amaya Ellis
Center back
Good aerial play, good technique and ability to read the game and recover the ball, strong on one-on-ones.
9
Raenah Campbell
Forward
Dangerous in the attack, strong, fast and with good game dynamic.
15
Shenieka Paul
18
Naomi Guerra
Center midfielder
Strong, hard-working and good in ball recovering.
16
Tonya Richards
17
Kedie Johnson
Midfielder
46
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5.1
18
Naomie Guerra
Midfielder
235
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
56.1
19
Dennecia Prince
Forward
132
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
29.7
20
Laurelle Theodore
Midfielder
139
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
30.4
2999
1
1
0
0
5
11
0
TOTAL
Utility Player
95
COACH:
MICHELLE FRENCH USA
The team’s preparation for the Honduras S.P.S. Pre World Cup consisted of 2 training camps and one international tournament. The result of the Honduras training camp that took place from September 21st to the 27th and where they played against the Honduran national team was USA 5-0 Honduras. During the training camp in Spain from October 10th to the 29th, the USA played two matches against professional teams, the results of which were as follows: USA 4-1 Atletico de Madrid, USA 4-1-Rayo Vallecano. The US Federation organized an important tournament in California in July and invited some elite national teams from all over the world to play: Japan, Brazil, Mexico and the host, the USA. The results of the matches were as follows: USA 1-0 Mexico, USA 0-3 Japan, USA 2-1 Brazil.
USA
The USA represents the Northern zone of CONCACAF, and it is the Confederation’s main exponent in key tournaments. The Stars and Stripes team has won 5 of the 8 editions of the CONCACAF U-20 championships that have been played, and it holds three FIFA World Cup titles that make it a world power in women’s soccer. Michelle French and her coaching staff close two cycles (4 years) in charge of the U-20 team that has given her work consistency and stability. Her organization and work methodology enable the recruitment of players from their state or province to national team training camps.
96
Three of the players that are part of the U-20 team were not able to travel for this tournament due to college commitments, and were replaced by 6 outstanding players from the U-17 team. The team’s average age was 17 years and 6 months, and this team has a bright future. The characteristic of the USA is that it is a national team that has a pleasant way of playing soccer, with a good and highly precise collective and individual technique, a tactical culture that determines the way to make decisions during the game’s countless tactical issues supported
Michelle French has a multi-disciplinary team that supports and contributes to planning the evolution of sport development areas, and her staff is top level. The team is comprised of assistant coaches who manage the technical, tactical, physical, psychological, nutritional and technological aspects of preparation. The team’s qualification to the CONCACAF tournaments is direct since their preparation is different than that of all the teams from the Caribbean and Central America.
97 1-4-2-3-1
by excellent stamina and a highly competitive spirit. The USA, together with Mexico, Panama and Haiti formed Group B. The USA national team won this phase with the following results: USA 2-2 Mexico in its first match, USA 6-1 Panama in the second match and USA 6-0 Haiti in the third match. The USA scored 14 goals and conceded 3 in the qualifying phase. In the Semifinals it faced Honduras, holder of the second place in Group A, and won 7-0, earning the right to play in the Final against Canada. For the final match, the USA used the players who had played the most minutes during the tournament. The team used a 1-4-2- 3-1 formation system, displayed great soccer, played with good dynamism and won 1-0 against Canada, obtaining the title for the fifth time in CONCACAF tournaments and the right to participate in the upcoming FIFA U-20 women’s World Cup. qui détermine les prises de décisions lors des innombrables problèmes tactiques du jeu, renforcé par une excellente préparation physique et une grande mentalité compétitive. Les USA joint au Mexico, à Panama, et à Haiti ont formé le groupe “B”. Les Américaines ont gagné cette phase avec les résultats suivants : USA (2-2) Mexico lors de sa première rencontre, dans la 2ème USA (6-1) Panama, dans la troisième USA (6-0) face à Haiti. Marquant 14 buts et encaissant 3 dans la phase de classification. Lors des demifinales elle a affronté la deuxième place du groupe “A” le Honduras, gagnant le jeu sur la marque USA (7-0) Honduras. Et s’octroyant le droit de jouer la finale contre le Canada.
98
Durant la rencontre finale, les USA, a utilisé des joueuses avec le plus grand nombre de minutes accumulées durant le tournoi. La distribution des joueuses sur le terrain de jeu a été suivant la structure (1-4-2-3-1) avec une profusion de bon football, joué avec un grand dynamisme. Les USA se sont imposés face au Canada (1x0) et avec cela se couronnent championnes pour la cinquième fois durant les tournois de la CONCACAF et ont le droit d’assister au prochain championnat mondial des moins de 20 ans de la FIFA
TACTICAL ANALYSIS
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS • The USA had players that had a highly precise individual
technique that allowed them to successfully compete. Collectively, they gave life to the game by executing ball handling plays in a manner that moved towards the opponent’s goal, with very good mobility, both individually and collectively, under an established game pattern. • The team’s good handling of short, mid and long range
passes allowed them to have good ball circulation speed in the different areas of the pitch, in addition to good continuity and rhythm. • Player 17, Parker Roberts, was a pivot in the midfield due
to her outstanding technique and ball handling skills for short, mid and long-range passes, and Mallory Pugh, 10, is an example of skill, talent and brilliance playing in the opponent’s area.
PHYSICAL ANALYSIS
• The USA used a 1-4-4-2 basic formation system, but due
to injuries of some of the players changed to 1-4-2-3-1. The team demonstrated knowledge in the organization of the game in both systems. • The team’s wining mentality allowed them to be
highly offensive, and in the defensive phase, to be well organized in the midfield by compacting the block with all the players, generating a numeric superiority for ball recovery. In the attack-defense transition plays after losing the ball, they applied pressure on the opponent until they regained possession of the ball. • In the match against Mexico the team had many tactic
position rotations, which we believe affected their stable offensive performance and therefore allowed Mexico to draw the match and to sometimes be a superior team. • The defensive wingers provided ample support on the
• In terms of physical characteristics, the players had good
conditions for though competitions, since they have the perfect height for certain positions, and they are fast and strong. • Their good tactical positioning and organization in the
field allowed them to have the stamina to keep up with the game’s intensity during the defensive and attacking plays. • The players had very good individual and collective
mobility, which gave them transparency and quality in their collective game as result of their excellent level of stamina throughout the match. • Players 6 Savannah Demelo in the midfield, and 10 Mallory
Pugh, were an example of excellent physical fitness with their constant mobility in the field. • The team’s warm-up is very well structured and is directed
by a coach during the initial, general and special parts, enabling the team to begin the match with good rhythm from the start.
USA’S ACTUAL PLAYING TIME PER MATCH: Match
1
2
3
4
5
Team
MEX
PAN
HAI
HON
CAN
Actual Playing Time
56.03
46.43
53.30
51.29
62.08
Total Average
54.23
wings in the attack, turning into good reference points in term of amplitude. • The defensive system worked very well, allowing only 3
goals in 5 matches, for an average of 0.6 goals per match.
ATTACK ANALYSIS • The USA team had a defensive line of 4, which was
very stable, and had the dynamic to support the attack, rotation and mobility of its players in the midfield. The forwards created uncertainty in their rivals. • Ball possession started with their goalkeeper (1
Rosemary Chandler) who always chose to start playing from the back with their defensive line-up; the team’s two center backs turned into the reference points for starting the game. In the midfield, the addition of the defensive wingers generated a numeric superiority, offering support and alternatives for passing in width and in depth to move forward using the sides and direct incursions. • The good functioning of the team’s game identity was the
consequence of the good individual technique and the tactic skills of each player, which allowed them to make good decisions
DEFENSE ANALYSIS • In the last 35 defensive meters, the line-up of 4
defenders was always organized and in front of the center midfielders who gave consistency to the defensive block.
• The team’s general concept was to function within a zone
and to maintain a block in the midfield, and from that zone, to execute defensive work by applying principles such as pressure on the player who is in possession of the ball, coverage, balance, closing down the lines and swinging. • Their mental focus on the match allowed them to
participate and intercept and win many balls; they were effective on one-on-ones and they generated counterattacks from the defense-attack transition plays from their defensive position. • The team was very effective in their aerial play. They had
good heading technique in the defense, corner kicks, direct throw-ins or lateral throw-ins, and the team’s center backs (5 Sabrina Flores and 2 Tierna Davidson) were outstanding. • The USA had an organized and secure attack from behind.
The goal kick was done by the goalkeeper, who had good feet and hand technique supported by the team’s defenders. The center backs would turn into receivers and pushers to go into attack. • The USA had players with excellent technical quality and
great tactical skills to go on the attack. • Positioning within the field favored them to elaborate
attacks from any zone of the field, having combination plays between the lines with penetration passes. • The midfield was the area where the attacks generated;
support from the defensive wingers and the quality of the central midfielders (17 Roberts and 6 Demelo), as well as the mobility of the team’s players in the attack opened many possibilities in the goal area. The wings were the places to generate assists for forwards in the area. • Down the center, the central midfielders (6 Demelo y
17Roberts) provided support and were present behind the forwards (15 Scarpa and 10 Mallory). • Shots on goal from mid and long range generated
uneasiness in their rivals, but the level of attack generated by the team needed to be more effective. • In set piece plays, they planned to always shoot corner
kicks towards the second post of the goal to leverage their good height, and on side free kicks they always shot looking for the tallest players. Next to the line of the goal area, they shot directly, leveraging a player who was a specialist in these types of shots. • The offensive system worked, and the team scored 22
goals in the 5 matches of the tournament, with an average of 4.4 per match, which is encouraging.
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• On shots on goal from mid and long range the team lacked
effectiveness, and created multiple opportunities but did not score. • Their technical approach was to play with ball possession,
with good combination plays and applying all technical skills. Additionally, the team was very good at one-on-ones.
TEAM DIRECTION
USA’S OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN THE TOURNAMENT CHART
• The Head Coach needs to maintain analysis, balance and
reflect on the work done for the upcoming World Cup. She has done excellent work. GOALS SCORED: 22
THINGS TO IMPROVE
NAME
GOALS AGAINST:
1
GOAL DIFFERENCE:
POSITION
TP
GS
3
TYC TRC TPM
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME:
TS
O
RK
GA
53.83
DD
FW
HW
CE
S.C
3
18
21
21
23
• The coaching team needs to analyze if the constant position
rotation is effective with strong teams with great level (World Cup). • The team needs to work on having better flow in ball
1
Rosemary Chandler
Goalkeeper
450
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
163.0
18
Brooke Heinsohn
Goalkeeper
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
circulation in the goal area. • They need to impose their game model in top competitions
7
Marley Canales
Midfielder
154
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
37.1
5
Tierna Davidson
Defender
436
1
0
0
0
0
5
1
150.4
6
Savannah DeMelo
Midfielder
432
1
1
0
1
0
3
3
149.0
4
Sabrina Flores
Defender
194
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
36.6
16
Emily Fox
Defender
406
1
1
0
0
0
3
0
100.1 TYC
9
Jordan Harr
Midfielder
76
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
-1.6
• The USA needs to improve in defense-attack transitions.
3
Mikaela Harvey
Midfielder
316
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
80.1
• They need to work on mental strength for top competitions.
11
Kelcie Hedge
Midfielder
80
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
28.9
19
Shannon Horgan
Defender
45
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
12.0
2
Natalie Jacobs
Defender
450
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
110.0 O
14
Taylor Otto
Defender
270
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
30.0
(World Cup). • They need to work on having faster attack-defense
transitions. • The team needs to improve their defense in the goal area
KEY TP
TOTAL PLAYING TIME BY PLAYER
GS
GOALS SCORED
for top competitions (World Cup). • They need to have better effectiveness and power in front of
the goal.
We should highlight the solidarity displayed during the tournament. OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
#
NAME
POSITION
DESCRIPTION
1
Emily Fox
Defender
20
Natalia Jacobs
9 10 19
100
12
Kiara Pickett
Defender
32
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
3.6
Good in defense, dynamic in the attack.
10
Mallory Pugh
Forward
387
7
0
0
2
0
5
4
276.0
Defender
Good on the mark, good in headers.
20
Zoe Redei
Forward
67
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7.4
Tierna Davidson
Defender
Functional in defense, center and wings.
17
Parker Roberts
Midfielder
335
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
82.2
Savannah Demelo
Center midfielder
Talented and functional in the midfield.
13
Ashley Sanchez
Forward
331
3
0
0
1
0
2
3
152.8
15
Jessie Scarpa
Forward
358
5
0
0
0
1
3
2
158.8
8
Ella Stevens
Midfielder
160
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
27.8
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
20.0
4979
22
4
0
4
4
36
14
Ashley Sanchez
Forward
Intelligent and with game vision.
15
Mallory Pugh
Forward
Talented, has dribble in the goal area, scorer.
15
Jessie Scarpa
Forward
Dynamic in the attack with goal vision.
15
Parker Roberts
Center midfielder
Game vision, precise in the attack.
Autogol
TOTAL
TOTAL YELLOW CARDS
TRC
TOTAL RED CARDS
TPM
TOTAL FOR PLAYER OF THE MATCH BY MATCH
TS
TOTAL SUBSTITUTIONS IN REGARDS TO STARTING LINE-UP TOTAL OUTSTANDING PLAYERS BY MATCH
RK
RANKING AMONG ALL TEAM PLAYERS
GA
TOTAL GOALS AGAINST
DD
DIRECTION IN DEFENSE
FW
FOOTWORK
HW
HAND WORK
CE
CENTER EXITS
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CONCLUSIONS •
•
•
•
•
•
•
102 •
Once again there was a substantial difference in the competitive levels between the three regions of the area. The North American teams (USA, Canada and Mexico) have the highest levels in all aspects. The Central American and Caribbean teams are still very distant. The USA and Canada proved that the teams that aspire to be World Cup champions need to have stable and powerful development processes in terms of technical, tactical, organizational skills, and must have great scientific-technical support. Due to the differences in terms of game quality and functioning among the different national teams, we can conclude that there is still much work to be done for the development and stable practice of women’s soccer in Central America and the Caribbean, which lack stable leagues and ongoing processes.
•
was superior to the offensive functioning of all the teams, through the compact grouping of players in the midfield. •
Technical and physical insufficiencies persist in the development of goalkeepers, and they continue to have serious deficiencies in the warm-ups when the goalkeepers are part of a weaker team. The differences in preparation between the teams were great in terms of content, quality and time. The Central American and Caribbean teams did not play enough preparation matches and lacked training time, which together with the lack of stable competitive leagues had an impact on the competitive quality of the teams. The low level of support given to women’s soccer in terms of strategic development prevents it from achieving stable technical and competitive results for most of the countries of CONCACAF.
This tournament was an offensive event due to the number of goals scored (63), with an average of 3.94 per match, which was due in the most part to the high amount of goals scored by the strong North American teams.
•
The teams used the width of the pitch and the wings to attack, where they had more ball possession, as well as better coordination receiving passes and using headers for shots on goal.
•
Most of the teams lacked forceful and compact build-up plays into the opponent’s area, as well as
The referees continued to develop their work without any issues in a tournament were only 1 red card and 27 yellow cards were shown. There was a great difference in age between the players of a same team and between the teams that participated, a negative aspect that shows lack of stable formation processes in Central America and the Caribbean.
The defensive work and organization in this area
effectiveness in shots on goal. •
The players of most teams constantly lost concentration during the matches. They also lacked continuity and rhythm, except for the USA and Canada, and sometimes Mexico.
•
Once again the quality, organization, coordination and intelligence of the midfielders determined the results of the teams and their functioning.
•
It was established once again that the mobility of the players within a game pattern is a key factor in today’s soccer. There are no longer static players who stay in a single position.
•
Despite of the technical and tactical limitations previously discussed, we can establish that there is a continuing gradual evolution since there are now a greater number of very talented players.
103
RECOMMENDATIONS
•
•
104
Increase awareness of the fact that women’s soccer needs support and appoint, at the CONCACAF level, a person who is able to establish a real and ongoing strategy to develop this type of soccer and establish the necessary follow-ups needed in each of the countries in the region. CONCACAF, as an entity, needs to have a clearly defined strategy for women’s soccer. Do a better job in terms of communicating the events to the public, to increase attendance to the events.
•
Do an in-depth analysis of the technical, physical and age developmental aspects to regulate the ages in women’s tournaments and establish a range for them.
•
Eliminate extra time in the qualification phase and go directly to penalty shots. Use extra time only in the Final match.
•
Encourage the different federations in the region to create official women soccer leagues and establish development plans. Start with these processes since early childhood.
•
CONCACAF must have two official playing fields for the Group phase, which would act as a back up in case there are any unforeseen events.
•
Establish an award for Best Goal of the Tournament for all tournaments.
•
There must always be a board at each of CONCACAF’s events that keeps track of the score and playing time.
105
MEMBERS OF THE TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP FOR THE 2015 WOMEN’S U-20 TOURNAMENT IN SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS.
From left to right: Oscar Benitez (El Salvador), Luis Miguel Hernandez (Cuba), Jocelyn Germen (Martinica) Luis Manuel Hernandez (Cuba) Carlos Pavon (Honduras) THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WERE PART OF THE TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP:
1. Luis Hernandez Herez (Cuba). Member of EXCO. Chair of the TSG. 2. Jocelyn Germen. (Martinique). Specialist. 3. Oscar Benitez. (El Salvador). Specialist. 4. Carlos Pavon. (Honduras). Specialist. 5. Elieth Artavia. (Costa Rica). Specialist. 6. Luis Manuel Hernandez. (Cuba). Coordinator of the TSG. THE TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP (TSG) PERFORMED THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS:
106
•
Wrote the technical and tactical analysis and the report for each match.
•
Exchanged thoughts with coaches and watched trainings.
•
Gathered match statics.
•
Selected the Fair Play team for each match and for the Tournament.
•
Selected the Best Player of the Match for each match and outstanding players per team. Selected the Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
•
Selected the All-Star team.
•
Prepared the Tournament’s preliminary and final reports.
•
Analyzed the performance of all players who participated in the event.
•
Did a final analysis of the technical, tactical and physical aspects of all teams participating in the Tournament.