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The final day of Germany’s Bundesliga could
hardly be more exciting, with the title due to be decided by a direct encounter
between title challengers FFC Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg next Sunday.
Meanwhile, the champions have already been crowned in Switzerland and Austria,
while there have also been nail-biting matches in the USA and Sweden’s
Damallsvenskan. FIFA.com rounds up of the latest
results from selected women’s leagues around the world.
Germany: And then there were
two…The tussle for the Bundesliga is now down to just two teams.
Turbine Potsdam bowed out of the race after losing 2-1 to league leaders 1. FFC
Frankfurt last weekend, as Fatmire
Alushi and Kerstin
Garefrekes fired the Hesse side to their 16th win of the
campaign. However, their victory came at a price: Saskia
Bartusiak, who equalised with an own goal, will be out of action for at
least ten months after suffering a torn posterior cruciate ligament in her left
knee and a fractured tibia.
Elsewhere, UEFA Champions League winners VfL
Wolfsburg continue to snap at Frankfurt’s heels after posting a 2-0 triumph
against Cloppenburg. The victory cleared the path for a final-day showdown
between the league’s top two sides. After the match against Cloppenburg, VfL
goalkeeper Almuth Schult said: “Now I know how it feels to win a trophy, I want
to get a second one no matter what!”
In the lower half of the Bundesliga, TSG 1899
Hoffenheim were able to celebrate staying in the top flight after a 3-2 away win
over Bayern Munich gave them 22 points for the season. Victory initially looked
unlikely for Hoffenheim, after Leonie Pankratz scored to put the hosts ahead in
the first minute, with Lena Lotzen doubling their lead scarcely 15 minutes
later. Mana Iwabuchi clawed a goal back for the visitors before half-time;
Sabine Stoller then levelled things after the break before Iwabuchi struck a
second time to secure three points for TSG.
Top three: FFC Frankfurt (53 points), VfL
Wolfsburg (52), Turbine Potsdam (48)
USA: Seattle return to
winning waysTop-of-the-table Seattle Reign FC got their campaign
back on track last weekend after a draw in their previous outing. Seattle
defeated Sky Blue FC 3-1 and remain the undisputed leaders of the National
Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) with 26 points. Their success against Sky Blue was
largely due to the efforts of Japanese international Nahomi Kawasumi, who netted
a brace. Chicago Red Stars also posted a 2-0 win over Sky Blue in their previous
game, moving them past Washington Spirit into second place behind Seattle.
Washington, for their part, emerged victorious in a close-fought match with
Boston Breakers that ended 3-2. Meanwhile, defending champions Portland Thorns
FC continue to struggle, crashing to their third consecutive defeat with a 4-1
loss to Boston Breakers. The Thorns currently languish in fifth place in the
table.
Top three: Seattle Reign FC (26), Chicago Red
Stars (19), Washington Spirit (16)
Sweden: Top two marching in
stepThe Damallsvenskan’s top teams all enjoyed success on
the eighth matchday of the season. Leaders FC Rosengard, who played last season
as LdB FC Malmo, recorded a resounding 5-0 win against Goteborg. German
international Anja Mittag was in fine scoring form, forcing the Goteborg keeper
to pick the ball out of the net three times. Umea IK were similarly prolific in
front of goal as they defeated newly-promoted Eskilstuna United DFF 6-1.
Elsewhere, KIF Orebro enjoyed a more sedate but no less successful day as coach
Rickard Nilsson’s side beat AIK Fotball 1-0.
Top three: FC Rosengard (18), KIF Orebro (15),
Umea IK (14)
Switzerland / Austria: FC
Zurich and SV Neulengbach wrap up titlesFC Zurich had every reason
to celebrate in Switzerland’s Nationalliga A
this week after sealing their third consecutive championship title and rounding
out a successful campaign with a thumping 6-1 victory against Kriens. FC Zurich
ended the season with 23 wins, one draw and one defeat to their name, while the
league’s highest-scoring player – Fabienne Humm, with 30 goals – was also an FCZ
player.
In neighbouring Austria, record-breaking champions SV
Neulengbach lifted their twelfth championship trophy in a row. The team from
Lower Austria took the crown on the penultimate day of the season after a 4-1
triumph over second-placed FSK St. Polten-Spratzern left them six points clear
at the top of the table with just one match remaining. Spratzern were able to
console themselves with victory in the domestic cup competition after defeating
Neulengbach 4-3 in the final.
Played seven, won five and drawn one. They are the statistics of Mark
Sampson's reign as England manager after the
affable Welshman replaced the long-serving Hope Powell in December 2013.
The former Bristol Academy boss, who he guided to their highest top-flight finish, now has his feet firmly under the table - in an office next to Roy Hodgson's at England's Wembley Stadium.
So far, England's record in FIFA Women's World Cup™ qualifying has been perfect, with six wins out of six - with the Lionesses' defence unbreached. Yet Sampson is still demanding improvements from his players as he seeks to implement his philosophy ahead of Canada 2015.
FIFA.com: When the announcement was made that Hope Powell was leaving the England job, did you see yourself as a contender to become the next England women’s coach?
Mark Sampson: I think there is a big difference between seeing yourself as a contender and wanting the job. I think my initial reaction wouldn’t have been to see myself as a contender, but was to have enough belief that if given the opportunity I would do a good job. It is a matter of going through the process of hopefully getting the opportunity to share your philosophy and share your ideas with the people who make those decisions and then if they felt they are the right ideas for the team moving forward, then hopefully I’d be given the position.
You spoke about your philosophy. What can we expect to see from your England teams?
First and foremost it’s about making sure we’ve got the right human qualities within the team. We’re going to be big on our values and our morals and the way in which we try and act and try to inspire people. We want to make sure we are good people who act in the right way and are fitting enough to wear an England jersey. Once you’ve got a group of people in the room who have that type of mentality and that type of character, and then you add a bit of hard work, I think you’ve got the chance to get yourself on the training pitch and start to influence a new style of play. Once we get to that stage we’ll certainly be looking to do some work on the training pitch and hopefully that will come alive in matches. We want to be a team who are positive, who try and attack and try to play on the front foot. But we also want us to have a lot of tactical discipline. Players understand that as much as we want to be positive and try to score goals, it is important we have a structure for that. That will take a lot of time but certainly we have made some good positive strides already.
You have the frustrations of a national team manager now; in terms of
the lack of time you are able to spend with the players. In terms of
implementing your new philosophy, how valuable was the Cyprus Cup?
Like with any problem that arises, you can see it as a problem or you can see an opportunity. We understand that not having the players on a daily basis or not having them as much as probably a lot of other nations get access
to their
players, means we have to be a bit different with how we work it. That’s what
we’re trying to do. We’re trying to put a lot of strategies in place, which
means we communicate more regularly with the players, pass them information and
form a stronger relationship in terms of them understanding what we want from
them on a day-to-day basis. In terms of the actual time on the pitch and the
time you’re together as a group, a tournament like the Cyprus Cup is invaluable.
You’re not only getting the experience of a tournament schedule where you’re
playing lots of games in a short space of time, and you’re also away from home
for long periods of time. We’re getting the opportunity in the early stages to
spend some time with the players, to get to know them as people. And then we get
out onto the training ground and start to talk about how we want to play. We see
what players are good at.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada next year is on the horizon. Are you already thinking about booking your
ticket through qualification as quickly as possible?
No, we would be very naive to look any further than our next game in terms of results. Obviously results and good performances breed confidence and we want to be going into a major championship, if we were to qualify, in that frame of mind – confidence and knowing we’re coming off the back of some positive results. We have to bear the long term in the back of our mind. The focus has got to be day-to-day on the next match and making sure we’re at our absolute best in performing in those games and really get to the next level in our journey. In every performance we want to lay down a marker. And the important thing is every time we get the opportunity to put a performance on, we move that marker a little bit further.
When you were named coach of the England team, you said you would not be frightened to give young players a chance. How
would you rate your young players’ performances so far?
I think the younger players have really brought a freshness and an energy to the squad, both on and off the pitch. We really try to inject a bit of speed into our game and certainly the younger players have come in and really helped that quality of our performances. I’ve been delighted with them. They’ve come in and they’ve embraced the environment. They’ve given it their best and that’s all we can ask them to do. The reason they’re there is because they’re talented, so when they come away with us it’s just about repeating the things they’ve been doing on a day-to-day basis at their clubs. You also cannot underestimate the part the senior players play in that. They’re the ones who welcome them into environment, who make sure they’re comfortable and they feel like they can be themselves. You have to give big credit who also
have that mentality because for them, this is also new. They might have 100 caps
and they might be very experienced players but they’re also stepping into a new
environment, embracing new ideas and new concepts. You have to take your hat off
to them if they’re willing to do that and if they’re willing to be open minded
in helping us improve the team.
Sampson: My England will entertain
Wednesday 28 May 2014
© Getty
Images
The former Bristol Academy boss, who he guided to their highest top-flight finish, now has his feet firmly under the table - in an office next to Roy Hodgson's at England's Wembley Stadium.
So far, England's record in FIFA Women's World Cup™ qualifying has been perfect, with six wins out of six - with the Lionesses' defence unbreached. Yet Sampson is still demanding improvements from his players as he seeks to implement his philosophy ahead of Canada 2015.
FIFA.com: When the announcement was made that Hope Powell was leaving the England job, did you see yourself as a contender to become the next England women’s coach?
Mark Sampson: I think there is a big difference between seeing yourself as a contender and wanting the job. I think my initial reaction wouldn’t have been to see myself as a contender, but was to have enough belief that if given the opportunity I would do a good job. It is a matter of going through the process of hopefully getting the opportunity to share your philosophy and share your ideas with the people who make those decisions and then if they felt they are the right ideas for the team moving forward, then hopefully I’d be given the position.
You spoke about your philosophy. What can we expect to see from your England teams?
First and foremost it’s about making sure we’ve got the right human qualities within the team. We’re going to be big on our values and our morals and the way in which we try and act and try to inspire people. We want to make sure we are good people who act in the right way and are fitting enough to wear an England jersey. Once you’ve got a group of people in the room who have that type of mentality and that type of character, and then you add a bit of hard work, I think you’ve got the chance to get yourself on the training pitch and start to influence a new style of play. Once we get to that stage we’ll certainly be looking to do some work on the training pitch and hopefully that will come alive in matches. We want to be a team who are positive, who try and attack and try to play on the front foot. But we also want us to have a lot of tactical discipline. Players understand that as much as we want to be positive and try to score goals, it is important we have a structure for that. That will take a lot of time but certainly we have made some good positive strides already.
We want to be a team who are positive, who try and attack and try
to play on the front foot.
Mark Sampson, England coach.
Like with any problem that arises, you can see it as a problem or you can see an opportunity. We understand that not having the players on a daily basis or not having them as much as probably a lot of other nations get access
to their
players, means we have to be a bit different with how we work it. That’s what
we’re trying to do. We’re trying to put a lot of strategies in place, which
means we communicate more regularly with the players, pass them information and
form a stronger relationship in terms of them understanding what we want from
them on a day-to-day basis. In terms of the actual time on the pitch and the
time you’re together as a group, a tournament like the Cyprus Cup is invaluable.
You’re not only getting the experience of a tournament schedule where you’re
playing lots of games in a short space of time, and you’re also away from home
for long periods of time. We’re getting the opportunity in the early stages to
spend some time with the players, to get to know them as people. And then we get
out onto the training ground and start to talk about how we want to play. We see
what players are good at. The FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada next year is on the horizon. Are you already thinking about booking
your
ticket through qualification as quickly as possible? No, we would be very naive to look any further than our next game in terms of results. Obviously results and good performances breed confidence and we want to be going into a major championship, if we were to qualify, in that frame of mind – confidence and knowing we’re coming off the back of some positive results. We have to bear the long term in the back of our mind. The focus has got to be day-to-day on the next match and making sure we’re at our absolute best in performing in those games and really get to the next level in our journey. In every performance we want to lay down a marker. And the important thing is every time we get the opportunity to put a performance on, we move that marker a little bit further.
When you were named coach of the England team, you said you would not be frightened to give young players a chance
. How
would you rate your young players’ performances so far? I think the younger players have really brought a freshness and an energy to the squad, both on and off the pitch. We really try to inject a bit of speed into our game and certainly the younger players have come in and really helped that quality of our performances. I’ve been delighted with them. They’ve come in and they’ve embraced the environment. They’ve given it their best and that’s all we can ask them to do. The reason they’re there is because they’re talented, so when they come away with us it’s just about repeating the things they’ve been doing on a day-to-day basis at their clubs. You also cannot underestimate the part the senior players play in that. They’re the ones who welcome them into environment, who make sure they’re comfortable and they feel like they can be themselves. You have to give big credit
who also
have that mentality because for them, this is also new. They might have 100 caps
and they might be very experienced players but they’re also stepping into a new
environment, embracing new ideas and new concepts. You have to take your hat off
to them if they’re willing to do that and if they’re willing to be open minded
in helping us improve the team. 
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