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WATCH LIVE: Women’s World Cup – Day 12

By Jeff KassoufJun 17, 2015, 12:45 PM EDT
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Wednesday is the final day of group play. All eight teams in action remain alive and in fact nobody needs help.  Any team that wins is in the knockout stage.

[ RELATED: Latest WWC news ]

Brazil and Colombia are already in.  And Sweden, who played Tuesday, waits to see if they have done enough or not.  Thailand too, but their advance scenarios are not realistic.

Group F – Mexico (0-1-1) vs France (1-1-0)
Wednesday, 4 p.m. EDT
Lansdowne Stadium, Ottawa
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It seems like ages ago that France were shocked by Colombia, but it has only been four days. France are only a draw away from moving on and they’re up against a team without a World Cup win (as Colombia was four days ago). The bigger picture is that they have played with little urgency or support and Louisa Necib is among a group of players who trained on the side earlier this week due to injury.

Mexico have shown signs of life in both matches so far but have ultimately made the wrong mistakes at the wrong time else they could have a win and a draw instead of a draw and a loss. If they  can make this the day they finally get a win on the world stage it will come accompanied by another match in the Round of 16.

Group F – England (1-1-0) vs Colombia (1-0-1)
Wednesday, 4 p.m. EDT
Olympic Stadium, Montreal
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Colombia are unbeaten and they know they have a knockout match ahead. So will they be complacent? Will they play some depth players and try to be at full strength for the Round of 16? It was not as if they controlled the match against France, but they did a remarkable job keeping composure which, combined with the French inability to make the final pass and finish, created a mind-numbing upset. It will be difficult for Colombia to go home entirely disappointed which can make motivation a challenge.

England looked a mess through a match and a half but were a new team in the second half against Mexico, particularly when Karen Carney came off the bench. A win means a top-two position in the group and France will have to win and catch them on goal difference to jump over them on the table. If they lose, however, it will be time to sweat out the Group E results.

Group E – Costa Rica (0-0-2) vs Brazil (2-0-0)
Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Moncton Stadium, Moncton
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Brazil are not only through but locked in as group winners so they are expected to rest a few players. That will be welcome news for Costa Rica, who need a win to assure passage to the next phase. That said there is a scenario in which Costa Rica can lose and still advance as group second, but it would take a one-goal loss and a Korea Republic/Spain draw in which Spain does not score enough goals to surpass Costa Rica’s total. A draw of 2-2 or higher will put the Ticas through as will a win.

Brazil are the only team left not to concede, which would be a nice way to finish group play but they could not be blamed if one eye is already on Australia.

Group E – Korea Republic (0-1-1) vs Spain (0-1-1)
Wednesday, 7:00 pm EDT
Lansdowne Stadium, Ottawa
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There is quite a bit riding on this match because if it ends in a draw it will guarantee Sweden advance and could help England or France if they trip up earlier. Spain has twice unleashed Vero Boquete but her midfield brilliance has yet to translate into a Spanish win. Korea Republic have Ji Soyun and were on the verge of a strong position in the group until Costa Rica stunned them with a late equalizer.

Other advancement scenarios:

– The two idle teams looking for help are Sweden and Thailand

– If Costa Rica lose or draw 0-0, Sweden advance

– If Korea Republic and Spain draw, Sweden advance

– If either England or France lose and the other game ends in a draw, Sweden advance

– If England and France both lose, Sweden advance

– The only way for Thailand to advance is for England to lose by at least eight goals, France to win or draw, and for Costa Rica to lose or Korea Republic/Spain play to a draw

Man United’s recruitment policy slammed

By Joe Prince-WrightJan 20, 2020, 11:32 AM EST
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Manchester United’s recruitment policy has been hammered by their former legendary player and current Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville who believes they need “five or six players” to become competitive.

Following United’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday, Neville responded by lashing out at the ownership of the club and issued a thinly-veiled attack on executive chairman Ed Woodward and the hierarchy.

Speaking to our partners Sky Sports, Neville let loose as the gulf in class between United’s performance and Liverpool’s was stark, aside from the spirit that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side showed throughout.

“Manchester United have to react fast. They need to make good decisions,” Neville said. “Over the last few years there is a frustration that Manchester United have been U-turning all over the place when it comes to strategy. They have made some terrible investments in terms of recruitment and it is all coming home to roost. This is going to get bad. The next six months are going to be really difficult.”

When you look at the more recent signings of Alexis Sanchez, Eric Bailly and Diogo Dalot, how much have they added to the team? With Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba out injured, for such an expensively assembled squad there really isn’t much depth.

Neville is right, there has been no real plan in place with recruitment because they’ve had four very different managers (David Moys, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and now Solskjaer) in the past six years and they have no sporting director or technical director making the recruitment decisions.

Instead, Woodward and businessmen at the top of the club are making soccer decisions and United continue to pay over the odds for players, even though the likes of Harry Magurie and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have improved their defensive unit.

“I can’t believe, with the investment that has been put into the squad over the last five or six years and you end up with that out on the pitch. I cannot believe it. I saw a statistic that Manchester United have the second highest wage bill in the world. And that is the squad they have got? It is unforgivable,” Neville continued.

“I can’t change the ownership of Manchester United, no-one can, but I am struggling to understand why the ownership has persisted in trusting that management team to oversee that investment. If you don’t lose your job for overseeing that investment, that wage bill and putting that team out on the pitch, something is really wrong.”

Does anybody have a problem with what Solskjaer said? Probably not.

Some might say that like Roy Keane, he may be trying to protect his former teammate, Solskjaer, but there’s no doubt United need to invest in midfielders, with a deal for Bruno Fernandes stalling, and at least one more center forward as they haven’t played Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez who both left in the summer.

Solskjaer’s side are currently in fifth and are only five points off the top four but injuries are piling up and although the plan is to play youngsters and give them chances to shine, the slapdash way United have built their squad will continue to hurt them.

Arteta: Arsenal’s game at Chelsea ‘must win’

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By Joe Prince-WrightJan 20, 2020, 10:37 AM EST
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We are only in January, so is it too early to be talking about ‘must win’ games in the Premier League? It isn’t if you’re Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta talking about their top four hopes.

The Gunners head across London to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (Watch live, 3:15 p.m. ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com) knowing a win will not only boost their faint top four hopes but also put another sizable dent in Frank Lampard‘s hopes of leading the Blues to Champions League qualification.

Chelsea currently sit in fourth place, just five points ahead of Man United in fifth, while Arsenal are 10th and sit 10 points behind Chelsea.

Speaking to the media ahead of the short trip across England’s capital city, Arteta didn’t play down the importance of the clash when asked if it is vital for their top four aspirations.

“It’s really important. It’s very, very important for us to win this game to fight for that,” Arteta said. “Also, the game we played at home, it could have made a big difference and we were very close to it. Tomorrow we need to win. Everyone is having a lot of problems to put together back-to-back wins, the league has been very competitive this season and that is why the gaps aren’t that big. There are still four months to play and a lot of things can happen, a lot of games between the top teams as well so I think that will change.”

Arsenal started very well against Chelsea when they played them on Dec. 29, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave them an early lead but late goals from Jorginho and Tammy Abraham gave the Blues a comeback win.

The Gunners have started well and taken the lead in plenty of recent games but keep coughing up goals to drop points as the same defensive problems are cropping up for Arteta as they did for Unai Emery and Arsene Wenger before him.

That said, there is a different intensity to their play and they will go to Chelsea without star striker Aubameyang who is suspended, but with hope that they can catch out an inconsistent Chelsea who lost at Newcastle on Saturday despite dominating the game.

This London derby will not only be a tense battle over 90 minutes, it will also set the tone for how both teams will fare in the final months of the campaign.

Cavani linked with Man United, Spurs, Chelsea

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By Joe Prince-WrightJan 20, 2020, 9:39 AM EST
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Edinson Cavani has handed in a transfer request at Paris Saint-Germain as he’s been linked with a move to Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea in the January window.

PSG sporting director Leonardo confirmed that PSG met with Atletico Madrid but that they couldn’t agree a deal with the Spanish club as Cavani’s contract runs out in the summer.

“We’ve always said the same thing. We were hoping he would stay with the club, but today (Sunday) he asked to leave. We’re studying the situation. We’ve had a proposal from Atletico Madrid, but that proposal was not commensurate with the player’s value,” Leonardo said.

Cavani, 32, has also been linked with a move to the LA Galaxy and Inter Miami in recent months as his hip injury in August and subsequent fitness problems has allowed Neymar, Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe to develop a devastating partnership up front for the French champions.

Tottenham’s need for a short-term solution up front is greater than any other club in the Premier League after Jose Mourinho lost Harry Kane until at least April with a serious hamstring injury. Spurs have been working hard to find a solution and Cavani, who turns 33 in February, would surely fit the bill as his characteristics as a player are very similar to Kane.

With Chelsea having Tammy Abraham as their main striker with Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi as back ups, providing competition for Abraham is clearly necessary as Chelsea continue to fire blanks despite dominating games. If they’re going to finish in the top four this season they need to be more clinical in the final third as they’ve now lost to West Ham, Bournemouth, Southampton and Newcastle without scoring.

Frank Lampard admitted that he admires Cavani and refused to rule out a move for the striker this month.

“He’s (Cavani) a great player – I played against him and I always loved his mentality and his attitude. His goal-scoring record speaks for itself. I’m not absolutely aware of what the situation is, so we’ll see,” Lampard said. “He’s an experienced player but so are many other players out there! We are young as a squad so the idea of bringing in experience is not something I’m looking away from. Sometimes the younger players need a bit of help.”

As for Man United, the news that star striker Marcus Rashford is set to be out for at least the next two months was a hammer blow to their top four hopes as they sit five points behind fourth-place Chelsea in the table. Mason Greenwood is their main back-up option but with Rashford out, Anthony Martial needs to step up to the plate and kick on to replicate his fine start to the season. He didn’t do that against Liverpool in the 2-0 defeat at Anfield and this is what Solskjaer had to say about signing a new striker.

“It might be because the window is open that we look at some short-term deals as well and that could take us through until the summer.”

Who needs Cavani more? There’s no doubt the Uruguayan striker would be a stop-gap signing for all three clubs but his quality is undoubted and his physically style of play would suit the Premier League well.

He is perhaps better suited to Tottenham and Chelsea’s style of play as both rely on a true target man to build off of, while at United their attacking unit is all about pace on the counter, something Cavani doesn’t possess much of any more, bless him. However, given how well Zlatan Ibrahimovic performed at United in 2016-17, maybe the Red Devils will be eager to put their Champions League hopes on the shoulders of another veteran striker from PSG?

Cavani’s record for Napoli and PSG proves he is a world-class striker and if one of Spurs, United or Chelsea sign him this month, their chances of finishing in the top four will sky rocket. That’s how pivotal he could be, if fully fit and ready to empty his tank in Europe for the next few years before heading to Major League Soccer.

Gio Reyna: “A dream came true”

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By Joe Prince-WrightJan 20, 2020, 8:44 AM EST
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Gio Reyna, 17, became the youngest American to play in the Bundesliga as the central midfielder, son of USMNT legend Claudio, made his debut for Borussia Dortmund in their 5-3 win at Augsburg on Saturday.

Reyna came on as a sub after a fellow sub making his Dortmund debut, Erling Haaland, had scored a 20-minute hat trick to turn the game on its head as the German giants ended up winning after trailing 3-1.

Speaking about his debut in the professional game, the U.S. U20 captain was utterly delighted and summed it up quite simply.

“A dream came true,” Reyna said. “It was a great game for us. When the coach called my name I was so excited. I was nervous but the guys made me feel comfortable.”

The talented central midfielder was promoted to Dortmund’s first team earlier this month after impressing in training during the winter break and he’s only been at the club since last summer.

“What a night! Extremely happy to make my debut but even happier for the win,” Reyna added on social media.

Safe to say USMNT fans are delighted with the rise of Reyna, while other youngsters Tyler Adams, Lynden Gooch and Josh Sargent all continue to shine in Europe with positive showings over the weekend.

Folks within the Bundesliga aren’t lowering the expectations on Reyna’s shoulders either, as an article on the website focuses on Reyna’s ‘eerily similar path’ to Dortmund as Christian Pulisic, while Dortmund’s assistant coach Jorg Heinrich believes that Reyna has more potential than Pulisic. Think about that. Stop drooling, USMNT fans.

“Gio is a fantastic talent. He has loads of potential along with plenty of confidence. I think his talent is similar to Christian Pulisic, or maybe a little bit better. But we want to keep him grounded because we’ve seen what happens to a lot of the young players,” Heinrich told Goal recently.