| Four Teams, Four Systems |
The 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's Cup in Canada was a test of systems and styles
The following is a report on the U-19 Women’s World Cup semi-finals, third place game and championship match in Edmonton, Alberta, Aug. 29 through Sept. 1, 2002. It originally appeared in the January-February 2003 issue of Soccer Journal.
By Jeff Tipping, NSCAA Director of Coaching Education
When Canada hosted the inaugural FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup Championship, the 12 finalists were divided into three qualifying groups (see results and groups below). The top two teams from each group went through to the quarterfinals plus the other two teams (Denmark and England) with the best overall qualifying record. The groups played at three different sites all in Western Canada, Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia and Edmonton in Alberta.
Canada is a country of slightly over 20 million people. The population is gathered largely within 100 miles of the border. The country is vast and thinly populated but has a good road system, airline and train system. Canada has excellent food and hygiene.
The Canadian Soccer Association was especially keen to host a good tournament as members hope to bid for the 2007 Women’s World Cup. They also hosted the Gold Cup matches in late October and early November 2002.
The CSA governs the growth of soccer through 12 provincial centers. The provinces are developing academies for their young players and there has been a marked improvement in the quality and quantity of young soccer players emerging in Canada. It was with great pride that a number of CSA officials pointed to the Canadian U-19 Women’s Team as the first national team to benefit from the academy system. Interestingly, scholarships in American colleges were a potential inducement to players who were involved in the academy system.
The stadiums chosen for the event were Centennial Stadium, Victoria, capacity 5,000; Swangard Stadium, Vancouver, capacity 7,500; and Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, capacity 60,000.
All of the 24 referees were female and 25-35 years of age. They performed well, for the most part, in spite of some difficult conditions. In conversation with a number of them who were involved in the Edmonton games, they were refereeing in front of huge, partisan crowds for the first time ever. The Finnish referee of the Canada vs. Brazil semifinal (attendance 37,194) had never refereed before more than 4,000 fans.
The referees had to contend with a huge instant replay stadium screen which indiscriminately replayed all goalmouth action, even of a controversial nature. The dissent-torn semifinal game between Canada and Brazil could possibly have erupted into violence had more Brazilian fans been there to witness the replay of two penalty kick incidents to which the referee waved “play on.” The use of playback screens in events of this nature deserves review.
Attendance figures steadily grew as the tournament progressed and became quite staggering. The Championship match between Canada and U.S.A. was a sellout (60,000). The home supporters were boisterous, waving banners and huge flags, but they were gracious to all the contestants. The away supporters were in smaller numbers possibly because of the location or time of year the event was held.
A large number of FIFA representatives attended the event, including President Sepp Blatter, CONCACAF President Jack Warner, Jean Paul Brigger, a FIFA Technical Director, among others.
Technical observations
Brazil certainly provided the widest and most eye-catching of the technical skills, with their play very similar to that of the Brazilian men:
• Rolling ball with bottom sole of foot and bottom of toe.
• Juggling ball over the head of opponents and receiving it on the other side. The Brazilian players frequently did this in their defensive third.
• Overhead bicycle kicks from almost anywhere on the field.
• Show and poke. The Brazilians have always been masters at showing opponents the ball and, as the opponents’ center of gravity moves onto the front foot, poking the ball away and going past.
• U.S. forwards were especially good at receiving ball with defender on inside shoulder and accelerating past defender and “turning the corner.” I thought Heather O’Reilly was exceptional at this.
• All teams had players who could drive the ball a long way. This seemed to me to be a huge improvement technically. McLeod, the Canadian goalie and U.S. goalkeeper Harris goalkicked the ball well over the halfway line. Players were able to change the point of attack with ease. German player Sabal, a defensive midfield player, took a free kick 15 yards inside her half which landed on the penalty spot in the U.S. penalty area.
• As the leaping ability of our female players has improved, so has their heading ability. Oakes of the U.S.A., Andrews and Rustard of Canada, Diniz and Reis of Brazil and Krueger, Guenther and Sabol of Germany were excellent defensive headers of the ball. The skill of heading a goalie’s punt was ably executed by these players. Both the Brazilian and U.S. defenders dealt capably with Canada’s direct style.
• The ability of O’Reilly of the U.S. and Marta of Brazil to back into defenders, receive a ball into feet and turn the defenders was highly developed. This is one of the skills I highlighted in my Technical Report of the 1998 World Cup that I thought our center forwards could improve upon.
Tactics/Strategy
Canada’s 4-4-2 direct style vs. Brazil 3-5-2:
The four teams featured played four different systems: Canada 4-4-2, U.S.A. 3-4-3 (against Germany 4-3-3 the last hour), Brazil 3-5-2 (3-4-1-2) and Germany 4-3-3.
Although initially effective against the skillful Brazilians, the Canadians’ direct play was eventually nullified by Brazilian possession. The Canadians defended with two classic banks of four with two high center forwards who did little defending. As the Brazilians possessed the ball in the opposition’s half for longer periods of time, the Canadian midfield and backs were pushed further back squeezing them away from their two forwards. Rowe and Thorlakson became increasingly isolated from midfield support and the stream of long balls from the Canadian backs were easily intercepted by Diniz and Reis who marked them, or Rodriguez acting as a sweeper.
This highlights the problems direct teams have against skillful opponents. When they finally regain possession and play the ball forward, the midfielders cannot get forward to support the center forwards. The ball is lost easily and they have to defend again. Loss of possession was even more accentuated when Brazil pulled Lima or Martins as a screen in front of the markers. Canada spent almost the entire second half in a gradually rising state of panic as their long balls became increasingly more futile and the Brazilians began to break into their penalty box. Marta’s individual brilliance was thwarted only by goalkeeper McLeod’s superb shot-stopping and some questionable refereeing when Marta was twice pulled down in the Canadian penalty area. The Canadians held on until the penalty kick shootout, which they won.
U.S. 3-4-3 vs. German 4-3-3, 4-5-1:
The U.S. team came under instant pressure from the Germans who played with three central midfield players, two very wide wingers and a mobile center-forward in Anja Mittag. The classic problem the U.S. faced was how to deal with two wingers while still playing with only three at the back. As so often happens, the three American backs had to stay in central areas to cover for each other which meant the flank players, Osborne and Makoski, had to pull back to mark Brendel and Bachor. This left the two central midfielders, Chalupny and Fletcher, outnumbered against three quality German central midfielders, Sabel, Bresonick and Odebrecht. The Americans conceded a goal and experienced heavy pressure for the first half hour.
The strategic change the U.S. made was to pull Fletcher back to left back to present four across at the back and to pull Makoski and Osborne into more central positions to deal with three German midfielders.This effectively dealt with the German wingers and matched the number of players in central midfield.
Isabell Bachor, the German left winger, caught the eye as being a classical winger in that she started very wide on the touchline and moved up and down the line most of the time. However, it should be noted that Bachor became most effective when she made lateral runs across the field with and without the ball. When carrying the ball across the field she looked to play reverse passes to Mittag, Odebrecht or Bresonick making blind-side runs. This is a very effective movement against zone defenses which have seams in them.
Her runs without the ball pulled defenders into the center of the field and opened space for Odebrecht, Bresonik and, more usually, Stegmann, the German left back who played as a classic overlapping German full back. Bachor occasionally exchanged with Mittag if she was being marked extremely tightly. If play developed on the right side she would sometimes come inside to become a second center forward (she scored vs. Brazil) or stay wide left to allow a midfielder to occupy the space.
The transition play of the U.S. and Brazil was of a particularily high quality. The ability of midfield players on both of these teams to intercept passes or make tackles and immediately dribble the ball at high speed at the heart of the opposing defense was impressive. Counter-attacking continues to be a most effective offensive weapon.
In the four games I observed the quality with service on re-starts was generally disappointing. All too often the ball served into the box never got over the first defender. Considering the heavy reliance of direct teams on re-starts, the Canadian set plays were particularily poor because of bad service (although their goal against Brazil came from a corner kick). Fletcher of the U.S.A. sometimes used a flip throw and proved to be effective even on regular long throws.
Recommendations
1) Examination of wing players who play high and wide. This is particularily difficult for zonal defenses of three or four to play against. Outside backs in zonal defenses have to be pulled in to cover the center backs leaving wide opponents with space. Wing players who stay wide and pushed up cause back lines of three or four significant problems.
2) Transition play: Continual emphasis in the NSCAA Coaching Academy on transition play, not as an afterthought, but as a major form of attack. We need to explore the following:
a) What should our center forwards do when we defend? What should they do when the ball goes past them? If we bring them back to defend who can we counter to? Should they stagger, go into wide positions or stand side by side?
b) Counterattacks from defending re-starts.
c) How to defend against counters.
3) Long distance passing
The ability of players to drive the ball over long distances has improved dramatically in the women’s game. Nevertheless, all coaches should have a well grounded knowledge of the nuts and bolts of the mechanics of striking/driving a ball. This needs a thorough analysis at NSCAA Non-Residential courses and National Academies.
4) Dribbling and improvisation
The Brazilians continue to entertain because of their combination of comfort level on the ball, receiving ability, imagination and suppleness. The Academy must continue to explore ways of encouraging coaches to develop an atmosphere in their clubs where creativity and improvization are held as “sacred.”
Ideas that might lead to improvements:
a) Use of different size balls
b) Soccer exercises to music
c) Wall exercises (juggling against wall, heading, turning off rebound)
d) Distribution of Coerver tapes (Each coach of a club in New Jersey has three Coerver tapes)
5) Systems of play
Continual examination of systems at the Premier and Advanced Regional Diploma courses. As zonal defending becomes more prominent, the re-development of wide players (Germany) needs re-examination.
Team formations for additional games
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