Today, Impetus editor Ben Gilby reviews all the action from the recently played Algarve Cup and Pinatar Cup plus a round-up of Wales’ friendly against Estonia at Wrexham.
Algarve Cup
Seven countries travelled to Portugalto join the hosts in the annual tournament which guarantees each side three matches. Sadly, due to the ever worsening global situation with the Coronavirus, the final between Italy and Germany was cancelled after the Italians chose to pull out to fly home immediately to avoid being stranded in Portugal after concerns flights would not enter Italy for a period.
The Quarter-Final stage opened with a fascinating looking clash between Denmark and Norway. Pernille Harder, linked with a move to the Barclays WSL struck first for the Danes after seven minutes. However, the Norwegians, in ruthless form since the World Cup, levelled just six minutes later thanks to Elise Hove Thorsnes, just back from a W League season with Canberra United. With the game heading towards a penalty shoot-out decider, up stepped Synne Sofie Jensen three minutes into stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for Norway.
Another tight game was played out between Germany and Sweden in front of an appreciative crowd of 800. Svenje Anette Huth’s goal just after the half-hour mark was the only difference between the two sides.
New Zealand gained a superb victory against an ever improving Belgium side. Olivia Chance’s strike after 37 minutes gave the White Ferns the lead. Just as they were ready to celebrate an excellent win, Chloe Velde levelled for the Belgians at the death. The Kiwis did well to come back from the disappointment to take a dramatic penalty shoot-out 7-6 after Sarah Wijnants missed her spot-kick.
There was disappointment for the hosts when Portugal were edged out 2-1 by Italy. Diana Silva scored after 34 minutes to give the hosts the lead, but the side who troubled the Lionesses during a pre-Christmas friendly were pegged back by the Italians, who had a highly creditable World Cup. Elena Linari levelled and, cruelly, four minutes into stoppage time, up stepped Christiana Girelli to put the Italians into the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals:
After four incredibly close quarter-finals, both semis were one-sided.
As expected, Italy strode purposefully past game New Zealand 3-0 thanks to goals from goal machine Christiana Girelli and others from fellow stars Barbara Bonasea and Elisa Bartoli.
It was Germany’s 4-0 win over Norway which really caught the eye, as many felt this would be a tense and dramatic clash against two of Europe’s best sides. It was anything but close, as a spell of two goals in six minutes in the first quarter of the game that made the difference. Lea Schuller got the scoreboard moving before Johanna Elsig added the second. On the hour mark, Ingrid Engman’s own goal ended any faint hopes that the Norweigans had of making a comeback. Marina Hegering completed the rout with nineteen minutes to go.
Play-Off Rounds:
Stage one of the play-offs saw the quarter-final losers face off. World Cup bronze medallists Sweden went down to their second straight defeat in a cruel manner, to national rivals Denmark despite Lina Hurtig giving the Swedes an early lead. The Danes hit back with a goal from Stine Larsen after 56 minutes. Just as penalties looked like having to separate the sides, three minutes into stoppage time, up popped Nanna Christiansen to score the winner.
Belgium saw off hosts Portugal 1-0 thanks to Tine De Caigny’s 65th minute goal. The winners of these two matches now face each other for fifth and sixth place with the losers battling for seventh and eighth place.
Sweden took seventh place after a comfortable 2-0 win over Portugal who finish in last place. Goals from Eva Jakobsson and Fridolina Rolfo earned the Swedes their first win of the competition.
Denmark ensured fifth place with a comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of Belgium. The Danes grabbed two goals in the opening thirteen minutesthanks to strikes from Pernille Harder and Janni Thomsen. Further goals from Nanna Christiansen and Stine Pedersen either side of half-time completed the Danes’ success.
The third place play-off saw New Zealand give another of the big guns a scare when they took an early lead against Norway when Hannah Wilkinson scored for the White Ferns. Crucially for the Norwegians, they hit back within five minutes thanks to a goal from Synne Jensen. Caroline Graham Hansen’s strike with four minutes to go sealed Norway’s win.
Pinatar Cup:
A brand new four team tournament was held this week in Pinatar, a small town in South-Eastern Spain with all matches played at the 3,500 capacity Pinatar Arena on a round robin basis.
Matchday One:
The opening round of matches saw Iceland edge past an ever improving Northern Ireland thanks to a single goal courtesy of Dagny Byrnjarsdottir after 23 minutes. Northern Ireland will be proud of a magnificent performance and scoreline against a team ranked almost forty places above them in the FIFA list.
Tournament favourites Scotland saw off Ukraine comfortably 3-0. The Scots, with Erin Cuthbert rested for their opening encounter, were in total control throughout and West Ham United striker Martha Thomas grabbed the opener 22 minutes into her international debut after running onto a long ball through and slotting her strike in.
Eighteen minutes from the end, Thomas added a second after leaving a Ukrainian defender for dead, breaking through and hitting a shot straight into the net. With seventy-seven minutes on the clock, Claire Emslie, in fine form for Melbourne City, completed the rout by side-footing home the third.
Matchday Two:
Scotland ensured they would become the inaugural Pinatar Cup winners with a match to spare after a 1-0 win over Iceland. Despite the Scots having qualified for both the 2015 Euros and 2019 World Cup, the Icelanders are ranked four places higher in the FIFA list, but Shelly Kerr’s side made a mockery of that statistic with a dominant performance that deserved far more than one goal.
Christie Murray had an early effort saved by Siguroardottir before both Erin Cuthbert and Abbi Grant also coming close but it remained goalless at the break.
On 55 minutes, the Scots finally got their reward when Abbi Grant curled a shot into the left hand corner. Cuthbert, Emslie and Mitchell all rued further misses, but the Scots had done enough to win.
Ukraine recovered well from their opening day thrashing by Scotland to hand Northern Ireland a 4-0 defeat with all the goals coming in a twenty-two minute spell in the first half. A brace from Daryna Apanashchenko plus strikes from Nicole Kozlova and Olha Ovdiychuk ensured that Ukraine’s final group game with Iceland will decide second place.
Matchday Three:
That deciding game resulted in a 1-0 win for Iceland over the Ukraine thanks to a 34th minute strike from Gunnhildur Jonsdottir, her tenth international goal. Whilst the Icelanders may have found goals hard to come by in the competition, they will be delighted to secure second spot in the table.
Scotland ended the competition with a 100% success rate, but once again Northern Ireland produced a display full of pride and determination which saw them belie their world ranking.
Despite Shelly Kerr’s side starting the strongest, it was the green shirted underdogs who took the lead thanks to a Rachel Furness header from a high cross. Furness had a great opportunity to double their advantage, but her header was cleared off of the line by Rachel Corsie. The Scots almost earned an instant equaliser when Chelsea star Erin Cuthbert played in Martha Thomas, but her effort went wide.
However, two goals in three minutes turned the game on its head. First, a sensational strike from Cuthbert from outside the box saw the scores level before Abbi Grant made the best of a defensive error to slot home.
Scotland had four further great opportunities in the second half to add to their lead, but to no avail. The Scots lifted the trophy to become the first ever Pinatar Cup winners. Northern Ireland may have finished bottom of the table, but they have a huge number of positives to take from a superb series of performances against nations ranked much higher than themselves.
| Final Pinatar Cup Table | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| Scotland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| Iceland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Ukraine | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
Friendly:
In form Wales gained a comfortable 2-0 win over Estonia at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground on 6th March.
Chelsea star Sophie Ingle came close when two volleys were saved by Karina Kork in the Estonian goal. Despite the Welsh dominance, which also saw Kayleigh Green go close, it remained goalless at the break.
The deadlock was finally broken when Ingle’s cross resulted in Ffion Morgan’s header being parried by Kork, but Megan Wynn followed up to score. Not long afterwards, Angharad James’ great run ended in a pullback which was hit straight in by Nadia Lawrence.
In tomorrow’s final part of the International Round-Up, we review the Olympic Games Final Qualifier for the Asian Zone and all the latest Women’s Euro 2021 qualifying action.
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