#u-19 spain wnt

[laiasbian]

ESPWNT 2019 Review (3/5): Youth Teams

As we approach the end of the decade year, I wanted to summarize where things currently stand for the Spanish women’s football team and what lies ahead. For this post, we look at how Spain’s youth teams fared in 2019.

U-17 European Championship

Hoping to snag their fifth U-17 Euro title, the defending champions opened competition with a 0-0 draw against Denmark. They didn’t have any trouble scoring during the rest of the group stage, winning 3-0 against Bulgaria and 6-0 against Portugal. Salma Paralluelo and Silvia Lloris led the attack for Spain, scoring 6 and 5 goals in those two games, respectively. The Spanish teenagers finished first in their group, earning them a spot in the semifinal round against the Netherlands. Unfortunately, their scoring prowess from the previous two games did not roll over into this match. Spain couldn’t break through until a Silvia Lloris goal in the 92nd minute, while the Dutch had already scored three goals by that time. With this early exit, the U-17 team snapped their streak of 5 straight finals appearances.

U-19 European Championship

Just like their U-17 counterparts, Spain’s U-19 team entered the tournament as the defending champions. In fact, they had a chance to pull off a three-peat, having won the last two titles. Claudia Pina was busy during the first match against Belgium. After seeing all of her shots be saved by the Belgian keeper, she finally broke the scoreless tie with a penalty in the 56th minute. Laia Aleixandri would add another goal a few minutes later from a corner kick, and Spain would go on to win the game 2-0. The next match against England featured a goal from Olga Carmona, who scored after receiving a beautiful cross from Eva Navarro. This was the only goal Spain scored in the match, but it proved to be enough as they won 1-0, clinching a spot in the knockout round. Spain entered their final group stage match against Germany needing a win to secure first place, but they ended in a 0-0 draw. Mirroring their senior counterparts in the World Cup, Spain placed second in their group behind the Germans. The semifinal match against France was an agonizing one for Spain. The offense was pretty much dormant for the entire match, but luckily they had held France scoreless as well. That would change once they got to extra time, however. France scored not once, not twice, but three times within 10 minutes after having gone 100 minutes without a goal. Athenea del Castillo added a goal for Spain in the final minute, but it wasn’t much of a consolation prize. Following the U-17 team’s lead, they too snapped their streak of 5 straight appearances in the U-19 Euro Championship finals. They did, however, qualify for the U-20 World Cup next year.

Players to Watch

Despite the disappointing competition results in 2019, Spain’s youth teams are still made up of amazingly talented individuals. Some players to keep an eye on include:

Laia Aleixandri

Berta Pujadas

Claudia Pina

Eva Navarro

Cata Coll

Jana Fernandez

Salma Paralluelo (fun fact: she’s a dual athlete who also competes in athletics competitions)

Another fun fact: In 2018, Spain became the first country to win both the women’s U-17 and U-19 championships in the same year. ¡Vamos España!

[alexputellas]

¡Un día para recordar, semifinales y un Mundial!

[cypher2]

In advance of the Monday, March 4 start of preseason training, Reign FC has announced its 38-player preseason roster and its technical staff for the upcoming season. The preseason roster includes 22 players under contract and 10 non-roster invitees.

The preseason roster features eighteen players from Reign FC’s 2018 roster, and includes five new signings:  forward Darian Jenkins, who was acquired in a trade with the North Carolina Courage; forward Shea Groom, who was acquired in a trade with Sky Blue FC, Spanish international defender Celia Jimenez Delgado, who was signed after being drafted by Reign FC in 2018; Australian international midfielder Elise Kellond-Knight, who was signed via discovery; and midfielder Morgan Proffitt, who was also signed via discovery.

Eight Reign FC players – Catley, Delgado, Kellond-Knight, Nielsen, Rapinoe, Taylor, Utsugi and Williams – will join the team after the FIFA break that concludes on March 6. In addition, non-roster invitee and Reign Academy product Sakky Yoshida will join after returning from international duty in Spain with the US U-19 WNT.

Midfielder Jess Fishlock remains on loan to Olympique Lyonnais. Fishlock will return to Reign FC at the conclusion of Lyon’s run in the UEFA Champions League.

2019 Reign FC Preseason Roster by Position

Goalkeepers (5):  Michelle Betos, Kori Butterfield (NRI), Kelsey Dossey (NRI), Scout Watson (NRI), Lydia Williams (NYR)

Defenders (8):  Lauren Barnes, Steph Catley (NYR / INT), Celia Jimenez Delgado (NYR / INT), Siobhan McDonough (NRI), Kristen McNabb, Theresa Nielsen (NYR / INT), Megan Oyster, Christen Westphal

Midfielders (8): Morgan Andrews, Jessica Fishlock (NYR – ON LOAN), Elise Kellond-Knight (NYR / INT), Allie Long (FED), Morgan Proffitt, Rumi Utsugi (NYR / INT), Beverly Yanez, Sakky Yoshida (NRI)

Forwards (11):  Bethany Balcer (NRI), Jorian Baucom (NRI), Kiersten Dallstream (NRI), Shea Groom, Darian Jenkins, Jaycie Johnson, Emma Kete (NRI), Summer Mason (NRI), Megan Rapinoe (FED / NYR), Jasmine Spencer, Jodi Taylor (NYR)

Reign FC’s technical staff will continue to be led by Vlatko Andonovski, who returns for his second season with the club, his seventh at the helm of an NWSL team.

In his first season in Seattle, Vlatko led the team to a 11-8-5 record, returning the team to the NWSL playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season. Under Vlatko’s leadership, the defense logged a NWSL record-tying 12 clean sheets while only conceding 19 goals – second best in league history for a 24-game season. Reign FC finished the regular season ranked third in the NWSL standings and advanced to the semifinal round of the NWSL playoffs.

“I am thrilled to be returning to the team for a second season,” said Andonovski. “This club and the players are very special and I’m looking forward to getting to work and building on the success we had last season.”

Sam Laity, who has been with Reign FC since its inaugural season in 2013, will also return as Assistant Coach.

In addition to Andonovski and Laity, returning veterans of the Reign FC technical staff include Assistant Coach Milan Ivanovic, Director of High Performance Nick Leman, Trainer David Beauchene and Equipment Manager Alyssa Delsanter.

The Reign FC technical staff has expanded to include former Reign FC and USWNT outside back Steph Cox, who will return to the Assistant Coach role she served in during the 2017 season. Cox played professionally in both the WPS and NWSL while amassing 89 caps for the U.S. Women’s Natioanl Team. Cox was part of the U.S. WNT squad that captured gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Reign FC also added goalkeeper coach Ljupco Kmetovski-Rakush. Kmetovski-Rakush, who – like Andonovski – hails from Macedonia. He played professionally in Europe and has coached at the professional and international levels, most recently serving as the Director of Goalkeeping for the Football Federation of Macedonia, where he was responsible for overseeing the goalkeeping coaches for the Macedonia National Team. Kmetovski-Rakush holds a UEFA “A” coaching license and a UEFA “PRO” goalkeeper license.

Aww, welcome back Steph Cox! Let it Reign

[laiasbian]

baby barça with baby athletic club

[laiasbian]

This is how 17-year-old Paola Hernandez scored her first Primera Iberdrola goal