WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2011: Germany won 2-1 to Canada

Strong opening match for Canada


Germany showed that it is still the best in the world, although Canada proved it has narrowed the gap in a hard-fought battle in the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Canada created chances early, went down by a brace before the half, but held tight and cut the lead in half before falling 1:2 to the host nation. Kerstin Garefrekes and Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi scored for Germany before Christine Sinclair countered for Canada.

'We are more confident today than we were yesterday,' said national head coach Carolina Morace. 'We played a good game.We are not so arrogant to come here and say we are the best team in the world; absolutely not.'

Germany is the two-time reigning FIFA Women’s World Cup champion. Today’s 26 June 2011 opening match drew 73,860 fans to the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

'If Christine Sinclair had scored on that first chance, we may have been talking about a different result,' said Morace.

Also on the opening day, France won 1:0 over Nigeria to gain three points and hold second place in the group standings behind Germany. Marie-Laure Delie scored the lone goal for France.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 runs 26 June to 17 July in nine cities. Canada’s next two match are 30 June against France (in Bochum) and 5 July against Nigeria (in Dresden).

Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and presenting sponsor is Teck, will leave for Bochum on 27 June.

Canada opened the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 with a valiant effort, but fell 1:2 to the host in a closely-fought match. Germany's Kerstin Garefrekes and Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi scored for Germany before Christine Sinclair countered for Canada in the 82nd minute.


The opening match of the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 73,680 fans at the Olympiastadion Berlin. Canada couldn’t get the equalizer despite the late pressure.

"We had a good first half and we had more possession than Germany,” said Canadian coach Carolina Morace after the match. “The first match of the tournament is always very difficult and we knew that. I think the (spirit) that we showed was good.

"If Christine Sinclair was more lucky in the first half to score (on any early chance), then maybe we would be talking about another result."

GAME REPORT: Germany 2 - Canada 1

Canada contained dangerous striker Birgit Prinz, but Garefrekes stepped up and was dangerous all evening. She headed home a cross to give Germany the lead in the 10th minute. Easily the tallest player on the pitch, Garefrekes used her 1.8-metre height to out-jump her opponent and convert the cross from Babett Peter.

Moments earlier before the goal, Garefrekes had forced Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod to make a diving hand save on a dangerous shot. Later in the evening, Garefrekes would have another glorious chance on which she failed to convert, hitting it high over the crossbar from within the penalty area.

Late in the first half, Germany barely kept onside to play Okoyino Da Mbabi in alone. Three Canadians chased her in hard pursuit, but the German sent the ball low and past McLeod.

Canada's big chance in the first half came in the sixth minute. After some great work by Jonelle Filigno to dispossess the Germans, Diana Matheson made a great pass to Sinclair who went in on goal. Sinclair had her sights on goal, but struck the ball over the goal.

Later in the match, Sinclair received a direct elbow in the face, breaking her nose and pulling her off the pitch for a brief moment. No discipline was called on the infraction. She of course returned to field and set up her own late-game heroics.

Sinclair's free kick strike from 25 yards out re-energized Canada. After being pulled down on one of her runs, the referee awarded the dangerous free kick. Sinclair made no hesitation, taking the kick herself to curl it over the defensive wall and into the top right corner of the goal.

Late in the match, a Robyn Gayle cross nearly led to an equalizing goal. Emily Zurrer slipped behind the German defence, but hit the one-time shot out of bounds.

Germany was dominant at times and could have added to its lead with a pair of shots that struck the crossbar. Alexandra Popp and Simone Laudehr were both unlucky in their strikes.

Canada’s starting lineup featured Erin McLeod in goal, Marie-Eve Nault at left back, Emily Zurrer and Candace Chapman at centre back, Rhian Wilkinson at right back, and Jonelle Filigno, Kaylyn Kyle, Diana Matheson, Sophie Schmidt, Melissa Tancredi and Christine Sinclair from the midfield up through to the attack.

In the second half, coach Carolina Morace replaced Kyle with Kelly Parker (46th minute), Nault with Robyn Gayle (46') and Tancredi with Brittany Timko (80').

Germany's starting XI featured Nadine Angerer in goal, Babett Peter at left back, Saskia Bartusiak and Annike Krahne at centre back, Linda Bresonik at right back, and Simone Laudehr, Melanie Behringer, Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi, Kerstin Garefrekes, Kim Kulig and Birgit Prinz from the midfield up through the attack.

In the second half, coach Silvia Neid replaced Prinz with Alexandra Popp (56'), Okoyino Da Mbabi with Inka Grings (65') and Behringer with Fatmire Bajramaj (71').

THE GREAT GERMAN STRIKER

Celia Okoyino da Mbabi

Exactly a week before the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011™, Germany's longest-running Sunday evening drama Tatort (Crime Scene) treated its huge viewing audience to an episode centred on women's football. Celia Okoyino da Mbabi appeared in a cameo role, promising Germany would win the global crown for the third time in a row. Seven days later, her actions in front of a sell-out crowd at the Berlin Olympic Stadium fully lived up to her words.


The skilled forward turns 23 today, and she has three good reasons to celebrate. It is her special day of course, and she can also bask in the reflected glory of Germany's 2–1 victory over Canada. But thirdly, she can be delighted at her pivotal contribution to the victory in front of a huge 73,680 crowd. Celia’s outstanding performance fully repaid the faith shown in her by coach Silvia Neid, who surprisingly handed her a place in the starting line-up. Okoyino da Mbabi roused the Germans from a nervy beginning with her prodigious running and steady supply of inventive ideas. Furthermore, she was a constant source of worry to Canada’s otherwise solid defence.

“I'm happy we've opened with a win, but I'm also pleased we didn't stroll to a 4–0 victory. Now everyone knows we have a lot of hard work ahead," the 56-time international told reporters after what was undoubtedly her best display in a national shirt. Neid startled observers before kick-off by selecting Okoyino da Mbabi to play in the hole instead of veteran striker Inka Grings, but Celia is the form player of the moment and responded in style. Bursting with energy, she was the driving force behind her team, patently determined to spark the two-time world champions in front of their home crowd. In the wake of her stellar display, the player has surely cemented her position as one of the figureheads for a new German generation.

I realised I wasn't offside, I chased the ball down and just thought to myself: stick it away!Celia Okoyino da Mbabi, Germany forward.

The hype in the build-up may have been focused on other members of the squad, but it was Okoyino da Mbabi who made the difference in Berlin. She held up the play expertly in the manner of a born centre-forward, and always looked likely to win her one-on-one situations. For the coach, the superb display by the player wearing the number 13 shirt was less of a revelation. “Celia's played really well in our recent warm-up games, and then confirmed her excellent form in training. We always pick the team based on performance, so I simply had to play her," Neid explained.

Okoyino da Mbabi was responsible for Germany's vital second goal shortly before the interval, a moment she is unlikely to forget in a hurry. “Yes, it was a good goal. Once I realised I wasn't offside, I chased the ball down and just thought to myself: stick it away! The crowd spurred me on," she observed afterwards.

One of the intriguing storylines likely to develop over the course of this FIFA Women's World Cup is how the hard-running player with Cameroonian roots fares. She has long been regarded as an unpolished gem in Germany, but finally appears set to make the breakthrough on the world stage. The player herself is taking each game as it comes. “When we play Nigeria, our passing has to improve, and we have to settle better into the tournament."

The Iranian women's soccer team was in tears after being forced to forfeit a 2012 London Olympics qualifying match this past weekend because it showed up to play in hijabs. FIFA banned the Islamic head scarf in 2007, saying that it could cause choking injuries -- the same reason it gave for recently banning snoods (neck warmers). FIFA also has strict rules against any religious statements in team uniforms.


Since Iran refused to comply with these rules and didn't use the specially designed caps that its 2010 Youth Olympics team wore, Friday's match was abandoned by officials and a 3-0 win was awarded to Jordan as a result. The Football Federation of Iran said it will complain to FIFA about the ruling, but FIFA says assurances were made beforehand so that this situation would've been avoided.

"Despite initial assurances that the Iranian delegation understood this, the players came out wearing the hijab, and the head and neck totally covered, which was an infringement of the laws of the game," FIFA said in a statement. [...]

Jordan team officials also objected to the hijab rule before the game, but prepared to play by declining to select women who objected on religious grounds.

"The Iranian team and three Jordanian players were also banned from playing because they wore the traditional head cover," Rana Husseini, head of Jordan's women's football committee, told The Associated Press.

"The problem is that the head cover assigned and approved by FIFA for women players to wear does not suit them as it reveals part of the neck and this is not allowed and it is not acceptable," she said.

Iran also forfeited a second group match against Vietnam on Sunday, seriously damaging its chances of advancing to the London Olympics. It seems unlikely that its federation's complaints will help its case, though, since these rules are not new and compromises have been made in the past. It's just a shame these women were put in the middle of this debate between Iran's federation and FIFA and set up for disappointment.

Iran's women's soccer team may be sitting out the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore next month because of a dispute over their Islamic uniforms. The young athletes, all under 15, are at the center of a struggle over how to follow Iran's dress code and still compete in the international arena.


Last week the government unveiled the team's new outfits, a modest ensemble of pants, long sleeves, and high knee socks, with a cap that covers their hair. The outfits are designed in red, white and green to match the Iranian flag.

The top female official of Iran's physical education department was apparently offended by the uniforms, saying they were "inappropriate" and that the team would not compete in them. The uniforms had been a compromise; in 2007 FIFA, the organizing body of world soccer, had banned the old uniform because it included the hejab, or Islamic head scarf. The hejab violated FIFA safety regulations and a rule barring religious or political symbols on the field, Reuters reports.

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iranian women have been required to cover their heads and bodies in public. Fatima Adbollahian, an Iranian filmmaker who made a documentary about the country's female athletes, says women were kept out of athletic competition in the 1980s. As the playing field opened up to women in the 1990s, they joined sports that could accommodate the hejab, like archery and martial arts.

Within those limits, they excelled; in 2008 ABC News profiled Iran's first woman to earn a spot in the Olympics, Taekwondo champion Sara Khoshjamal.


"If there's one thing I love to do...it's sport," said Sonya Shahamati of the Iranian Baseball League. Baseball is a relatively new arrival in the Islamic Republic, and women have taken to running bases in baggy shirts and head scarves.

"On one hand, maybe it's difficult," she told ABC News in 2007, wearing a hejab under her baseball cap. "But in Iran we have to, and we don't have any problem."

But even in the sports they can play in public, Abdollahian, the filmmaker, says that women athletes face stiff challenges.

Iran's Women Athletes Fight for Equality

"They have to still fight for equality -- funding, infrastructure for them is not the same as for male athletes. And of course they also have to deal with certain social tension," she told ABC News.

"The classic role of women in Iran is still the wife, the daughter, the mother. To be a professional athlete in Iran means to pay a much higher price…that takes a lot more energy than it does for male professional athletes."

Still, she says, the past ten years have given women much more opportunity in sports. As for the controversy over women's soccer uniforms, she attributes it to a conservative government growing increasingly strict about Islamic dress.

"Sports have become a very, very important tool of [women's] self-expression…getting rid of extra energy they might not be able to lose or express when they are only bound to work and the private household," she said.

"This is something the government would not be allowed to take from them anymore. It's amazing…it's irreversible."

Iran president says headscarf ban in soccer imposed by 'dictators' FIFA

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described FIFA as "colonialists" on Tuesday for a headscarf ban in football that affect its women's team.


Mustafa Musleh Zadeh, Iran's ambassador to Jordan, went further by saying the ban was "inhumane" and "politically motivated."


The remarks by Ahmadinejad were the highest since the team forfeited a 2012 Olympic qualifier against Jordan last Friday because it wouldn't play without the hijabs.


"These are the dictators and colonialists who want to impose their lifestyle on others," Ahmadinejad said in a seasonal news conference.


The Iran president said he'd assigned Ali Saeedlu, the head of Iran's physical education, to pursue the case.


"We will deal with those who carried out this ugly job," said Ahmadinejad. "We follow definite rights of our girls."


Zadeh said Iran would complain to the Asian Football Federation.


FIFA said the ban on the Islamic scarf covering a women's neck was for safety reasons.


The ambassador called FIFA's ban "extremism," similar to Afghanistan's Taliban restrictions on women in sports.


FIFA banned the hijab in 2007 and has extended the safety rule to include neck warmers.


At the 2010 Youth Olympics, Iran's girls protected their modesty by covering their hair with specially designed caps.


FIFA rejects complaint over Islamic scarf ban






GENEVA - Iran's women's team was correctly prevented from playing a 2012 Olympics qualifier wearing Islamic head scarves, FIFA said Monday.


Iranian officials were "informed thoroughly" before Friday's match against Jordan that the hijab scarf is banned for safety reasons, soccer's governing body said.


"Despite initial assurances that the Iranian delegation understood this, the players came out wearing the hijab, and the head and neck totally covered, which was an infringement of the laws of the game," FIFA said in a statement.


FIFA banned the hijab in 2007 and this year extended the safety rule to include neck warmers, which were also judged a threat to cause a choking injury. Soccer's rules also prohibit religious statements in team uniforms.


Iran's soccer association has said it will complain about the FIFA delegate from Bahrain who ordered the match abandoned, and the decision to award Jordan a 3-0 victory.

"I will file a complaint to FIFA against the individual in charge of holding the match," Ali Kaffashian, the Iranian Football Federation president, said Saturday in comments reported by the Fars news agency.

Jordan team officials also objected to the hijab rule before the game, but prepared to play by declining to select women who objected on religious grounds.

"The Iranian team and three Jordanian players were also banned from playing because they wore the traditional head cover," Rana Husseini, head of Jordan's women's soccer committee, told The Associated Press.

"The problem is that the head cover assigned and approved by FIFA for women players to wear does not suit them as it reveals part of the neck and this is not allowed and it is not acceptable," she said.

FIFA addressed the problem at the 2010 Youth Olympics when Iran's girls protected their modesty by covering their hair with specially designed caps.

Husseini said Jordan's Prince Ali, who joined FIFA's executive committee last week, would seek talks to resolve the issue.

Iran also forfeited its match against Vietnam on Sunday as part of a round-robin group playing in Amman, Jordan, which also includes Thailand and Uzbekistan.

The winner enters a final group with Asia's five highest-ranked teams to decide which two countries advance to the London Games

British PM says FIFA at ‘all-time low’

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron says FIFA's reputation is at an "all-time low" and needs to be more accountable as it tackles the worst crisis in its 107-year history.


Cameron told the House of Commons on Wednesday that it was "something of a farce" that Sepp Blatter was re-elected as president unopposed last week.

Blatter's only challenger, Mohamed bin Hammam, was suspended three days before the election along with fellow FIFA executive committee member Jack Warner on campaign bribery charges.

Cameron says "FIFA's reputation is now at an all-time low and obviously the election with just one candidate was something of a farce."

Cameron wants world football's governing body to "become more transparent and more accountable."