Jamaica's assistant coach Xavier Gilbert
Jamaica’s assistant coach Xavier Gilbert is not denying that France will pose a challenge for his Reggae Girlz outfit to start their Fifa Women’s World Cup campaign. But he is hopeful that they will be able to overcome the daunting task and secure their first ever point at the global showpiece.
Gilbert’s cautious optimism came, as he was heartened by the Girlz lively training session, which he believes is a good indicator of the team’s mental and physical readiness ahead of Sunday’s opening Group F fixture against the fifth-ranked French team.
Well aware that France will be no pushovers, Gilbert, an assistant to Head coach Lorne Donaldson, is backing the 43rd-ranked Girlz to give their more illustrious opponents a run for their money when they take the field at the Sydney Football Stadium.
“We have been analyzing the French team from before they got here and their (0-1) loss to Australia kind of confirmed some of the things that we already knew. They really don’t change their style of play; they kept pressing and the Australian faced them front on. But that was a part of their preparation, so we still have to be mindful of how they attack and how they defend, and we just have to execute our game plan,” Gilbert said.
“Nothing is wrong with dreaming, but I honestly think we really have a good chance of getting something from the game, especially if we play smart and contain them, it will get easier for us. We do have quality players who can match up against them, there is no doubt about that.
“Psychologically our top striker [Khadija “Bunny” Shaw] is raring to go and they know that she can be a handful, so their efforts to contain her, might leave an opening for others in the attacking front to capitalise and those are some of things we want to exploit,” he added.
With two good sessions now under their belts, including a competitive squad match at the Victoria State Training Centre on Thursday, Gilbert explained that the focus now is to iron out a few finer tactical details to ensure an efficient execution against, France, in particular.
“The Girlz were buzzing from the other day, and it showed in this session which is a good indication that they are ready and raring to go. The session was pretty much how we can exploit some weak areas in the French tactics and also how to curtail some of their strengths based on how we defend, especially in the wide areas.
“We know they are going to counter press a lot and then try and force us through the middle and they also play a lot in transition. So, this session was pretty much to look at countering some of the things that they have been doing over the last few games and how we anticipate they are going to attack us,” the tactician shared.
He pointed out that the Reggae Girlz 1-0 win over Morocco in their first and only warm-up encounter, also provided good insight where gauging the team was concerned.
“We did our analysis and showed them some clips of the things that we did well because part of that game was to fix some of the things that we want to do against the French team. We did some of that, and even the goal, was as a result of what we did before in terms of our attacking thrust. So, there were a lot of positives that came from that game in terms of how we want to operate going forward,” Gilbert noted.
Finally, Gilbert revealed that all concerns regarding Jody Brown’s knock which she picked up in the Morocco friendly, have been allayed, as the diminutive winger was fully integrated into the team’s session and brought up to speed on tactics.
“She is good, it is just about managing and ensuring that we have a full team, and everybody is available for selection ahead of our first game. But she will be fine, the nature of the injury is nothing to be alarmed about,” Gilbert declared.
After their contest with France, the Girlz will do battle against Panama on July 29 at Perth Rectangular Stadium and then close the group stages against Brazil at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, on August 2.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland back on the goal trail as defending champions march on
Erling Haaland returned from injury to keep Manchester City’s title charge on track as Pep Guardiola’s side secured a 2-0 victory over relegation-battling Nottingham Forest.
Josko Gvardiol’s near-post header was all that separated the two sides at half-time as he fired City in front from a Kevin De Bruyne corner.
Forest were left to rue big opportunities missed in the opening 45 minutes, with Chris Wood and Murillo both having gilt-edged chances to find an equaliser at the City Ground.
But Guardiola, overseeing his 300th Premier League game as City boss, called upon Haaland in the second half, and the Norway international duly delivered to double City’s lead and nudge the reigning champions back to within a point of leaders Arsenal, who beat Tottenham earlier on Sunday.
It was almost a dream opening minute for Forest as Ola Aina’s floated cross to the back post was met by an unmarked Neco Williams, but he failed to connect properly with a close-range shot.
Forest were made to pay when City opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. De Bruyne’s excellent delivery found Gvardiol, who powered a header home at the front post.
Wood should have restored parity shortly after, as he found himself in acres of space when Gonzalo Montiel cut it back on the volley, but the ball got caught up in the striker’s feet with the goal at his mercy.
Forest went agonisingly close again on the stroke of half-time, with Ederson – who was subsequently taken off at the break – fortunate not to concede after he failed to deal with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s corner, but Murillo could not apply the finish a few yards out.
Wood saw another huge chance pass by early in the second half, but his close-range effort was blocked after some excellent work from Anthony Elanga down the left.
De Bruyne showed his creative spark once again as he slotted a throughball behind the Forest defence in the 63rd minute, but Julian Alvarez’s effort from the edge of the area flew into the stands behind the goal.
Matz Sels was called into action moments later, palming behind De Bruyne’s thunderous long-range strike, which was heading for the top-left corner.
But City’s second finally arrived when, in the 71st minute, De Bruyne teed up Haaland, who calmly got the better of his marker, shifted it onto his right foot and slotted into the bottom-left corner to end Forest’s hopes of a comeback.
While City remain hot on Arsenal’s heels, Forest stay just one point above the relegation zone, having lost three of their last four matches.
Guardiola – 300 not out
Sunday marked Guardiola’s 300th Premier League game in charge of Man City, seeing him become the 19th manager to reach this total, and just the fifth to do so for a single club.
Of the 300 games under the Spanish manager’s tutelage, City have won 221, scoring 741 goals in the process, while only conceding 247 times.
City now have a four-point lead over Liverpool, whose title hopes are fading quickly, and an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League crown is certainly on the cards for Guardiola.
Forest’s recurring issues show no sign of abating
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have now conceded 29 first-half goals in 35 league games this season, with only Sheffield United (38) and Burnley (30) having conceded more.
The Tricky Trees – who are one of three teams fighting for 17th place after Everton hauled themselves to safety over the past week – have also conceded 23 goals from set-pieces this term in the competition, at least five more than any other team.
Despite being behind at the break, Forest’s xG of 1.27 was the most by any side in the first half of a game against City this season, in all competitions, with a wastefulness in front of goal another glaring problem that Nuno must fix.
Lyon are through to their 11th Women's Champions League final after sealing a 5-3 aggregate victory over compatriots Paris Saint-Germain.
The record eight-time winners scored three times in the final 10 minutes of last week's first leg to take a narrow 3-2 lead into the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
However, they were quicker out of the blocks in the second leg, with just three minutes on the clock when Selma Bacha drilled home from range for her first Champions League strike in five-and-a-half years.
Tabitha Chawinga responded before the break to reduce PSG's aggregate deficit to a single goal, but Melchie Dumornay put the tie beyond doubt nine minutes from time, as Sonia Bompastor's side set up a final showdown with Barcelona on May 25.
Data debrief
Lyon continued their dominance over PSG in Champions League semi-final encounters, having now progressed from each of their last four such ties.
The eight-time champions lost their first two semi-finals they contested in this competition, but have now won each of the last 10, and will seek a record-extending ninth title in Bilbao next month.
Inter's 'leader' Inzaghi upping the standards, says assistant Farris
Simone Inzaghi has set and maintained high standards at Inter, so says his Nerazzurri assistant Massimiliano Farris.
Inter clinched their 20th Serie A title by beating fierce rivals Milan in Monday's derby.
That meant that Sunday's home meeting with Torino was something of a celebration for Inter and their fans, and the team delivered with a 2-0 victory.
Hakan Calhanoglu scored both of Inter's goals, and Farris, who spoke to the media instead of his boss, piled the praise on Inzaghi.
In quotes reported by Football Italia, Farris told DAZN: "We've tried to build a positive environment. We lost important players [last summer], but we welcomed important players who made themselves loved.
"Going to the pitch and working this season was a pleasure. We had a lot of fun and it's the players' merit.
"We are Inter, we have great value, and we couldn't afford to lose games like we used to. He's our leader, he kept a high bar in difficult moments.
"Today, we are repaid for everything, and we can enjoy more of what happened in the previous two years. In football, defeats [hurt] more than victories, but now we must enjoy this moment."
With victory over Milan, Inzaghi became the second-fastest coach to reach 600 points in Serie A, after Carlo Ancelotti.
Farris added: "Simone already said it in the previous interviews. We’ve been fighting for every target across the last three years. We have won cups, we reached a Champions League final.
"We are aware that in the first season, we missed something that we could have taken home [the title].
"Perhaps it was the price to pay, as staff members, when you get to a club like this, but I think this season's achievements give value to all other trophies.
"Today's atmosphere was incredible, so good. Ninety minutes and more of celebrations and it was fair to start those who have brought the team here. This doesn't mean the others didn't contribute. On the contrary, everyone was helpful, I should name them all. I wouldn't even call them reserves."
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