Germany and France into finals
Monday, March 5, 2012
Article summary
Germany will face Japan in the Algarve Cup final after beating Sweden 4-0, while at the Cyprus Women's Cup, France defeated England 3-0 and play Canada in the decider.
Article top media content
Article body
Germany will have a chance to avenge their FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-final loss to Japan in Wednesday's Algarve Cup decider, while on Tuesday, France will hope to repeat their display against Canada last summer when they face off for the Cyprus Women's Cup.
Sweden led Germany on goal difference ahead of their decisive Group A meeting, both teams having beaten Iceland and China. But Célia Okoyino da Mbabi's hat-trick and a late Alexandra Popp goal ensured Germany overcame the UEFA Women's EURO 2013 hosts 4-0. Iceland ended third in the section following a 1-0 defeat of China.
Japan await Germany after a 1-0 win in their World Cup final rematch with the United States, who missed out on the Algarve Cup decider and lost their grip on the title following a late Megumi Takase header. Sweden now take on the US for third place. Meanwhile, Denmark edged out Norway 1-0, thanks to a Johanna Rasmussen goal, for that position in Group B and will be up against Iceland for fifth spot overall.
Explaining the value of the tournament, Denmark coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller said: "I could speak to my players for three months about that we need to do, or we can come here and learn by playing the best international teams."
The Cyprus group stage finished on Sunday and France continued their superb streak of form by beating England 3-0 to top their section. Louisa Necib, Marie-Laure Delie and Gaëtane Thiney scored for France, who, like England, had previously defeated Finland and Switzerland. In those sides' meeting, Finland won 3-1 with a Linda Sällström hat-trick.
France's opponents in Tuesday's final will be holders Canada, who overcame Scotland 5-1, Italy 2-1 and the Netherlands 1-0. Les Bleues, of course, thrashed Canada 4-0 in a World Cup group stage encounter last June.
Elsewhere, Italy had lost 2-1 to the Dutch but came second in the group with a victory by that score against Scotland to earn a third-place play-off with England. The other Tuesday games are Finland v South Korea (fifth place), the Netherlands v New Zealand (seventh place), Scotland v South Africa (ninth place) and Switzerland v Northern Ireland (11th place).
