Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Opening Day

Opening Ceremonies were about the same as they've been in the last couple years, and it's clear to see how much bigger the tournament has gotten. The place was packed. There were the usual keynote speakers, some cultural dances and then introduction of the teams. Games got underway at 7:30.

(Men)ROI vs. Canada- 1-0 ROI. Ireland certainly showed some rust in their opening game, narrowly beating Canada 1-0. Both teams had their chances, but it really didn't look like anyone would score. The game was, for the most part, pretty boring. No one could get a good shot on net, passes couldn't be completed, and the ball pretty much remained around half. Canada played well, but they are definitely lacking offense. Ireland will get their act together soon enough. If they don't, bye-bye Ireland.

(Youth)Canada vs. World- 2-1 Canada. The youth tournament started strong with an exciting game. The game was well played by both teams.

(Women)England vs. Canada- 4-0 England. England showed why they are the defending champions, dominating Canada in the Women's opener. Canada simply had no offense. England looked strong in all areas, and definitely look like they have a good chance to repeat.

Day 2 previews can be found below. The recap will follow the games tomorrow.

2 comments:

The Real Deal said...

Well I will wait and see how Ireland performs against the others teams before I start saying they are rusty, all premiere players rusty, hmmmm?

scott.myrah said...

Yeah I have to say im not very impressed with Ireland but then again those guys don't practice or play with eachother very often so there gonna need the group stage to gain chemistry.

They were missing central midfielders Mccallister and Collins as well as winger Kreig. All three will contribute when they get into more games.

I think game of the night had to be the youth game for sure. Only exciting game in my mind. Congrats to Canada.

And how annoying was hearing the Canadian anthem 4 times in 4 hours haha?

See you all tonight
Special One