Cyprus Cup 2010

[Sylvain]

Powell selects squad for Cyprus Cup

Sunday, 07 February, 2010

22 players chosen as England look to retain the trophy.
Cyprus Cup
International Friendly Tournament
England, South Africa, Canada, Switzerland
24 February - 3 March 2010
Larnaca, Cyprus

Hope Powell has named the England Women’s squad she hopes can retain the Cyprus Cup when they travel to Larnaca later this month.

England take on South Africa (24 February), Canada (26 February) and Switzerland (1 March) as they continue their preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying double-header against Austria and Spain on 25 March and 1 April respectively.

Powell took 31 players to a La Manga training camp in January and will now be relishing the prospect of her charges getting some valuable game-time under their belts in Cyprus.

England lifted this trophy last year and 18 of that triumphant side have been recalled. Also in the squad are Karen Bardsley, Dunia Susi, Laura Bassett and Jody Handley.

Squad in full

Karen Bardsley, Sky Blue FC

Rachel Brown, Everton

Siobhan Chamberlain, Chelsea

Alex Scott,  Boston Breakers

Dunia Susi, Chelsea

Rachel Unitt, Everton

Casey Stoney, Chelsea

Faye White, Arsenal

Laura Bassett, Leeds Carnegie

Lindsay Johnson, Everton

Jill Scott, Everton

Fara Williams, Everton

Emily Westwood, Everton

Katie Chapman, Arsenal

Kelly Smith, Boston Breakers

Dani Buet, Chelsea

Sue Smith, Leeds Carnegie

Lianne Sanderson, Chelsea

Eniola Aluko, Saint Louis Athletica

Rachel Yankey, Arsenal

Jess Clarke, Leeds Carnegie

Jody Handley, Everton

http://www.thefa.com/England/WomensSeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/2010/CyprusCupSquad.aspx

[Sylvain]

The players dropped after La Manga :

Carly TELFORD (Leeds Carnegie LFC),  Claire RAFFERTY (Chelsea LFC), Steph HOUGHTON (Leeds Carnegie LFC), Corinne YORSTON (Arsenal LFC), Sophie BRADLEY (Leeds Carnegie LFC)  Rachel WILLIAMS (Doncaster Rovers Belles LFC) Ellen WHITE (Leeds Carnegie LFC), Natasha DOWIE (Everton LFC)
and  Karen CARNEY (Chicago Red Stars) who had an operation.

[dowiefan]

hopeless is all why drop dowie

[Sylvain]

She must thinks Aluko Sanderson and Handley are better than her.
Maybe she messed up the tests in La Manga, who knows 

[OOH Fayefan]

nice to see Yankey back in....

[Dr Gonzo]

hopeless is all why drop dowie

Because she has the personality of a blank of wood...ha

[OOH Fayefan]

..lol, you wouldnt say that if you saw her Dad - he's even more menacing looking than her uncle.....

[Oldship30]

..lol, you wouldnt say that if you saw her Dad - he's even more menacing looking than her uncle.....

And he doesn't shut up! 

[Sylvain]

I have been at Everton away and you can't miss him. He makes as much noise as our old Ken. 

[twmcat]

I have been at Everton away and you can't miss him. He makes as much noise as our old Ken. 

I'll tell him you said that 

[Sylvain]

Hope Powell named her squad for the Cyprus Cup last week and sees the tournament as the ideal preparation for the players with the World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Spain looming on the horizon.
 
"The tournament will give me a chance to look at everyone in the squad and prepare in the right way for the upcoming double header against Austria and Spain," she said. "That is the priority at the moment and we will get some good game time over in Cyprus. The squad of 20 will all be involved and, fingers crossed, we can repeat our success of last year and come away with the trophy."
 
Hope admits a successful 2009 for England has only increased the hunger among her players: "Yes, we had a great year in 2009, as we did in 2008. We got to a major final and you can see the hunger in the players of wanting more success like that. We have done well the last couple of years but we haven't won a major trophy yet and all the players are focused on World Cup qualification, we want to be in Germany in 2011 and we want to do well in tournaments on a permanent basis."
 
Hope goes into the tournament without winger Karen Carney but feels that competition in the squad is healthy and also hopes Rachel Yankey will impress on her return to the England squad. "Karen has a knee injury but we hope to have her back for the qualifiers. Rachel did very well at our last training camp in La Manga and she is having a good season at Arsenal, she will add something to the squad and we hope her qualities will come to the forefront."
 
The England boss is confident her players will be focused on what will be a critical couple of months for the senior team. "We had all of them over in La Manga last month and I was pleased with how the training camp went, they seem focused and ready for what will be a crucial period for us. We face Austria and Spain at the end of March and how well we do in these games will go a long way to determining if we qualify. Everyone says Spain are our biggest challengers in this group, but we can't afford to look past Austria otherwise we will lose our focus. The aim is for six points in two games and the players will be prepared for that.
 
"We will get an extended period of time with the girls with the games in such quick succession and it means we will get to work on things in a lot more detail. The downside is that any injuries in the first game may affect the team selection in the Spain game so we will have to manage that carefully.
 
"I'm looking forward to the home games, it would be great to get a good crowd to both games and we really want to get everyone behind us, these games are vital to us and a big crowd on our side will really encourage the players."
 
Eniola Aluko and Katie Chapman have both withdrawn from the Cyprus Cup Squad for personal reasons. No replacements will be called up, therefore a squad of 20 will travel for the tournament.
 
http://www.womenssoccerscene.co.uk/

[charlie]

g davison was in la manga too.  Shes not in U23 squad or Cyprus Cup Squad.  Maybe there are better players coming up.  She obviously wasnt considered for Cyprus either.

[Sylvain]

Same as Dowie, there must be something in her game that does not suit Hope Powell. 
She is very efficient in term of goals scored, 8 goals in 10 in the League and overall a 0.40 strike rate which is very good for a winger.

[David]

The Cyprus Cup
International Friendly Tournament
Wednesday 24 February 2010
Larnaca, Cyprus

England began their defence of the Cyprus Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory over South Africa in Larnaca.

The goal came in just the fifth minute as Jill Scott nudged home from close range after South Africa failed to deal with a Jody Handley cross.

Hope Powell’s side lifted the Cyprus Cup last year and that success inspired them to reach the Final of the European Championship in Finland. This time around, Powell will be hoping this competition has a similar effect ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifying double-header against Austria and Spain.

Going behind appeared to galvanise the South Africans and they took the game to England, forcing a number of ultimately harmless corners.

England gradually grew into the game but two stubborn defences prevented the creation of many other chances of note in an uninspiring first half and the opening ten minutes of the second half followed a similar pattern to the first; neither side were able to breach the opposition’s backline.

However, England almost doubled their lead on 55 minutes. A short corner from the right allowed Sue Smith to cross deep but her left-footed centre hit the far post and bounced away from goal.

Then, a mazy run down the left from Jess Clarke allowed her to beat two South African defenders and a driven cross provided Smith with another opportunity to double the advantage, this time in spectacular fashion. The goalkeeper was beaten but the ball just zipped beyond the post. Minutes later, the same pair combined again, only for Smith to fire wide from just outside the six-yard box.

On 77 minutes, England produced a flowing passing move which ended with Emily Westwood firing narrowly wide.

The final ten minutes were relatively scrappy. England had more possession but South Africa pressed the Three Lions all over the pitch to bring to a close a very disjointed match.

Next up for England is Canada on Friday.

England
1 Rachel Brown (21 Siobhan Chamberlain, 46), 18 Dunia Susi, 3 Casey Stoney, 20 Dani Buet (6 Laura Bassett, 58), 5 Faye White (C) (14 Rachel Unitt, 67), 12 Lindsay Johnson, 7 Jess Clarke (17 Rachel Yankey, 76), 8 Jill Scott, 19 Emily Westwood, 15 Jody Handley, 11 Sue Smith.
 

[Sylvain]

Curious line-up  I wonder if this was an experimental side or the best 11 available