This week, we have an exclusive interview with Republic of Ireland women's national team coach Vera Pauw ahead of Ireland's last Women's EUROs qualifier against Germany and then wrap-up the last scheduled rounds of EURO qualifiers, with a few postponements still to be played, which are anticipated in February of 2021. We also have news of five new teams across two conferences in the UWS-2 developmental league for next year.

Vera Pauw Exclusive—Republic of Ireland Women's National Team Head Coach talks about the Women's EURO Home Match with Germany and the Way Ahead for Ireland

Last week, TribalFootball.com talked exclusively by phone with Republic of Ireland head coach Vera Pauw a week before her team's match at home against Germany, the last game of their Women's EURO Qualifying group. She said that, "We have a fantastic team. It is amazing how players are keen to learn and keen to grow to the top level. The team is in development and needs more game experience. There is no buffer in these types of game. We dominated the Ukraine game (in October, a 1-0 loss) scoring an own goal, missing a penalty and a late potential equalizer bouncing away off the crossbar."

Pauw also talked about the format of the European Championship qualifiers in that the top seed in the group only has to play lesser ranked teams and, "overall they naturally will become first. So you compete with the others for second place. Now there are usually two teams that are competing for that one place and if you make one mistake you are out and that is what is happening to us, but it also is happening to others. UEFA has to look into that." Besides the Ukraine match, where the Irish should have at least tied the match, another crucial mistake was giving up a 93rd minute tying goal away to Greece in a November of 2019 1-1 tie—those two dropped points would prove pivotal in the Republic of Ireland finishing third in the 2022 EURO Qualification campaign, 2 points behind second place Ukraine (see more below). Pauw said that an improvement for the EURO qualification format would be to, "Create a system where 2nd and 3rd place [teams] move on; [the current way] stops the development of the second tier countries." She also said that she felt that, "Germany is the best team in the world right now and we will win 1 out of 100 times. We know where we stand. We will give them our best game."

For the local Women's National League, which was restructured in 2011, Pauw said, "It really is time to evaluate it and review it. Back then it was the best way forward. If you want to do something internationally, we need a league in which teams are connected with senior men's clubs, like we've done in the Netherlands. On top of this, we have to develop mixed gender football because the numbers in Ireland are not big enough to differentiate by gender in the youth league. Very young players are playing together with those six or seven years older than they are [in female leagues]." In the States, it is rare to see mixed-gender teams beyond ages 10-11 but there is a much larger pool of female players to draw teams from. She said that she would recommend it even up to ages 15, 16, 17 and even 19-year-olds, because then they could move up to the Premier League rather than playing at a younger age with players sometimes twice their age." She said that Gaelic Football—long the dominate football code in the country with historical links back to Irish independence from England—"has a huge impact on the potential player pool for men's and women's soccer as well; the two sports are similar [primarily kicking sports] but the status is so far away from each other and GAA [Gaelic Athletic Association] is so much bigger than soccer here and we lose a lot of players who double up the sports, but the moment they have to choose we lose a lot of players to the game, which is strange because soccer has an international competition and has international status but [the] GAA has very much local, community status here within Ireland."

Vera Pauw—Picture Courtesy: Football Association of Ireland.

She was able to attend the Peamount United versus Shelbourne United WNL match that decided the 2020 WNL Championship in Ireland last weekend (see: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-exclusive-with-peamount-utd-manager-o-callaghan-uswnt-vs-netherlands-african-news-4349734) and it was "fantastic" to be able to watch a game live as she has not been in the country since early March because of COVID-19. She has players on the national team from 9 different countries. She watches a lot of video online which is easier now with so many leagues around the world available on streaming services, and her assistant coach Eileen Gleeson [who was head coach when Peamount United won the league title in 2012 and competed in the 2012-13 Women's Champions League qualification round] is in Ireland and watches games live.

For the development of the game at the grassroots level, Pauw wants to see all leagues have relegation and promotion, starting right at the top with the WNL league. She explained that, "Right now, a player must find another club as they develop, Men's and women's [soccer] have to create a pyramid system—without it, it is difficult to develop players. Then the best players will play against the best, middle with middle, and not too good against the same." She closed by saying that she and others are developing a plan by the end of the year for the FAI—from now until to 2025 [the next Women's EURO cycle]—so that " Every kid has their own pathway of growth." When asked if a semiprofessional WNL was part of the plan, she qualified it by saying that, "Semiprofessional pay depends on a sponsor. But in terms of training 4 times a week plus a game, good food, high level coaches with certificates, good medicine and good administration, then yes. Paid sport is different but fine if it happens."

Ireland gave a robust account of themselves against Germany on December 1 in their final Group I qualifier in Dublin and the Republic was the only team to score against the Germans in 10 Group matches; the Irish ultimately fell 3-1 while Ukraine was winning narrowly over Montenegro to end the Republic's hopes of England 2022, while giving underdogs Ukraine a path through a home and away tie to make their second EURO Finals (see more below).

We do hope that the FAI publishes the upcoming report that Vera Pauw is working on for the continued growth of the women's game in the Republic of Ireland over the next 5 years. It would be great if she could continue to lead that effort, but with Ukraine advancing into the second place playoffs, whether it is a push or pull situation, she could be leading another team into the 2021 Women's European Championship Finals and even to the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Women's EURO Qualifying Update

From Thursday, November 26 through Tuesday, December 1, October 27, 33 European Championship qualifying matches were scheduled to be held across Europe to largely close out the group phase of qualifying for the 2022 Women's EURO Championship in England (originally to be held in the summer of 2021), with three matches postponed: Norway versus Faroe Islands on November 26 as well as Croatia hosting Romania in Pula and the crucial Spain versus Poland match in Madrid—both on December 1—adding more games to the COVID-19 driven fixture backlog in the qualification groups phase. All of the UEFA postponed qualifiers are tentatively scheduled to take place in February 2021.

The 2022 Women's EURO qualifiers are:

Belgium

Denmark

England (host side)

France

Germany

Iceland (second place)

Netherlands

Norway

Sweden

Second Place Teams set for the two-leg playoffs in April 2021 for 3 more Finals spots are:

Northern Ireland

Russia

Ukraine

Finland and Portugal are still fighting for an automatic spot as group winners along with Poland and Spain (see below), to be joined by Austria, Italy, Switzerland and potentially the Czech Republic in second place, as two more best second-place automatic berths to England are still to be decided.

In Group A, the Netherlands were perfect with 10 wins out of 10 games (30 points) after their final match, a 6-0 home win on December 1 over Kosovo, as Dutch international Katja Snoeijs (who joined Bordeaux of France this season and has 4 goals in 9 games for the third place team in the Feminine Division 1, after 2 seasons with PSV at home) scored a hat trick while Russia won away against Turkey 2-1 and finished second in the group. Russia only lost points to the Netherlands during their group matches. Russia's 24 points from 10 games left them well ahead of Slovenia (15 points from 9 games, after their match away to Estonia in October was postponed). Russia is well positioned to still win one of the direct paths to the Finals as one of the three top second-place sides in the 9 groups and avoid the playoffs.

In Group B, Denmark and Italy were already through from their group but their December 1 qualifier was crucial for placing. A scoreless deadlock in Viborg gave the undefeated Danes top spot and direct qualification for the finals on 28 points. Denmark is tied with the Netherlands for the most goals (48) scored in the qualifiers and has a commanding Goals Difference (+47), the best in Europe during this campaign, and +27 better than Italy. Italy has a game to make up against Israel and has 22 points, while Bosnia and Herzegovina finished with 18 points after a 3-0 win over Georgia in Tbilisi on December 1, with the winner coming from Marija Damjanovic (20) of Lokomotive Brcko at home, and two second half goals by Sofija Krajsumovic (18). Last month, we touched on Bosnia and Herzegovina's improvement in this EUROS campaign, (see: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-euros-qualifying-update-we-league-line-up-announced-w-league-sets-2020-21-schedule-4346295).

Malta needs some acknowledgement as well for their 10 points in Group B, finishing the 2021 EURO qualifying campaign with road wins over Georgia 4-0 on November 26 and Israel 2-0 on December 1. Though all of their points came against those two sides, they also had good home results against Italy (0-2) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-3) earlier in the competition. Janice Xuereb (24) played in all 10 matches in goal; she has won 5 first division women's titles at Birkirkara, where she has been a long-time fixture, and also a part of 3 runner-ups sides to Hibernians, who won Malta League titles in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Among Malta's players based with clubs abroad, defender Emma Lipman (31) was born in Coventry, raised in England and played with Manchester City in 2014 and 2015 in the WSL before playing three seasons in the Serie A-Women with Verona, Roma and Florentia; she is now with Lazio, who are in Serie B. She qualified to play for Malta through her grandparents. Nicole Sciberras, in defense (19), is currently with Juventus in Serie A-Women.

Midfielder Rachel Cuschieri (28) played last season with PSV in the Netherlands and won league titles in Cyprus with Apollon Limassol and in Belgium with Anderlecht. She is now a teammate of Lipman's with Lazio in Serie B in Italy. She has one goal in this qualifying stage, in the 2-1 March win over Georgia in UEFA Women's EURO Qualifying.

Midfielder Shona Zammit (24) played last season with Pink Sport Bari in Italy, moving from Hibernians in Malta. She scored against Georgia in the 4-0 win at the end of November. Midfielder Ylenia Carabott is with RCSD Charleroi in Belgium. Forward Martina Borg plays with Sassari Torres in Italy.

Forward Maria Farrugia is with Sunderland in England in the Women's National League—Premier League (North) (3rd division). Forward Haley Bugeja (16) is with Sassuolo in Serie A-Women this season (currently in third place after 8 games with 19 points, behind second place Milan with 21 points and leaders Juventus with 24 points) and has played in 6 games with 5 goals for her club and scored 5 times in 5 games for Malta's National Team in this EURO cycle, including a hat trick against Georgia in the November 26 4-0 win and the second tally in their 2-0 defeat of Israel on December 1. She moved this year from Mgarr United, a small village team in Malta. She is definitely one to watch in the future within European football.

Mark Gatt has been the head coach with Malta's senior national team since 2015, running both the full and U-19 side concurrently until 2018 (he started with the U-19's in the fall of 2013).

In Group C, Norway won the group despite their match on November 26 against Faroe Islands being postponed. In the crucial battle for second place, Northern Ireland defeated Belarus 3-2 in Belfast on November 27 in a hugely important win in an attempt to make their first ever senior finals. Kristy McGuinness of Sion Swifts (2') and Rachel Furness of Liverpool (61' PK) offset a Anastasija-Grazyna Shcherbachenia (30-years-old with Vaprus in Estonia) brace (16' and 67') before a 70th minute own goal from Natalia Voskobovich (Minsk) was the ultimate winner. Emily Wilson (Crusaders) took a long shot that bounced off the far post and hit Belarus keeper Vaskabovich in the back (after she had dived for the shot) and the ball ricocheted into the net. Anastasiya Novikava and Hanna Pilipenka (both Dinamo-BGUFK) each provided an assist on Shcherbachenia's goals. We will look briefly at Dinamo-BGUFK's roster below—who won the Belarussian Women's League title this year and will replace FC Minsk, who have been WCL regulars for the past few years.

In the final match day on December 1, Wales defeated Belarus 3-0 while Northern Ireland defeated the Faroe Islands 5-1. With the win, Northern Ireland clinched second and a final two-leg playoff to try to make the Finals in England in the summer of 2022. Rachel Furness (Liverpool) chipped in two goals. The Irish actually fell behind early as 19-year-old Jensa Torolvsdottir (IF/Vikingur/B68) scored the first goal in 7 games for the Faroe Islands in the fourth minute—(while her side has surrendered 42), but Furness scored two minutes later to spare some nerves for the Irish. Even though the Irish had a massive 13 goal deficit (-4 to +9) for goal difference entering the final match day, the tie for second place in the group was decided on head-to-head goals differential with Wales and the Irish had the advantage on away goals from a 2-2 tie away in Newport in September of 2019 combined with a 0-0 deadlock two months later in Belfast. Both teams finished with 14 points from a 4-2-2 (W-D-L) record and Wales ended with 16 goals for and 4 against (+12) while Northern Ireland finished at (0) in goal difference, with 17 scored and 17 allowed.

Note: Belarus' Dinamo-BGUFK are the 2020 league and women's cup champions and will replace Minsk in the 2020/21 European Women's Champions League. They won the league this season by a 12 point advantage over Minsk (61 vs 49) in the 8 team league that had a regular season of 3 rounds. Dinamo-BGUFK defeated Minsk in the Belarus Women's Cup on penalties after a 0-0 tie. Dinamo's imports include midfielder Lebohang Ramalepe (28) of South Africa, who has scored 3 goals this season. Rhoda Mulaudzi of South Africa—who played in last summer's Women's World Cup Finals in France, with Canberra United in Australia's W-League in 2018/19 before journeying to Apollon in Cyprus and then played at home this summer with Mamelodi Sundowns—had 7 goals this season. Other imports were Claudia Dabda of Cameroon (19) and Moldovan international goalkeeper Natalia Munteanu (26), the latter who has played in Belarus for years and also spent a short spell in 2017 with Donchanka Azov in Russia.

Forward Salimata Simpore (33) of Burkina Faso, but who has been capped by Equatorial Guinea, had 19 goals this season for Dinamo. Forward Abigail Small (22) who played at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the States, recently joined the squad.

In the 2022 Women's EURO Group D on November 27, Spain defeated Moldova 10-0 in Madrid, led by a hat-trick by Jennifer Hermoso (in her second year at FC Barcelona and previously with PSG in France and Tyreso in Sweden) to give them the edge over Poland in their final match of the group on December 1, which was postponed so we will have to wait to see how this entertaining and competitive group plays out. Meanwhile the Czech Republic went into their last match against Moldova still with a chance to pip Poland for second; they blasted Moldova 7-0 at home in Chomutov on December 1, in which Andrea Staskova (20)—a Czech Republic international who joined Juventus in 2019-20 from Sparta Prague—scored two goals. Staskova has 1 goal from the 8 league games that Serie A leaders Juventus in Italy have played thus far this season.

In Group E on November 27, Portugal upset Scotland 1-0 in Lisbon played with no fans because of COVID-19. Ana Borges, a Portuguese international with over 100 caps and currently with Sporting Club de Portugal after time at Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Santa Clarita Blue Heat of the UWS in the States, scored on a sublime pass in the 69th minute from outside of the box, which she took and then moved ahead of all of the Scottish defenders and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Lee Alexander (Glasgow City). Video review shows that Borges was indeed onside when the pass was made to her, albeit by inches. Scotland had more shots (9-6) and corners (8-4) but Portugal had more shots on target (5-2). Captain Rachel Corsie (Utah Royals) said that the game was, "Disappointing for us. We haven't been clinical in front of goal and unfortunately for us we gave them one chance and they took it and punished us." But the two sides need to make up a postponed game in Scotland so the Scots were not done and dusted by any means as they went home to meet Finland four days later.

Scotland lost all hope of a second consecutive EUROS and third major championship (including the 2019 Women's World Cup) crucially from an Amanda Rantanen (22-year-old with PK-35 in the Naisten Liiga Women) goal for Finland 5 minutes into second half injury time, winning 1-0 at the very end on December 1 in Edinburg. Scotland was pouring forward to salvage three points from the match but Finland countered and Rantanen was in the middle of the field and was fed the ball while she was in her own half of the field and she steamed in on goal. Her shot was blocked by goalie Lee Alexander (Glasgow City) but rebounded off of Rantanen's face into the net. Scotland had a huge advantage over the Finns in Shots (17 to 4) and corners (11 to 1) but again was not clinical in front of goal as they only had 4 shots on target to 2 for Finland. This reporter felt that goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela (34—Everton and ex-Bayern Munich, as well as clubs in Sweden and Norway), who turned away a number of dangerous attempts from Scotland, was the star of the game. Finland, coached by long-time Scottish women's national team head coach Anna Signeul (a native of Sweden) and Portugal now are fighting for first place in this group.

Portugal defeated Albania 1-0 in Lisbon on December 1 on a 57th minute goal by 22-year-old Ana Capeta (Sporting Clube de Portugal). The narrow win did not reflect the number of chances that Portugal had, with 16 shots to 6 for Albania and 9-0 for shots on goal and a 15-4 advantage on corners. Portugal's defense has been stellar, letting in only 1 goal in 6 games, but they need to increase their scoring production, with only 8 goals scored in 6 games, far and away the lowest scoring production of any first or second place teams in the 9 groups.

In Group F, Iceland used two second half penalties from Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottier (Olympique Lyonnaise after years at Wolfsburg of Germany and Rosengard of Sweden) to secure a crucial 3-1 away victory over Slovakia in Senec on November 27 and secure second place in the group. Slovakia scored first through Maria Mikolajova (St. Polten in Austria) in the 25th minute before 28-year-old Berglind Thorvaldsdottir (Le Havre in France with 3 goals in 8 games, after a summer at home with her longtime club Breidablik following a 2019-20 season with Milan and 2018-19 campaign with PSV in the Netherlands) tied it up in the 61st minute. Gunnarsdottir then scored her double in the 67th and 77th minutes. On December 1 in Budapest, Thorvaldsdottir scored in the 65th minute for the only goal in a 1-0 victory of Hungary. Iceland has clinched a fourth consecutive UEFA Finals spot as one of the three best second place sides to Group F winners Sweden, with Iceland having made the quarterfinals in 2013 in Sweden. Sweden finished their Group F winning campaign with a 6-0 away win over Slovakia in Trnava on December 1, with Filippa Angeldal (23), who won a Damallsvenskan league title at home this season with Goteborg after transferring from Linkopings, where she played in 2019 and 18, after time with Hammarby and AIK.

In Group G, on November 27, France defeated Austria 3-0 in Guingamp, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto scoring a brace, and clinched their place in the 2021 EUROS Finals. Austria finished second in the group. On December 1, France blasted Kazakhstan 12-0 and was up 7-0 at the break in Vannes. Ten different players scored for France, with Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto (both with PSG) scoring hat tricks within the first 17 minutes. Austria defeated Serbia 1-0 on home soil in Altach the same day from an 80th minute goal by Nicole Billa (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in Germany). France finished with 44 goals for and didn't allow a goal in 8 EURO Qualifying matches, while Kazakhstan only scored twice and allowed 43 goals in 8 games, with only Georgia in Group B (3 goals for and 45 against in 10 games) surrendering more goals during this qualifying campaign.

In Group H, Belgium and Switzerland, who had both previously secured the top two group spots, faced off on December 1 in Leuven, where the home side defeated Switzerland 4-0 to clinch an automatic spot to the EURO finals (their second time in the finals after their debut in the Netherlands in 2017) with Tine De Caigny (Anderlecht) scoring a first half double and second half goals by Tessa Wullaert (Anderlecht) and Janice Cayman (Olympique Lyon, who has played at home and in the States). Belgium added to their superior goal difference over Switzerland (+32 to +14). Switzerland had entered the match with a one point advantage over Belgium but that was gone within a half hour. Switzerland likely will have a play-off game in order to make the EURO Finals for the second consecutive time, after going out in the group stage in the Netherlands in 2017.

In Group I, on November 27, Germany kept its unbeaten and unscored upon record with a 6-0 win over Greece in Ingolstat, with Laura Freigang (22) of Eintract Frankfurt scoring a first half hat-trick within 24 minutes. Four days later, in a crucial game for second place, the Republic of Ireland gave the Germans a battle, going into half time 2-1 down after Katie McCabe (Arsenal) scored from the penalty spot after goals by Lina Magull of Bayern Munich (21st minute from the penalty spot) and Tabea Wassmuth (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) in the 29th minute, but the latter's second goal in the 85th minute sewed up the match. Statistically, Germany had 14 total goal attempts to 8 for the Irish (5 to 1 on goal) with corner kicks near even with 5 for Germany to 4 for the Republic of Ireland. Ireland's 1-0 defeat to Ukraine last month along with losing 2 points to outsiders Greece—who finished in fourth with only 7 points—in an away game in November of last year, when a late goal in the 93rd minute took when turned out to be the two points which cost them second place, finishing with 13 points in third and two points behind Ukraine (15 points) but ahead on goal differential (+1 to -5 for Ukraine).

In the other key match of the day, Ukraine won narrowly by a 2-1 margin, their winner coming from 20-year-old Nadiia Kunina (Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv) in the 74th minute after Olha Basanska (now at Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv at home after years with Ryazan in Russia), on a 5th minute penalty, and Montenegro's Jasna Djokovic (Sarajevo) in the 6th minute traded early goals. Forward Nicole Kozlova (20) started the match; she is Canadian-born and a current player at Virginia Tech University. She has played 7 of the UEFA Women's EURO qualifiers this cycle and scored twice in a 4-0 win over Greece in September. She started playing for the U-17 national team in 2016 and progressed through the U-19's to the full side. Head Coach Natalia Zinchenko (41) will hope that Ukraine can make the Euro Finals again after their debut in Finland in 2009. Zinchenko played with the national team in the past and has played and coached in the Ukraine and in Russia.

UWS League Two Sets Lineup for Two Conferences in 2021

The UWS League Two, the new developmental league for U-20 and U-23 players that was launched this year but largely tabled along with most of league play—except for a couple of tournaments—this year because of the COVID-19 virus, has set its team line-up in two conferences for 2021.

The Mid-Atlantic Conference will include teams from the States of Maryland and Pennsylvania: Annapolis United FC, Keystone FC, Lancaster Inferno, and Maryland-Elite SC.

Annapolis United, located in the city which is home to the U.S. Naval Academy, wants to "attract, identify, develop and educate young gifted athletes in preparation for club, collegiate and professional careers."

Keystone FC from Mechanicsburg, PA and has seen tremendous growth over the past five years at the youth levels. Finding success on the state, regional, and national levels, Keystone FC's commitment to its mission has allowed the club to thrive. As the club has grown from 16 teams to over 60 teams, Keystone FC's focus has continued to remain player-centric while embracing team-first values. The development of its players has been recognized throughout the country as its alumni are now scattered throughout NCAA Division 1, 2, and 3 rosters.

Lancaster Inferno will field a reserve team in UWS League Two in addition to having their first team compete in the UWS national pro-am league. The reserve squad features current/post college players and high school standouts looking to play at the next level. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based women's soccer club aims to provide the highest level development and playing experience in the area.

Maryland-Elite Soccer Club was founded in 2010 with a mission to provide the region's most talented, driven, and dedicated youth soccer players with an unparalleled soccer program; designed with a "pro player development" mindset and operated by a full-time Professional Technical staff. Based out of Southern Maryland, Maryland-Elite SC will now, through their partnership with UWS, be able to provide youth players with a direct pipeline into a pro-am league.

Grand Haven Admirals join the Great Lakes Conference for the 2021 season which now will have seven franchises. Grand Haven Admirals, a very pretty summer resort community on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan close to the Indiana border, will join six other teams all from Michigan which have been previously announced: AFC Plymouth, Corktown AFC, Legends FC, Livonia City FC, North Oakland SC, and Rebels FC. (see: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-champions-league-qualifying-round-up-davidson-leads-uws-moves-abroad-uws-league-2-adds-teams-4347931 for more on these 6 Great Lakes Conference UWS-2 teams for 2021).

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get your copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey