8/19: Australia 3 - 1 over China!! They lost to China on penalty kicks last year in a World Cup Qualifier and tied them this May. So now with these 2 wins (and counting the PK loss as an official tie), their record against China since 2006 is 2-2-2. Also, since the start of 2006, Australia is 3W - 0L - 0T against Mexico 1-1-0 against Japan 0-2-1 against North Korea They've also lost once to the US and once to Denmark (no shame there on either one). And of course they've totally kicked butt on the teams in Asia they should kick butt on (Taipei, Vietnam, etc.) Australia is a very competitive team.
in my mind australia will be the second team out of their group - the way they've been playing leading up to the tournament. i also think that japan is a better team than england. i don't see england getting out of their group at all. they're not even playing a series of friendlies leading up to the tournament - they have one game against china this weekend i just noticed. now, there is no law that says you have to have a series of friendlies to prep you for the world cup, but most of the good teams do just that. only brazil can mess around and still do well in the tournament.
I think you're right about England. It's a BIG, big mistake not to prepare for a world cup accordingly. The girls will have little confidence going in, and if they're first game is a dud, then there really isn't much hope for them psychologically.
Or perhaps both over Norway Australia's results are a bit hard to judge, especially since assessments the quality of China and North Korea vary so much. Their relative performance against China is certainly far better than Canada's, so a result against either Ghana or Norway should be enough to see them into the second round. The matches against the Kiwis are a little disconcerting; there is only one proper thrashing in the lot.
Korea? , Nigeria ? You are the one who is kidding, have either team won a game in the WWC ? Nigeria will be in last place, I think that Korea will win only that one... unless Sweden implodes... Otherwise these will not even be good games There is no Parity in this group and no Darkhorse either, no difference than the WWC03 at all...
I still think you are wrong and nobody knows anything about NKorea at this point or Nigeria. If i am that wrong why did the Us coach get so upset about NK in group B? And the fact of the matter is that every team in the world is getting closer, so therfor closer games and harder to predict. I hope i am wrong and you are right, but i woulden´t count i on it. And it is a hard group because according to rank there is Nr 1, Nr 3 and Nr 5 and one of Africas strongest teams Nigeria. WWC 2003 will have little to do with WC 2007. I think both NK and Nigeria is better now then 2003. I have no doubt that Us will win the group, but i also think they still have to do battle. And group B have to travel futher then the rest of them, so a tough group. Easy you are still kidding
Nigeria winning twice and advancing to the quarters in 1999 and taking Brazil to OT? N Korea winning a game in 1999 and 2003? Any other lack of success these teams have are due to getting drawn into a group of death every time out.
GROUP A Germany to win Japan and England should fight it out for 2nd, Japan being the more experienced I think will help them to take 2nd. Argentina will make it difficult for both. GROUP B USA to win, but should find it hard against Sweden. North Korea are hard to judge, as they mainly play Asian teams - but 2-0 home and away against Australia is good in anyone's books. a 0-0 draw away to the Netherlands may not sound too good - but Netherlands did win in France to prevent Les Bleus qualifying for the World Cup. It's a toss-up between the Swedes and the North Koreans for 2nd place, but I just think that Sweden can sneak a draw against the States. Nigeria should finish last - but again, hard to judge their quality as they only play amongst African teams until the World Cup comes along. GROUP C This group will also be close. Norway have a very slight edge, and there is nothing to chose from between Australia and Canada. I pick Australia to pip Canada for 2nd. I believe Ghana will be out of their depth. GROUP D China will need home advantage in this group. I think they can just sneak ahead of Denmark for 2nd place. I believe Brazil will top the group. New Zealand will go home early. QUARTER-FINALS Germany v Sweden 2-0 USA v Japan 3-0 China v Norway 1-0 Brazil v Australia 2-1 SEMI-FINALS China v Germany 0-2 USA v Brazil 2-0 I don't dare predict the result of a Germany v USA final!
I do not think many people have, most people are giving more weight to the win they had against Brazil than they should. Considering Brazil did not have any real training time and was missing Marta for the WCQ
Fair enough. I have not seen Argentina either since 2003 and a lot would have change in the meantime. At present I think Argentina sits comfortably as the second best team in South America after Brazil. It will be interesting to see them again. Looking at the poll it seems that Australia has got a good lead over Ghana. That is a surprise to me. I think they may end up being much closer. But heck, what do I know?