Yes, they'd better win their group now... Looks bad for Sweden though. Second place means they're going home in the quarterfinal, and even getting second won't be that easy.
Really? Looked like a full house on TV. Germany looks very, very sharp. They had pace and physical presence that the tiny Argentines didn't have. Germany's going to the final.
Did anyone expect any result other than a blowout? I didn't expect 11-0 but still. In many cases, the women in blue were a head shorter than those in white and were not nearly as strong. I'm just surprised Germ. waited so long to make subs. Honestly, I would have made at least one sub at half. Argentina is better than their previous WWC apperances but they aren't good. The defender never should have given up the corner that led to the first goal. There was no one in white near her and if she was intent on kicking it as far into the stands as possible, she had time to turn toward the sideline. That said, the keeper should have done better w/ both of those own goals. Germany should cruise through this group, as expected. It is (IMO) the easiest group, although, there will be an interesting contest for 2nd. I'm not ready to completely buy Tony's love of the English women's team just yet.
I basically agree, except I don't think their turnovers in the midfield were necessarily due to any weakness. They can probably be attributed to not being 100% focused (because, well... they didn't have to be). It's their strike rate that impressed me (even against a terrible defense/GK). Their finishing was great - the vast majority of their shots were on goal, and the majority of those went in. If you give this team a look at goal, they will punish you. And if you give them 11, then you're looking at the most lopsided game in WWC history. I still don't think Germany is as good as they were in 2003, which makes this result a little disappointing, because I was hoping that some of the lesser teams like Argentina would have closed the gap a little bit over these four years. This goalfest was fun to watch, but I'm hoping that we don't have too many more games like this this tournament.
I'd like to see Germany try handle England like this. I don't think it'll happen. I think England have a very good chance of winning or at least tying them 0-0, 1-1. Look for England to stuff the midfield and be opportunistic on the 50/50 balls.
me neither, but i don't see them winning either. what impressed me most was how many weapons germany has. certainly, almost anyone will give germany a better game, but i just don't see much depth w/ the brits.
There's no way England will tie with Germany, I've no doubt that Germany will beat them. Granted, time has passed, but the English team I saw playing in the Euro left me very underwhelmed.
I agree with everything you say...until that last sentence. Yeah, Behringer tore up that left flank. Yes, Birgit Prinz looked sharp and the Germans, as a team, finished well. But on the other hand, this was not a tough match. Plus, there's the fact that in the first 15 minutes, Argentina had more of the ball. That first own goal really rattled Argentina, and I really believe this match would have been much closer (as in, 5-0 or so) had Correa not punched the ball into her net. I am still not ready to jump on the bandwagon and call Germany a team that's a sure bet for the final. Look what happened in the 2004 Olympics- they hammer China 8-0 and then lose to the US in the semifinals. There's still a lot of soccer left to be played, and even though Germany's got an easy group, they still probably have to get through North Korea or Sweden to make it to the semi's even. Oh well...wish I could skip forward a few hours to tomorrow's matches. Hopefully, they'll be more competitive.
nah. germany owned the game. argentina was more than rattled early. and lets remember that A didn't score, or even come close, which says something for the german defense. yes, strange things can happen, but probably not in this group. one can only hope the u.s. doesn't meet germany in the quarters (if you're a uswnt fan).
First of all there is no way to see how good Germany really are with a team like Argentina. They lookt like a little league team. Any other team in the WC would win over A. And remember it is easy to look superior when facing a weak team. I have no doubt Germany is good, but not this good Argentina made them look so much better. I have never seen such a weak team ever, even Hungary look better and we beat them 7-0. So all USA fans you have nothing to worry about really, i am 100% sure that this WC will go to The USA. With Norway and Germany as runners up
this is true, but you certainly can get more than a clue what they're capable of. they're stacked and clearly lethal.
Eh, I guess you're probably right. That ball shouldn't have been cleared out for a corner anyway. I thought that as soon as it happened... I guess in the end, it doesn't matter that much to Argentina's chances whether they lost 5-0 or 11-0. No matter what, they're going home after the first round probably, and no one will be shocked. I guess I just feel like they have indeed improved since 2003...I hope their federation sees that and not just the scoreline.
Hey, she's her team's top scorer! Unfortunately, I don't seeing this tapping into the "national soccer pride." Quite the opposite. Look at the lack of support the Brazilian WNT gets from its Federation, and they already have a good team.
Aside from throwing darkhorse or surprise teams in the mix, theres only 4 teams in this tourney to begin with that can adequately compete at the same level- Sweden, Norway, US, and Germany. The other 12 make it a little more interesting of a tournament.
me too. but i could just as easily see them pull back in the face of international humiliation. i mean, look what brazil's federation did w/ their women...and they were very good.
Wow, that result floored me. I expected about 4-1 or 5-1. Looking at the stats it didn't seem that lopsided - Argentina had 8 shots, 4 corners, and 43% of possession, so they mustered some kind of attack. But Germany scoring on almost half of their shots - yikes. This is an embarrassment for the women's game in general, no way they'll expand to 20 or 24 for WWC 2011 now. And the scary thing is Argentina has already qualified for the 2008 Olympics so we will see them back in China next year. Granted, the German men beat Saudi Arabia 8-0 in their WC 2002 opener so I guess freak results can happen on the men's side too. But 7-0, 7-1 scorelines have been too common in women's world cups.
thanks for showing me this link....I have no realized that we have discussion about women soccer here too.. I had a quick look at this thread..and mostly facts you already discussed...of course as a German I`m over-happy with the result...It is big even in the german woman soccer..of course our men soccer play much more important role in Germany...anyway, women soccer gets more and more attention....since our women are pretty good...they wants to defense their titel when they won against USA in the finale....after 11:0 against big soccer nation Argentina, I think we showed another teams, that they should take us seriously...we probably schocked the teams with our victory......and are surely candidate for the titel. of course US girls are also very good and in the opposite to Germany, women soccer in the USA is much more populare than men soccer. here is kicker report...they write: Neid-Elf schreibt Geschichte...or with my english: 11 Envy writes history (everyone is jealously at our 11 http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/frauen/startseite/artikel/369659/ super happy bltleo greetings from Germany I will translate for you some articles from the tournamets in the China...
As always, we appreciate you dropping by. Best of luck in the tournament... even though Klinsi isn't coaching this team!
well of course theres always room for upsets but I dont see this tourney straying too far off the beaten path of predictability. Unfortunately though (as in, id rather see this as a final/3rd place game), a US/Sweden vs Germany will likely happen in the 1/4s. The US has a relatively easy road if they finish first, possibly facing Denmark or China in the semis as opposed to a German 1/4 then probable Norway semi. At any rate, they have to have to beat the team to be the team sooner or later.
Or, the US could finish first and play England and then Brazil en route to the final. Sure, Germany is a much stronger side than England, but Brazil is definitely no walk in the park. Yeah, the group stage matches outside of Group B aren't that exciting, but beyond there, there aren't going to be any easy games for anyone...and with potential dark horses like North Korea and Australia around, you never quite know what might happen.
Yeah its gonna be Germany - America in the final unless you Americans somehow fail to win your group. (probably) Sadly Sweden are screwed.