I am attending 3 group games Basically flying 3 times between England Germany and France. And I would bet Germany will win the group
France will be the surprise team in this group. They won't lose in this group. They will score a "draw" against Germany, and will end up with 5 points total in the group. Germany will still win the group with 7 points. Canada and Nigeria will be sent home packing (early).
We are more likely to finish with 6 points because we can beat Nigeria ad then Canada are also beatable despite their very well organised defensive system. Also they are likely to loose their first game so would need to attack us a bit as well.
France/Canada is one of those games that any words just do an injustice. It's simply a spectacle to behold.
France, Canada, and Nigeria are pretty evenly matched. Finishing second in the group wouldn't make any of them a surprise team. Finishing first would surely do it, though. To win matches France need to score goals, and their Euro 2009 performance (two goals in their last three matches) doesn't inspire much confidence. I think France's success will depend a great deal on how much they use Laura-Marie Delie, who scored 9 goals in just 312 minutes in qualifying.
As far as I know Thiney will start most games up front and Delie will come as a sub from her. France used mainly a 4-3-3 system with one defensive midfielder an organisation that could transform into a 4-2-3-1 if the opposition midfield was reinforced.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCxTXH6rI44"]YouTube - Gemeinsam zum Stern - Mercedes-Benz Kampagne‏[/ame] On Friday Germany played Italy 5-0. No surprise. Germany and another team will proceed. Maybe France, cause its on the upswing. The more interesting question will be if Germany concedes a goal ?
germany are the favourite and they will probably beat nigeria and canada but if silvia stuck will grings-prinz up front and bartusiak in defense ...france got a chance......We will beat nigeria but he will be tough against canada and i predict marie-laure (not laura-marie....lol) delie will make the difference. VIVE LA FRANCE!
Morace has just signed a year extension. What happens inside France if they fail to come out of group? Is Bini untouchable? Do they refocus on youth?
He was under threat at the Euros, status is more solid after a good qualifying campaign. The FFF has more pressing matters as there is the president election soon. The new president might dislike him though
That would be kind of harsh wouldn't it? With one team in the group much better than France and one as good as France.
Germany should win this group, even though it is a fairly tough one. They've totally destroyed the other three teams in the group the last time they've played them, over Nigeria 8-0 last fall, over Canada 5-0 last September, and over France 5-1 in the 2009 Euros. I thought that the six month layoff for Germany might have an effect, but they've taken care of North Korea, Italy, and the Netherlands with relative ease. I think it's a tossup for the second team out of this group between Canada and France. I might give a slight edge to France at this point, but it could go either way. Canada has been playing pretty well, but they don't score bunches of goals, winning most games 1-0 or 2-1. They've played more matches than any other team since last September, I think 23 official matches in about 9 1/2 months, plus a few training matches. It seems like Morace has had the team in Europe for most of the year training. I wonder if they might be overworked or burnt out at this point. France is a better technical team than Canada and they have a solid team. But they never seem to rise to the occasion in big tournaments. Maybe this is the year. Like debzy says, Delie could be a difference maker, but she rarely starts. Will Bini get her in the game early enough to make that difference? I thought Nigeria might make some noise in this group with the potential of pulling an upset. But their recent performance against Ghana was apparently not very good. Their best chance would be if Germany goes 3-0 and the other three teams tie at 1-2 and Nigeria wins the tiebreaker. I'd say Germany first and France second at this point, but ask me tomorrow and I might see Canada squeezing into the second position.
France will not fail.....without arrogance i can say than they are better than canada and nigeria and could be a bad surprise for germany.....this team is expecting to reach semi-final (by federation) i know it will be not easy but now more than before the girls are ready to compete against the best and to show the world what french football is about. But if they fail bini will be gone no doubt about it. bompastor and soubeyrand will retire in the end of the tournament no matter what happens.....sonia said she wnats to focus on have a family and soubeyrand is 38 years old......but the rest of the team still young and strong enough to be there in the next world cup.
I like France football. I know it has improved, indeed. Yeah the CL win shows womens football in France is on the upswing. Winning major international tournaments would give another big boost to French football. The problem is that Germany(and Canada) have improved too. Since 2003 and 2007 the DFB created breadth and depth of talent within squad. The association has supported womens youth work since 15-20 years while others started it just a few years ago. IF you take the German team roster there is not just the first 11 one can call "world class", its at least 15-16 players fighting for the starting spots. The "hungry young" pushing into the team crowding the "excellent old" out. Further these players are totally different in their style of play. Grings ---> Popp, Garefrekes ---> Okoyino da Mbabi, Behringer ---> Bajramaj, etc.. Injuries are easily compensated and Sylvia Neid is not forced to stick to THE one system. The other teams have good starting squads, yeah I admit, but I dont see this very high competition within their rosters. The second place is sure about France or Canada. What could be crucial is the goal difference between them: receiving less goals against Germany or scoring more against Nigeria... cause I think they will draw against each other and both will have a win against Nigeria. Not to bad cause the second then will have to play the first of the weaker group B. Likely England or Japan. Half final should be possible.
Obviously Germany is the heavy favorite to win Group A, and the entire tournament. However, I think they are far more vulnerable defensively than in 2003 or 2007. I can't see Angerer keeping six straight shutouts as she did four years ago, considering the backline in front of her. Bresonik is very strong on the right hand side, tough to beat defensively and good at joining the attack. On the opposite side, Peter does her job well but isn't spectacular. The center of defense is where serious problems could arise. Bartusiak I've only seen play several times, but in each match she has committed some pretty ghastly errors, gifting the ball to opposing forwards (Abby Wambach scored the winning goal in October 2009 this way). And Krahn is rebounding from an torn ACL. The backup defenders, Schmidt, Faisst, and Goessling, are quite inexperienced. I'm a bit surprised Germany haven't tried returned Ariane Hingst to defense, where she has played in all previous World Cups. They are strong enough in other areas of the field to still be considered the team to beat, but France, Canada, and Nigeria all have attacking players that could be trouble for Germany.
In the case of Germany, their best defense is offense. And look at all the offensive weapons they have both on the field and on the bench. I don't think the teams you mentioned will be able to hold out the German attack for 90 minutes.
if bartusiak will be a starter against france we could score at leats one goal......anyway delie got 21 goals for 20 presence with the NT now...and she was just 5 times a starter......a legend in the making?? psur jersey sucks...nike could have done a better job and not just copy the man jersey!!!
The first two group games will be the ones we are aiming for because we really need 6 points before playing Germany to have a chance to qualify. With only 4 points, it would probably go to goal difference and therefore would need 1. A big win against Nigeria and a small defeat against Germany.
The cup is always half-empty or half-full. It always helps to go into your last group game against a weak opponent knowing the goal margin you need to acquire. And Nigeria will likely be eliminated and mentally defeated and playing their youth players for experience. Germany may also have already won the group and be resting players, or both teams could only need a tie to progress. World Cup group games like that often do not have much urgency.
the starting eleven of germany will probably be: ----------------angerer bresonik---krahn-------bartusiak------peter -----------lauder------kulig--- garefrekes---------------------behringer -----------prinz-------grings france should be: --------------sapowicz------------ petit-----georges------renard-----bompastor ---------soubeyrand----bussaglia thiney------------abily------------necib -----------------delie somebody knows how it can be for canada and nigeria?
No Debzy, Germany is playing a strict 4-2-3-1 system with Prinz as HS(OM) in behind the lone striker Grings/Popp. BTW, its the system France is copying from the German side. Im interested on the Canadian line-up as well. Dont think there is a difference in who for and how Nigeria will play.