Brazil stun China; Canada crush Ghana

15 September, 2007 – ROUNDUP

Brazil thrashed hosts China 4-0 in the Wuhan Sports Center on Saturday evening in a result that leaves them all but assured of a place in the quarter finals. China will have to win in their last game against New Zealand and hope for the right result in the Brazil vs Denmark match. After beating New Zealand 2-0, Denmark themselves will almost certainly qualify if they get a draw in the final group match.

China started the game brightly with Song Xiaoli coming close to replicating her stunning strike against Denmark. It was Brazil who took the lead, however. Just before the break, Marta was able to lift the ball over the weak challenge of Chinese goalkeeper, Han Wenxia, and tap the ball into an empty net.

Whatever was said at half-time, it seemed to have little effect on the Chinese team, who were 3-0 down within three minutes. Marta set up Christiane for an easy finish, then just a minute later the combination bore fruit again after a disastrously poor throw out from China’s Han.

Brazil relaxed and the show-boating began. Their confidence is soaring, and rightly so. Marta and Christiane have gone through two defences like hot knives through butter. China’s fans gave their team a standing ovation regardless, but the hosts will be hoping Brazil keep their standards as high when they face Denmark.

Back in Group C, Canada crushed Ghana 4-0 to give themselves hope of possibly qualifying for the next round. After Australia and Norway drew 1-1, only Ghana have nothing left to play for in the final round of games.

Canada’s strength in the air was the deciding factor as Chrstine Sinclair opened the scoring with a looping header after a quarter of an hour. Ghana again appeared unable of raising their game to the necessary standard, but with more composure, Anita Amankwa could have levelled rather than smashing the ball against the woodwork.

Throughout the second half, Canada continued to press their dominance, two more headers with no serious challening jumps from the Ghanaian defence and a second for Sinclair wrapped up the points and gave Canada what could be a useful goal difference boost.

NB – I can’t pretend to have seen any of the Australia-Norway game, so any comments on that will have to wait.

China ride their luck, Brazil and Australia are cruising, Norway edge out Canada

12 September 2007 Roundup

China and Denmark were involved in the latest “match of the tournament so far” as the hosts finally edged out their rivals in a topsy-turvy encounter that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Song Xiaoli rescued the hosts with an unstoppable strike from the edge of the area that crashed in off the bar. The home crowd at the Wuhan Sports Center went wild at the 88th minute winner, having thought they had seen their team throw it away through second half slackness.

It had all seemed to be going so well as goals either side of half time put the Chinese in a comfortable position. They were too comfortable. Just a minute after Yan Bi had put China ahead, Denmark’s Anne Nielsen struck back from a corner. Tireless striker Catherine Paaske grabbed a dramatic equaliser on 87 minutes but, just as China were caught off guard after their second, Denmark were stunned by Song’s winner.

In Group D’s other match, Brazil 5 New Zealand 0 was as one-sided as the score suggests. The Brazilians seemed to have the magic touch as a string of long range efforts crashed into the NZ goal without reply. It will take a lot for them to recover, though China and Denmark certainly showed enough weaknesses to suggest they need not give up all hope. Denmark may not be out of the Group just yet, but they will need to take a little less time to warm into the game than they did against China. If they can get out of the blocks early get past Ghana and start well against Brazil, then the climax to Group D could be very exciting indeed

Norway and Canada kicked off Group C in Hangzhou with an evenly balanced match that the Norwegians managed to edge in the second half. This game was less frenetic than others so far, but the quality of football on display was possibly higher. Both teams were composed and smart in their passing and movement. Canada went into the break ahead, but Norway’s superiority became more and more evident as the second half went on. Captain Ane Stangeland-Horpestad was able to stab home the winning goal after a goalmouth scramble. Canada will still be favourites to qualify along with Norway, but will have to get over this quickly to make sure of it.

Australia strolled past Ghana 4-1. The Aussies had not won a Women’s World Cup game in their two previous appearances and they seemed keen right from the outset to exorcise those ghosts. They made the best chances, they had more of them, and they finished them. Simple as that. Despite their possessional advantage (which disproves the notion that statistics can tell you all about a football match) Ghana’s goal was never going to be any other than a consolation. Given the way Norway and Canada played, it will take a lot for Ghana to qualify from the group, but they could have a major say in the progress or otherwise of the three stronger teams in Group C.