Quarter-final line up starts to take shape

SHANGHAI, 18 September 2007

The USA finished top of their group after narrowly defeating Nigeria in a rain-soaked encounter in Shanghai. They now face Group A runners-up England in Tianjin on Saturday. Despite losing their last game to Sweden, North Korea qualified for the last eight for the first time in their history. They will face the formidable Germany, who, despite again failing to reach the highs of their first match, defeated Japan comfortably in their final group game.

Instant Predictions (aka “preparing for egg on face”):

USA – England: If they defend like they did against Germany, then England could hold the USA’s three-pronged frontline for some time. However, impressive though Kelly Smith has been so far, England probably don’t have enough speed and guile going forward to break through the fierce US defensive-line. It could come down to how well each side uses their wing-play and who wins the aerial battles. The USA will probably prove too strong.

Germany – North Korea: I haven’t seen as much of Korea as I would have liked, but they are building a reputation as being not only fast, but tough as well. Germany are as tough as they get, but have shown a few surprising weaknesses in the first round. Against Argentina some slack passing went unpunished, while their forwards seemed subdued against both England and Japan. Most money will be on Germany to prevail, but an outside bet on North Korea might not be totally unreasonable.

Match Report:

    

USA 1 Nigeria 0

Greg Ryan, USA team coach, was in diplomatic but confident form after a hard-fought victory in the pouring rain in Shanghai confirmed his side’s to placing in Group B. Praising Nigeria for their strong performances throughout the Group stage, he said of next opponents England “I expected them to make it. In the game against Germany they showed how strong they are.” But Ryan has no doubts about the abilities of his young squad: “Our team defending makes it very difficult to beat us. We’ll be able to take that into the next round and the one after. This team has what it takes to win this World Cup.”

A lucky deflection from a long-throw set-piece allowed them to take the lead on 54 seconds. For most of the game they looked sure of holding this, but Nigeria gave them some scares in the second half and in the end the Americans were glad of the final whistle.

The playing surface, which was of decidedly patchy quality before a single drop of rain had fallen, did no favours for either side. The weighting of passes was very difficult to judge as sometimes the puddles held the ball up, sometimes the slickness of the grass carried the ball faster than expected ahead of the onrushing players.

Nigeria in particular seemed to struggle at first to find a way to play their preferred fast, short passing game and somehow break down a strong, organised US defense. For the US, Abby Wambach and captain Kristine Lilly both came close, but could not extend their lead.

The last ten minutes saw sustained Nigerian pressure, with the tireless Pepetua Nkwocha setting up an excellent chance for Stella Mbachu that Hope Powell had to do well to get down and save at her near post.

Nigeria coach, Ntiero Effiom, praised his players’ performance, heralding them as proof that Africa deserves more qualifying places for the Women’s World Cup. With a little more luck or a stronger final product, they may have had the scoreline tonight to back that up.

Of course, there are things happening outside Shanghai…

But don’t try telling the locals that.

Yesterday evening Group B kicked off in Chengdu, where North Korea (DPRK) and Nigeria managed a couple of mini-shocks by holding veteran front-runners of the women’s game, the USA and Sweden, to draws.

Germany having announced themselves so forcefully as tournament favourites in the opening game, the USA will be disappointed not to have got more against a spirited DPRK side. In fact, the match could have been even more explosively surprising when DPRK registered the first shot on goal within seconds of the kick off.

Both sides gave a good account of the women’s game, playing exciting, attacking football with little of the cageyness and niggling fouls of last night’s Group A match.

Abby Wambach put the USA ahead on 50 minutes but by the time she had returned to the pitch after treatment for a head wound, DPRK had turned the tables with two goals in less than five minutes. Neither Korean goal could qualify as one of the “beautiful goals” promised by the slogan. USA keeper, Hope Solo, will be disappointed to have let the first through her grasp, while the second followed a goalmouth scramble. But they all count, and for a short time the Koreans could dare to dream of a famous victory to add to their Under-20 trophy from last year.

If they were dreaming, they were woken up within minutes as the USA restored parity from Heather O’Reilly’s half-volley after DPRK had failed to clear their lines.

In the Group’s other game, Sweden always looked comfortable, if not exactly commanding, against Nigeria, but, like England, were undone by a late goal.

An uneventful first half was followed by Sweden predictably taking the lead. Having hit the woodwork in the first half, Victoria Svensson made no mistake on 50 minutes and the Swedes looked set to claim three points.

To their credit, Nigeria never gave up and despite their seeming superiority Sweden proved incapable of, let’s make the comparison again, German ruthlessness. Ironically, it was Cynthia Uwak, who plays her football for Sweden’s Falkopings, who struck the equaliser with just eight minutes to go.

So do we have a new “Super Eagles”? Not quite, but Nigeria’s resilience and the DPRK’s energy have blown Group B wide open. Friday’s game between Sweden and the USA becomes even more mouth-watering as both teams will be looking to make up for two points dropped, while a winner in DPRK vs Nigeria may be able to start thinking of a possible quaterfinals place.