Women's World Cup: Early Headlines
By Nick Barbaro, 4:51PM, Wed. Sep. 12, 2007
How are you starting off your long ACL weekend? I know what I'm going to see first: the Friday 4am U.S.-Sweden game in the Women's World Cup. With one game now in the books for every team, it's been a great tournament so far. Here are some headlines from the first three days:
• Blitzkreig! Defending champ Germany opened with an 11-0 thumping of what was supposed to be a pretty decent Argentina team.
• Gooooooooals. Thirty-nine in the first eight games, an astonishing 4.9 per game.
• Comebacks. In eight games, seven different teams have come from behind to tie or take the lead.
• Blood. U.S. striker Abby Wambaugh with blood dripping down her face from a scalp wound will be a sight to remember from this WC. (She was back eight minutes later after a couple of quick stitches.)
• Group of Death. All knotted up after the first round. #1 U.S., lucky to draw with #5 N. Korea, gets #3 Sweden next.
• Canada melts. Talented, but dissension-wracked team seemed to drag in the second half, as a 1-0 lead turned into a 2-1 Norway win.
• Hosts pull it out. China, who've dropped out of the elite of late, were last to kick off, squandered a two-goal lead, but in the end won a thriller over Denmark, 3-2. And improbably...
• Asia ascendant. China got a win late; Japan got a tie in the 94th minute; North Korea outplayed the top-ranked team in the world. And Asia is the only unbeaten continent after one game.
• Upcoming: Friday-Saturday morning, 4am & 7am, then 7am Monday, 7am Tuesday, 4am & 7am Wednesday. Full schedule below.
Womens World Cup Results
Group A
Germany 11, Argentina 0
England 2, Japan 2
Group B
USA 2, North Korea 2
Sweden 1, Nigeria 1
Group C
Norway 2, Canada 1
Australia 4, Ghana 1
Group D
Brazil 5, New Zealand 0
China 3, Denmark 2
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Sept. 14, 4am: U.S.-Sweden; Argentina-Japan
7am: North Korea-Nigeria; England-Germany
Saturday, Sept. 15, 4am: Canada-Ghana; Denmark-New Zealand
7am: Australia-Norway; Brazil-China
Final Group Games:
Monday, Sept. 17, 7am: Germany-Japan; England-Argentina (A)
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 7am: U.S.-Nigeria; North Korea-Sweden (B)
Wednesday, Sept. 19, 4am: Norway-Ghana; Australia-Canada (C)
7am: China-New Zealand; Brazil-Denmark (D)
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