Womens World Cup - US to face Nigeria

USA to finish GROUP B against NIGERIA at 2007 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team heads into its final match in Group B at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the position afforded a team that took four points off two of the best teams in the tournament during its first two matches. The USA faces Nigeria on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. local (7:55 a.m. ET on ESPN) needing a win or a tie to advance to the quarterfinals. As the USA is knotted with North Korea atop the group – both teams have four points, four goals scored and two allowed – the group title is still up for grabs. The North Korea-Sweden game will be played in Tianjin at the Olympic Center Stadium simultaneously with the U.S. game. In perhaps the most competitive Women’s World Cup ever, where only one team won its first two games (that being Brazil, although its first match was against New Zealand), the USA is looking to emerge from the tournament’s most difficult Group B in first place. While sometimes confusing, the tie-breakers for FIFA tournaments are pretty simple. If two teams are tied on points, goal difference (goals scored minus goals allowed) is the first tie-breaker, followed by most goals scored. If the USA and North Korea post the same score line in victories or ties on Tuesday, they would be knotted on every tie-breaker and the group would then be determined by Fair Play points, in layman’s terms, who has less yellow cards (and/or red cards). The USA currently has one yellow card. North Korea has two.

In order for the USA to win Group B, the following scenarios must play out….
If North Korea defeats Sweden, the USA must:

1. Win and beat Nigeria by a greater margin than by which North Korea beats Sweden.
2. Win and beat Nigeria by the same margin than by which North Korea beats Sweden, but score more goals than North Korea.

If North Korea ties Sweden, the USA must:

1. Defeat Nigeria
2. Tie Nigeria, and either score more goals in its tie than North Korea, or if both the USA and North Korea score the same amount of goals in their tie, emerge from the match with less overall cards (yellow and red) than North Korea received in its three group matches. The USA currently has one yellow and North Korea has two.

If Sweden defeats North Korea, the USA must:

1. Tie, or beat Nigeria by any score

Group A is final: Germany has won Group A with a 2-0 victory over Japan in Hangzhou while England has finished in second place after downing Argentina in 6-1 in Chengdu. The Japanese, who pulled off two dramatic draws with last second goals in its first two matches, needed to beat the Germans to go through to the quarterfinals. Argentina goes home after losing all three games, but at least they got a goal. The results in Group A mean that the winner of the USA’s Group B will play England and the second place finisher will play the defending champion Germans.

USA First-Round Schedule
Date          Opponent        Venue (City)                                                                Kickoff        TV
Sept. 11    North Korea    Chengdu (Chengdu Sports Center Stadium)         2-2 T
Sept. 14    Sweden           Chengdu (Chengdu Sports Center Stadium)         2-0 W
Sept. 18    Nigeria            Shanghai (Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium)  8 p.m. / 8 a.m. ET    7:55 a.m. ET on ESPN

Group B Standings
Team               W    L    T    PTS    GF    GA    GD    
North Korea    1     0    1      4         4    2    +2
USA                  1     0    1      4         4    2    +2
Nigeria            0     1    1      1          1     3    -2        
Sweden          0     1     1      1         1    3     -2

2007 U.S. WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ROSTER
Goalkeepers (3): 21-Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), 1-Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), 18-Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.);
Defenders (6): 2-Marian Dalmy (Lakewood, Colo.), 8-Tina Ellertson (Vancouver, Wash.), 14-Stephanie Lopez (Elk Grove, Calif.), 15-Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), 3-Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), 4-Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.);
Midfielders (7): 7-Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 17-Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), 16-Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), 19-Marci Jobson (St. Charles, Ill.), 11-Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), 12-Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), 10-Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.); 
Forwards (5): 6-Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), 13-Kristine Lilly (Wilton, Conn.), 9-Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), 5-Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), 20-Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

USA vs. NIGERIA Preview
There is a lot at stake in the match as the Nigerians still have a chance to advance in the tournament, needing a 3-0 win over the USA to move on. That should make the early parts of the game exciting, as the Nigerians will be forced to come out and attack, although they probably don’t know any other way to play. However, an early goal from the USA could be extremely deflating to Nigeria’s hopes and the Americans will be pressing as well, knowing that if both the USA and North Korea win, the USA needs to win by more goals than the North Koreans in order to win the group. The USA has played Nigeria just three times in its history, all in world championship events, winning 7-1 in the 1999 Women’s World Cup, 3-1 in the 2000 Olympics and 5-0 at the 2003 Women’s World Cup. This match is expected to a bit more difficult than the three previous tussles as the Nigerians are coming off a 1-1 tie with Sweden and a 2-0 loss to North Korea, two of the best teams in the world. In 1999, the USA gave up a goal just minutes into the match and roared back for seven unanswered, including six in the first half. In that match, Nigeria committed 29 fouls (to the USA’s three), some of them reckless and dangerous, and the Americans know they are in for a bruising battle. 

Adding to the adverse conditions is that heavy rain is expected in Shanghai on game day as Typhoon Wipha is expected to batter the east coast of China. There is a 90% chance of rain – meaning it’s going to rain – and the already chewed up field at Shanghai Hongkou Stadium will certainly present a most difficult playing surface. Winds could reach between 30 to 55 miles per hour, and as any soccer fan knows, wind wrecks havoc on a soccer game. In short, this probably won’t be a pretty game as both countries will have to gut out the conditions. On defense, the U.S. team will have to keep tabs on the several very fast players who are also elusive dribblers. At the other end of the field, the USA could take advantage of Nigeria on set pieces. Nigeria gave up both goals to North Korea off corner kicks, and in the meeting in 2003, the USA scored four goals off set plays. The only goal in that 5-0 game that was not off a set play was Abby Wambach’s first-ever Women’s World Cup goal. Nigeria has just one goal in the tournament thus far, that coming from star forward Cynthia Uwak, who plays her club ball in Sweden. In fact, seven players on Nigeria’s roster are playing club soccer in northern Europe, four in Sweden, two in Finland and one in Denmark. Forward Stella Mbachu did not have to travel far for the Women’s World Cup. She plays for Tianjin Teda in China.