USL at the Women’s World Cup >>

Monday, September 10, 2007

Defending Champion Germany and Argentina met up in the Women’s World Cup Opening Game Monday in Shanghai in a match for the record books.

Germany’s Birgit Prinz and Sandra Smisek recorded hat-tricks for the Germans as they downed the Argentinians by a stunning 11-0 scoreline that was 5-0 at the break. A pair of own goals by goalkeeper Vanina Correa opened and closed the scoring for the match as Germany set tournament records for largest margin of victory and most goals in a game.

Full FIFA Report [+]

The second match in group A featuring Japan versus England is Tuesday. The match will feature five W-League players between the two sides. Less than 48 hours before England kick-off their opening FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007 game against Japan, England Head Coach Hope Powell provided The FA.com an update from the camp. 

Japan are ranked just two places above England and are similarly matched in physique, but have appeared in five World Cups, compared to England’s one. Former W-Leaguer Homare Sawa is a veteran of the Japanese squad while Rachel Unnitt, Rachel Yankey, Kelly Smith and Faye White have taken to the field in USL action.

"That experience, allied to their fitness and organisation make them opponents to be respected, but we’ve had them watched five or six times since the World Cup draw, and know they have weaknesses that hopefully we can exploit.

"We’ll be going into every game wanting three points. We feel we’ve prepared the squad as best as we possibly can, and once that first whistle blows, hopefully the players will rise to the challenge."

Full Report [+]