USL at the Women’s World Cup >>
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Another World Cup, another top three finish for the United States, who have won two titles and finished third three times. While the US continues remains a perennial contender, former W-League players helped guide Australia, England and Brazil to new levels of success in one of the most exciting editions of the tournament, which was at times overshadowed by off the field matters such as spying accusations, coaching decisions and weather.
Four years ago, it was a Canadian squad loaded with W-League stars that were the surprise of the tournament, reaching the semifinals before finishing fourth. This year, the darlings of the tournament were the Matildas of Australia. The Australian squad registered their first-ever victory in the World Cup and went on to advance from their group.
Australia opened with a stunning 4-1 win over Ghana in which 10 former W-League players highlighted the two squads, including captains Cheryl Salisbury (Australia) and Adjoa Bayor (Ghana). In the 15th minute former Boston Renegade Caitlin Munoz set up Sarah Walsh for the opening score and the Matildas cruised to their historic win and the Group C lead as Canada fell 2-1 to Norway. Australia then played 1995 tournament champion Norway to a 1-1 draw in the second game when Munoz came off the bench to record her second assist of the tournament by setting up the Lisa De Vanna equalizer in the 83rd minute. Canada, comprised entirely of current and former W-League players, defeated Ghana 4-0 to climb back into the mix to advance.
The final day of group play had plenty of drama as Australia needed just a draw to move on in their showdown with Canada while the Canadians needed a lot of help. Atlanta Silverback Melissa Tancredi put Canada on the board first with the second fastest goal in tournament history with a 18-yard strike 32 seconds in. Australia would tie it up in the 53rd and with Norway pulling away on the scoreboard against Ghana, Canada needed to post a win. They looked to pulled off the stunner in the 85th when a Rhian Wilkinson (Ottawa Fury) corner kick found Atlanta’s Candace-Marie Chapman, who re-directed her header back to the corner’s near post to an awaiting Christine Sinclair (Vancouver Whitecaps) for what appeared to be the winner. Well into stoppage time, the Australians got the break they needed when the ball was delivered to center of the box to a wide open Salisbury (Memphis Mercury), who put it away from just off the spot for the draw to send Australia and Norway through.
Australia had the unfortunate luck of drawing red hot Brazil in the Quarterfinals. Led by former W-League players Formiga and Daniela, the South Americans dominated their group 10-0 on aggregate in their sweep, including a 4-0 win over host China. Daniela (Hampton Roads Piranhas) scored Brazil’s first of the tournament 10 minutes into their 5-0 win over New Zealand with a 30-yard blast just under the bar.
The Quarterfinal showdown was an unexpected thriller with Formiga (Jersey Sky Blue) helping give Brazil a 2-0 lead with the opening goal on a fantastic strike four minutes into the game. Down two and without Salisbury due to injury, the Matildas did not give up and behind the leadership of Joanne Peters (Charlotte Lady Eagles) and Thea Slatyer (Washington Freedom) they pulled level with goals in the 36th and 68th minutes. Their hearts would be broken seven minutes later, however, when Christiane buried a shot from the edge of the box for the winner.
Brazil’s win set them up for a Semifinal affair with the US that began two days early with the coaching switch of goalkeepers Briana Scurry (Delaware Genies) for Hope Solo, a controversial move that became a heated topic following the worst loss, 4-0, in United States Women’s National Team World Cup history. A well driven low corner to the six from Formiga forced an own goal early and a quick shot from Marta, the tournament’s leading scorer, put the US in a 2-0 hole that was further complicated by a controversial second yellow to Shannon Boxx just before the half. Christiane and Marta put the game away in the second half as Brazil controlled the match.
The United States had advanced to the Semifinals with a surprisingly easy 3-0 win over England, who were soaring after their successful run through group play.
England had a tough task being in the same group as the defending champion Germany and 10th ranked Japan, but they started out hot in a 2-2 thriller against the Japanese. Japan, led by midfielder Homare Sawa (Denver Diamonds), stunned the Brits on free kicks at the beginning and end of the game for the lead and equalizer, but in between it was all former New Jersey Wildcat Kelly Smith, who struck with goals in the 81st and 83rd.
England then posted what may be the best result for any team in the tournament with a 0-0 draw against Germany, who would go on to defend their title. It was the only game in which Germany did not score at least two goals as they went on to finish with 21 in their four other games. The England defense was led by captain Faye White, who had just returned from a stint with Ottawa. England would wrap up their spot in the Quarterfinals with a 6-1 win over Argentina in which Smith added two more goals.
In the Quarterfinal against the US, it was the American half of the New Jersey Wildcat contingency that came out on top. The 2005 W-League champions were represented by England’s Rachel Yankey and Rachel Unitt as well as Heather O’Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley and Cat Whitehill of the US. Carli Lloyd (US) and Smith (England) had also played for the club in the past. The US shut down Smith as former W-Leaguers Abby Wambach (Rochester Ravens), Boxx (Boston Renegades) and Kristine Lilly (Delaware Genies) did all the scoring.
Despite the Semifinal loss to Brazil, the Americans finished well with Wambach scoring twice and O’Reilly once in the 4-1 over Norway. The entertaining run of the spectacular Brazilian side ended in bittersweet fashion as they fell 2-0 to Germany despite several dangerous scoring opportunities in the game from Formiga, Daniela and the young standout Marta. Germany became the first team to defend their title, finishing the tournament without conceding a single goal.
Facts and Figures
54 W-League alumni represented nine nations in the Women’s World Cup (Canada 21, USA 13, Australia 6, England 4, Ghana 4, Brazil 2, New Zealand 2, Japan 1, Norway 1) - Full List… 17 current W-League teams were represented at the World Cup… 16 players had won a W-League championship… 15 W-League players scored a goal in the World Cup, accounting for 25 goals (23% of the 108 scored)… 12 players recorded an assist, accounting for 18 assists (31% of the 57 total)… 45 players saw action in the tournament for a total of 10,945 minutes (17.3% of the 63,274 minutes played) and 149 matches played (17.2% of the 865 games played total)… US striker Abby Wambach (Rochester) finished tied for second in goals with six… Kristine Lilly (US, Delaware), Formiga (Brazil, Jersey) and Kara Lang (Canada, Vancouver) finished tied with the tournament lead in assists with three… 3 coaches had W-League ties – US HC Greg Ryan (Charlotte), US AC Bret Hall (Chicago, USL Hall of Fame) and Canada AC Bob Birarda (Vancouver)… 9 W-League players played every minute for their team (Canada – Christine Sinclair, Martina Franko, Sophie Schmidt, Randee Hermus, Tanya Dennis; Japan – Homare Sawa; Ghana – Mavis Danso; England – Faye White; US – Cate Whitehill)… 1 W-League player played the maximum 540 minutes possible (Cat Whitehill).
Visit the USL at the Women’s World Cup page for day-by-day accounts of the tournament and other great stories.
