Group B

The Big Match

Korea DPR vs. Sweden (Sept. 18 in Tianjin) – Three of the top five teams in the world are in this group - the United States (No. 1), Sweden (No. 3) and North Korea (No. 5). If the Americans finish atop the Group of Death as predicted, the battle for second - and a spot in the quarter-finals - will be decided on the final day of group play when Korea DPR takes on Sweden, the 2003 World Cup runners-up.

Schedule

Sept. 11: United States vs. Korea DPR in Chengdu
Sept. 11: Nigeria vs. Sweden in Chengdu
Sept. 14: Sweden vs. United States in Chengdu
Sept. 14: Korea DPR vs. Nigeria in Chengdu
Sept. 18: Nigeria vs. United States in Shanghai
Sept. 18: Korea DPR vs. Sweden in Tianjin

What The Experts Say

Helen Stoumbos, Analyst, CBC Sports:

If you’re talking about confidence, you’ve got to look at the U.S. Here’s a team that since 2005 hasn’t lost a game. They have it all – the technical players and the tall, physically strong, good-in-the-air players like Abby Wambach. Here’s a team that can play so many different styles – long ball or short ball. They play the game so tactically well. They also have that mentality where they go into every game thinking they’re going to win.

I think the U.S. will be challenged though. To have Sweden and Korea DPR in your group, I can see why they were ticked about it. I would be too. North Korea is a side mostly made up of their U-20 team that just won the World Cup and kicked the crap out of everybody.

Wow, what a group though. I haven’t seen North Korea play, but I’ve heard that they are considered one of the hardest teams in the world to beat right now. Sweden has had little bit of a rough time lately. If [Hanna] Ljungberg is back in full swing with [Victoria] Svensson – they were awesome to watch in the last World Cup. They are brilliant together. It’s hard enough to play against one talented striker, but when you have two that play so well off each other, it’s tough.

It’s going to be an interesting battle between those two. North Korea hasn’t performed that well at previous World Cups and there’s that intimidation factor. Do they have the confidence to go out there against senior women’s teams and do as well as they did at the U-20 World Cup?

As for Nigeria, people don’t give them much credibility, but the African nations are so hard to play against because they are so unorthodox and unpredictable. I think they’re in over their heads in this group, but at the same time, Nigeria has the athleticism, physicality, strength ...

It’s so tough to choose between Sweden and North Korea, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say North Korea will go through.

Predicted finish: 1. United States, 2. North Korea, 3. Sweden, 4. Nigeria.

Craig Forrest, Analyst, CBC Sports:

I take the U.S. to win this group without much trouble and Sweden to finish second.

North Korea is playing well from what I understand, but physically Sweden will be too strong for them and the U.S. is just better overall in most areas, except perhaps technically.

Predicted finish: 1. United States, 2. Sweden, 3. North Korea, 4. Nigeria

Signa Butler, Editor, 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, CBCSports.ca:

This truly is a daunting group, but the United States has to be considered the favourite to finish first.

Not only do they come into the tournament undefeated in 47 games, but they boast perhaps the best striking duo in the world in Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach. Greg Ryan (who took over the national team in March 2005) has injected the talent-rich lineup with a number of younger players who haven’t had much, if any, World Cup experience. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the pressure of having that target on their back as the No. 1 team. That first game on Sept. 11 against North Korea will really set the tone for the U.S.

As much as everyone is talking about North Korea, their roster is extremely young and the U-20 level is nowhere near the calibre of a World Cup tournament. Still, they are disciplined, fit and extremely talented technically.

Sweden has the edge for the second spot. They seem to have overcome most of their injury problems that plagued them earlier in the year and they have a ton of World Cup experience to draw from. Hanna Ljungberg and Victoria Svensson are in a class of their own up front and the Swedes have strong team chemistry.

Nigeria, a regular fixture at the tournament, could put in a wrinkle in the order of how teams finish. They failed to score a goal at the 2003 tournament, but I think coach Effiom Ntiero has picked a tricky team that includes U-20 star Cynthia Uwak and midfielder Perpetua Nkwocha so a goose egg won’t happen again.