I know that North Korea has come a long way in four years time and I think they are fully capable of playing with any of the top teams in the world. However, I think the difficulty they encountered with Sweden is a signal that Germany could have their way in this match. It's not going to be a dominating German performance but the defending champs will advance 2-0.
Abby v Kelly. ESPN will be relentless hyping this tale of the tape. Should be a fascinating match for so many reasons. White & Asante did a tremendous job defending against Germany so Wambach and O'Reilly may find the going tough. US midfield play has been non existent as Coach Ryan goes for the Route One attack (we sneered at Norway & Canada for employing this tactic when the US team played with dynamic flair). Carney, Yankey and Smith should find space to run but will they be able to finish? At this point, I'd say yes. England 2 USA 1
Hard to pick against a quality team playing on their home field but China looks still to be rebuilding. Norway has already restocked for the most part and will not succumb to the crowd fervor. Norway 3 China 2 in a thriller.
Matildas have a top notch manager in Sermanni who will have his team ready to play Brazil. From his WUSA days, he'll be able to draw experience of coaching Brazilians and against them. They'll keep things tight and it'll take a last minute wonder effort from Marta to secure the win. Brazil 1 Australia 0.
I know that North Korea has come a long way in four years time and I think they are fully capable of playing with any of the top teams in the world. However, I think the difficulty they encountered with Sweden is a signal that Germany could have their way in this match. It's not going to be a dominating German performance but the defending champs will advance 2-0.
ReplyDeleteAbby v Kelly. ESPN will be relentless hyping this tale of the tape. Should be a fascinating match for so many reasons. White & Asante did a tremendous job defending against Germany so Wambach and O'Reilly may find the going tough. US midfield play has been non existent as Coach Ryan goes for the Route One attack (we sneered at Norway & Canada for employing this tactic when the US team played with dynamic flair). Carney, Yankey and Smith should find space to run but will they be able to finish? At this point, I'd say yes. England 2 USA 1
Hard to pick against a quality team playing on their home field but China looks still to be rebuilding. Norway has already restocked for the most part and will not succumb to the crowd fervor. Norway 3 China 2 in a thriller.
Matildas have a top notch manager in Sermanni who will have his team ready to play Brazil. From his WUSA days, he'll be able to draw experience of coaching Brazilians and against them. They'll keep things tight and it'll take a last minute wonder effort from Marta to secure the win. Brazil 1 Australia 0.