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‘Group of Death’ kicks off

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The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 is underway and some of the powerhouses of the women’s game are in action on Tuesday.

After the success of the opening games the battle moves to Group C as three of the fancied sides, USA, Korea DPR and Sweden, all start their World Cup campaigns in what could be described as the ‘Group of Death’.

USA Women vs Korea DPR Women

These two old rivals meet in their opening Group C games at Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion in Dresden. They have met in the group stages at three previous World Cups, with the USA recording two 3-0 wins before Korea pegged them to a 2-2 draw back in 2003.

Both teams come into this World Cup with faltering form but the USA (4/9 to win – Match Betting) will be confident of getting their campaign off to the best possible start with a victory.

Pia Sundhage’s side only just scraped into the tournament, thanks to a play-off win over Italy, but four straight wins to give them the Algarve Cup in March went some way to showing why they could win the World Cup.

The USA boasts some top-class strikers who Korea are going to have to play really close attention to. Abby Wambach in particular boasts a remarkable record of 117 career goals in 154 national team appearances and is the fourth best all-time goalscorer in women’s football – meaning she is the prime danger.

There is also Amy Rodriguez, she scored the winning goal in the play-off game with Italy and has already got 62 caps at the age of only 24. If the Korean defence switches off then she can punish them (USA Women 1-0 5/1 – Match Betting).

The Korea side (5/1 to win 14/1 draw – Match Betting) are three-time Asian champions but have struggled and lost three consecutive pre-World Cup friendlies.

Coach Kim Kwang-Min will be hoping that Jo Yun-Mi, who was voted best player at the 2010 AFC Asian Women’s Championship, can return to some form as she is vital to Korea’s hopes in this game.

Both of these teams could challenge the hosts to win the World Cup, while their inconsistency also means they could fail to make it out of the group stage. Whichever side gets three points would get a tremendous boost, but both teams would accept a draw.

Colombia Women vs Sweden Women

Colombia (15/2 to win – Match Betting) are making their first appearance in the World Cup and face a tough baptism against one of the traditional best globally, Sweden, in Leverkusen.

The South Americans were runners-up in the South American Women’s Championship and are a developing side in women’s football. Their Under-20 side beat Sweden on their way to the semi-finals of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup last year, with nine of that squad in Germany with the senior team this summer.

Sweden (1/4 to win, 19/5 draw – Match Betting) boasts an impressive recent record and have reached the quarter-finals at four of the last five World Cups.

What could worry fans is the fact that their pre-World Cup form has been patchy, with wins against Canada and Mexico sitting alongside draws with Japan and a loss to England.

The Swedes should easily win the game (6/1 Sweden 3-0 – Match Betting) and they cannot settle for anything else as there are three top teams, Sweden, USA and Korea DPR, in Group C and they will need a confidence boost going into the remaining two tricky ties.

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Verbeek wants teenage kicks

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Coach Pim Verbeek doesn’t want Australia (23/10 to qualify from Group D) fans to get too carried away with the selection of teenager Tommy Oar in the provisional squad of 31.

At 18, Oar is the youngest member of the party and has only one cap to his name. But he has been receiving rave reviews in the media for his performances in his domestic competition and in Holland.

Oar, who starred with Brisbane Roar in the A-League in his native country, recently joined FC Utrecht in the Netherlands and had been regarded as an outsider to make the provisional squad.

But he has drawn favourable comparisons with the young Harry Kewell, who rose to prominence with Leeds United in the Premier League.

Oar signed a five-year deal with Utrecht to move during the summer transfer window, the left winger having played 26 games and scoring twice for Brisbane as well as playing 16 games for the Australian under-20 side.

In March, he was awarded the Rising Star for the best young player of the season, and named to the bench of the A-League Team of the Year. He was invited for a trial at Utrecht, where he impressed the coaching staff enough to be offered a contract.

Internationally, he was called up by the Socceroos for a 2011 Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait without getting any game time. He made his full debut in Australia’s 1-0 win against Indonesia in the final Asian Cup qualifier.

Verbeek said Oar’s emergence was a very promising sign for the national team, although he said Oar was not guaranteed a trip to South Africa.

“It’s great for Australian football we have a player like him, just 18 years old, who made a big impression in a few weeks playing in the Netherlands.

“We can all remember the game against Indonesia, but still he has to show that he is not only a talent but also a great player.”

Much depends on whether Oar will be involved in Australia’s next friendly match against New Zealand on May 24.

Verbeek is likely to use that game to give as many of his contenders some game time as possible, and will make his final decision about his 23-man World Cup squad soon after the fixture.

The final squad of 23 has to be submitted to FIFA by June 1, which potentially gives the national team coach one more chance of looking at those who are on the fringes of the squad, as Australia will face Denmark in South Africa on that date.

Australia face Germany (7/2 to be eliminated at the group stages) in their opening group stage match of the World Cup in Durban on June 13, before taking on Ghana in Rustenburg and Serbia in Nelspruit.

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