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Well since we got this fancy new sports discussion forum, better start filling it up! The United States played their first match in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany against North Korea. While I'm assuming Kim Jong Il will release a statement that he came into the game and scored 40 goals against the United States, the real score ended up being 2-0 with the United States winning. Hopefully the US keeps this up and ends up winning the Women's World Cup.



Here are the current group stage standings:

1. Group A
   
   1. Germany 9 points
      
   2. France 6 points
      
   3. Nigeria 3 points
      
   4. Canada 0 points
      
2. Group B
   
   1. England 7 point
      
   2. Japan 6 points
      
   3. Mexico 2 point
      
   4. New Zealand 1 points
      
3. Group C
   
   1. USA 6 points
      
   2. Sweden 6 points
      
   3. Colombia 0 points
      
   4. Korea DPR 0 points
      
4. Group D (Matches have not been played yet)
   
   1. Brazil 6 points
      
   2. Australia 3 points
      
   3. Norway 3 points
      
   4. Equatorial Guinea 0 points
      

Well, I guess I was wrong. The North Korean team actually admitted their loss to America, but they did give a reason for their loss:

North Korea manager Kwang Min Kim wrote:"When we stayed in Pyongyang during training our players were hit by lightning, and more than five of them were hospitalised," said coach Kim.
"Some stayed in hospital and then came to Germany later than the rest of us. The goalkeeper and the four defenders were most affected, and some midfielders as well. The physicians said the players were not capable of participating in the tournament.
"But World Cup football is the most important and significant event for a footballer, so they don't want to think about anything but football.
"The fact that they played could be called abnormal, the result of very strong will."

Here are the highlights from the game:

The entire schedule for the Women's World Cup if anyone wants to know and I'll keep it updated as the Cup progresses. The channel is next to matches that still need to be played:
Sunday, June 26th: Group A Matches

• Nigeria vs France 0-1
• Germany vs Canada 2-1

Monday, June 27th: Group B Matches

• Japan vs New Zealand 2-1
• Mexico vs England 1-1

Tuesday, June 28th: Group C Matches

• Colombia vs Sweden 0-1
• United States vs North Korea 2-0

Wednesday, June 29th: Group D Matches

• Norway vs Equatorial Guinea 1-0
• Brazil vs Australia 1-0

Thursday, June 30th: Group A Matches

• Canada vs France 0-4
• Germany vs Nigeria 1-0

Friday, July 1st: Group B Matches

• 9:00am ET Japan vs Mexico 4-0
• 12:15pm ET New Zealand vs England 1-2

Saturday, July 2nd: Group C Matches

• 8:00am ET North Korea vs Sweden 0-1
• 12:00pm ET United States vs Colombia 3-0

Sunday, July 3rd: Group D Matches

• 8:00am ET Australia vs Equatorial Guinea 3-2
• 12:15pm ET Brazil vs Norway 3-0

Tuesday, July 5th: Group A and B Final Matches

• 12:15pm ET England vs Japan 2-0
• 12:15pm ET New Zealand vs Mexico 2-2
• 2:45pm ET Canada vs Nigeria 0-1
• 2:45pm ET France vs Germany 2-4

Wednesday, July 6th: Group C and D Final Matches

• 12:00pm ET Australia vs Norway
• 12:00pm ET Equatorial Guinea vs Brazil
• 2:45pm ET North Korea vs Colombia
• 2:45pm ET Sweden vs United States

Saturday, July 9th: Quarterfinal Matches

• 12:00pm ET TBD vs TBD
• 2:45pm ET TBD vs TBD

Sunday, July 10th: Quarterfinal Matches

• 7:00am ET TBD vs TBD
• 11:30am ET TBD vs TBD

Wednesday, July 13th: Semifinal Matches

• 7:45am ET TBD vs TBD
• 12:00pm ET TBD vs TBD

Saturday, July 16th: Third Place Match

• 11:30am ET TBD vs TBD

Sunday, July 17th: Final

• 2:45pm ET TBD vs TBD

With the USA's win today they have clinched a spot in the quarterfinals!

Here are the goal highlights from today's game:

So today and tomorrow are the final matches of the group stage before we move onto the quarterfinal round! This is all of the possibilities of how the groups will play out for each of the two quarterfinal spots. If I made a mistake let me know and I will fix it.

Group A:

1. First Place:
   
   • Winner of France/Germany game
2. Second Place:
   
   • Loser of France/Germany game

Group B:

1. First Place:
   
   • Japan with a win in Japan/England game
     
   • Japan with a tie in Japan/England game
     
   • England with a win in Japan/England game
2. Second Place:
   
   • Japan with a loss in Japan/England game
     
   • England with a tie in Japan/England game
     
   • England with a loss in Japan/England game with Mexico scoring less than 6 goals minus how many goals England loses by.
     
   • Mexico with a Japan win and with Mexico winning in Mexico/New Zealand game where they score 6 goals or more minus the amount of points England loses by more than New Zealand.

Group C:

1. First Place:
   
   • Winner of US/Sweden game
2. Second Place:
   
   • Loser of US/Sweden game

Group D:

1. First Place:
   
   • Brazil with a win in Brazil/Equatorial Guinea game
     
   • Brazil with a tie in Brazil/Equatorial Guinea game
     
   • Australia with a Brazil loss and a Australia win with Australia scoring 5 goals minus the amount of goals Brazil loses by more than Norway.
     
   • Norway with a Brazil loss and a Norway win with Norway scoring 7 goals minus the amount of goals Brazil loses by more than Australia.
2. Second Place:
   
   • Brazil loss in Brazil/Equatorial Guinea game
     
   • Australia with Brazil tie or win and a tie or win in Australia/Norway game
     
   • Norway with Brazil tie or win and a win in Australia/Norway game

What an exciting group stage! The final results of the group stage are as follows:
Group A:

1. Germany 9 points
   
2. France 6 points
   
3. Nigeria 3 points
   
4. Canada 0 points

Group B:

1. England 7 points
   
2. Japan 6 points
   
3. Mexico 2 points
   
4. New Zealand 1 point

Group C:

1. Sweden 9 points
   
2. United States 6 points
   
3. North Korea 1 point
   
4. Colombia 1 point

Group D:

1. Brazil 9 points
   
2. Australia 6 points
   
3. Norway 3 points
   
4. Equatorial Guinea 0 points

This means on Saturday, July 9th the following two match ups will occur:
Noon EST: England vs France on ESPN
2:45pm EST: Germany vs Japan on ESPN

And on Sunday, July 10th:
7:00am EST: Sweden vs Australia on ESPN
11:30am EST: Brazil vs United States on ESPN

Common USA beat those bumbling Brazilians!!!

Liking what I have seen of the German Team
Yes this IS members of the German Soccer team and NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

Well, what a match between the US and Brazil today!!! You can find the highlights of the match here.

This means we have:
Japan vs Sweden and USA vs France in the semifinals. The former will be played at noon eastern and the later will be at 2:45pm Eastern. Both games will be shown on ESPN in the USA.

Japan vs United States of America

Sunday at 2:45pm Eastern, 1:45pm Central, 12:45pm Mountain, 11:45am Pacific



Let's bring the trophy home!

Booya! I will be watching this one most definitely!