Unpredictable Draw for U.S. Women
First Iran, now North Korea.
After having survived a politically charged soccer match against Iran last June in the France ’98 World Cup, the United States Sunday night was handed a similar assignment this summer in the third FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Among the three opponents drawn to play the U.S. in the first round of the June 19-July 10 tournament is North Korea, a country with which the U.S. has no diplomatic relations.
The U.S. men’s team lost to the Iranians in Lyon, but the U.S. women should encounter no such misfortune at Foxboro Stadium near Boston on June 27. By then, they should already have secured their place in the second round after earlier games against Denmark and Nigeria.
If not, the Group A game in Foxboro will be more than merely politically interesting.
The final draw for the 16-nation tournament, held at Spartan Stadium at halftime of Sunday’s match between the U.S. and World All-Stars, presented the home team with some homework to do.
“It’s a draw that I would say is unknown,” said U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco, “because I don’t know Nigeria and I don’t know anything about North Korea. Nigeria is the [top team] in Africa. North Korea has stretched China twice in big games, and Denmark is one of the best teams in Europe.
“I don’t like to go into games not knowing opponents. I like to have played opponents. We’ll have to learn about their teams.”
It could have been worse, but DiCicco was not overly pleased at the draw’s outcome.
“Certainly, we don’t think this is an easy draw,” he said. “We will have to play better than we played tonight [in a 2-1 loss to the FIFA World All-Star team] to get into the second round.”
Forward Mia Hamm echoed DiCicco’s comments.
“All we know about is one team [Denmark],” she said, “and it’s always very fearful when you go against teams you’ve never played. You don’t know what to expect. That’s a little nerve-racking for us.
“I have no idea [about the North Korean players]. All I know is that they have played China tough, and in our opinion China is one of the top teams in the world.
“I’ve never seen Nigeria play, but looking at one of their personalities [forward Mercy Akide] tonight, obviously they’re going to be very athletic and very fast and we’re going to have to be prepared for that.”
If the U.S. believes it has a difficult first-round group, Mexico knows the hurdles lying in its path.
Mexico was drawn to play three of the sport’s most powerful nations: top-seeded Germany, Brazil and Italy in Group B.
Mexico’s coach, Leonardo Cuellar, who played for Mexico in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and who coaches the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Cal State Los Angeles, was philosophical about the outcome.
“The tradition is there,” he said of Mexico’s three opponents. “We’re excited about the group and we’re going to enjoy the competition.”
Under Cuellar, Mexico already has shown it has no fear of big-name teams. It defeated Argentina in a two-game playoff for a place in the Women’s World Cup.
Group C will be headed by world champion Norway and includes Japan, Canada and Russia. Group D features 1996 Olympic silver medalist China as well as Australia, Ghana and Sweden.
At first, the draw stirred confusion when the originally announced groupings were changed, with Group C teams shifted to Group D, and vice versa. Organizers said they made the switch so that China’s opener against Sweden would be in San Jose, near the large Asian community in the Bay Area. In another change, the first U.S. opponent was originally announced as North Korea but was later switched to Denmark.
The coaches, meanwhile, focused on opponents, rather than sites or schedules.
“It could have been worse,” Norway’s coach, Per Hogme, said of the draw. “The big question was not to draw Brazil, which we are happy to have avoided.”
The U.S. might not be so lucky. Depending on results, it could be playing Brazil in the second round, assuming the South Americans finish second behind Germany in Group B.
“Group B is the ‘Group of Death’ and if we make it through [the first round] those are the teams we’ll have to play against,” said Hamm, “so it’s going to be tough for us.”
The 16-nation tournament will open June 19 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., when the U.S. plays Denmark.
“We’ve got some work to do before June,” DiCicco said.
Southern California fans will have the chance to see the U.S. on March 28 when it plays Mexico in the first game of a Rose Bowl doubleheader that also features the Galaxy and the Colorado Rapids.
