Brazil Shows Flair as It Finishes First With a Tie
Brazil won its group in the Women’s World Cup on Saturday, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 1-1 tie against France at Washington.
Brazil (2-0-1) finished first in Group B and most likely will avoid a matchup against defending champion United States in the next round. The Brazilians will play the second-place team from Group A in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
The Brazilians, showing the youthful flair so often displayed by their men’s team, scored eight goals and allowed only two in three games.
Katia scored her fourth goal of the tournament in the 58th minute, capitalizing on a rare error by France goalkeeper Celine Marty.
Marty, who made two superb point-blank saves on Katia in the first half, hesitated as she and Katia charged to meet a long ball from Maicon that bounced at the top of the box. Katia had the momentum to chip in the half-volley for the game’s first score.
France (1-1-1) salvaged a draw in the second-half injury time when 2002 WUSA MVP Marinette Pichon scored. Pichon had France’s only two goals in the tournament.
France, making its World Cup debut, needed a big victory to have a chance at advancing and played with more energy and persistence in the first half. But France’s task became nearly impossible when Norway took a big lead against South Korea in Boston, and Brazil’s better talent persevered after halftime.
Norway 7, South Korea 1 -- Norway cranked up its offense in time for an expected shot at the United States.
Norway beat South Korea at Foxboro, Mass., only three days after losing to Brazil, 4-1, and probably will face the United States in a quarterfinal Wednesday in Foxboro.
“We’ve beaten the U.S. before, and it’s possible to do it again,” said Dagny Mellgren, who had two goals for Norway.
That happened in the semifinals of the 1995 World Cup, and Norway went on to win the tournament. The United States won the other two World Cups in 1991 and 1999.
Norway finished second in Group B to Brazil. Norway will play the U.S. on Wednesday as long as the Americans beat or tie North Korea today. Norway is the only team in the World Cup with a winning record against the U.S.
“We played a great game compared to the last game” against Brazil, said Mellgren, who played for the Boston Breakers of the now-defunct WUSA.
The competition was much weaker Saturday. South Korea is making its first World Cup appearance and was shut out in its other two games. Kim Jin Hee scored the first goal in the nation’s World Cup history in the 75th minute, making it 5-1.
“It’s been a long journey for us, so the players were tired and their condition wasn’t very good,” South Korea Coach An Jong Goan said.
Linda Ormen also scored twice for Norway, and Marianne Pettersen, Solveig Gulbrandsen and Brit Sandaune each scored once.
The total of eight goals matched a Women’s World Cup record, accomplished five other times.
