Defending champion Germany is going to face their European rival Norway in Wednesday's 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-final in Tianjin, China, with the United States taking up Brazil on Thursday.
It will be the second time the two teams meet each other in World Cup. In 1995, Norway won the World Cup trophy by beating Germany 2-0 in the final. The upcoming match will be a good chance for Germany to fight back.
World No.2 Germany matched Norway for 28 times before, in which Germany won 12 times and lost 11. In 2007, Germany defeated Norway 2-1 in Algarve Cup and tied 2-2 in a warm-up in August just before the World Cup.
Norway had a better result in Olympic matches against Germany. They beat Germany 3-2 in group stage in 1996 and also won 1-0 in the semi-final in 2000.
In the World Cup history, Norway played European teams for nine times and won all of them. But German forward Birgit Prinz poses to impose danger to Norway. She is the only players who scored hat-tricks both in World Cups and Olympics.
She made a hat-trick in the opening match of the World Cup, helping Germany to beat South American Champion Argentina 11-0. At Athens Olympics, she scored three times in Germany's 8-0 win over China.
As the reigning world and European champions, Germanys travel to China with high hopes of retaining their title. Silvia Neid's side have been performing at a consistently high level in recent years, with only the United States, China, Norway and Australia having got the better of them.
Above and beyond the obvious advantage of possessing world-class talent such as midfielder Renate Lingor and striker Birgit Prinz, the Germany squad has strength in depth perhaps unrivalled in the women's games.
Norway is not Argentina. As one of the traditional powerhouses in the women's game, Norway has claimed every title going. Winner of the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden, they also secured Olympic gold at Sydney 2000. Norway is one of three to crown European champion, along with Germany and Sweden.
The match between Germany and Norway will be the second time for both European teams to show up in semi-finals of World Cup.
In 1991, Norway defeated Sweden 4-0 to go to the final.
Source: Xinhua
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