Women's Football / / 12 September 2007 / Leave a comment

Women's football expert Perfecseun previews the crucial Group A encounter between Germany and England

This should be the most interesting match in this group. The Germans, after routing Argentina will not be taking England or any other team lightly and will want to make sure of the quarter-final ticket by securing 3 points. The Brits on the other hand will want to make amends for that late last second equaliser by the Japanese in their first match.

Germany should win this but not without some resistance from England. The simple truth is that Germany should take 3 points with the depth and strength in their squad. Their sole goal is to hold on to their title and they started in the right manner. England are playing with a lot of pressure, which really shouldn't be the case. There is talk of how extremely important it is for them to get a good result out of this tournament to improve the status of the game in the UK and that in itself is not helping their cause. Listening to various commentary during their match against Japan, too much is expected of this team and perhaps the players can feel it too hence conceding two cheap goals to Japan.

It is undeniable that Germany have the most experienced squad of this tournament and can pick when they will score against ANY team. They only rely on Prinz and Lingor to get their attack going but also the midfield players can pop up and score at anytime. This is the worry that should bother skipper Faye White and her defenders. England seems to rely on Kelly Smith to score and she is probably the only one that can cause the German defence real problems.

If England waste chances in front of goal like they did against Japan, then they won't get anything out of this game. It is hard to see them beating the Germans who are a class above everyone I have seen so far in this tournament. This is a must win game for either side but one side is going to need a miracle, and it's not Germany!

Suggested Bet: Back over 2.5 goals or Germany -1.0 Asian handicap.

Tags: Birgit Prinz, Faye White, Perfecseun, women's football, Women's World Cup