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| US-Norway to renew rivalry in Women's World Cup quarter-finals
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP) - The United States renew one of the longest running rivalries in women's football Wednesday when they face Olympic champions Norway in the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup. "We seem to play the US a lot in big situations, and we like that," said Norway coach Age Steen. "This is another one. We wanted to meet the US a little later in the tournament, but we have to play them now, so that's how it is." Adaptive intelligence for a serious advantage: business, investment and technology- BizVantage! Group B winners Brazil open quarter-final action Wednesday against Group A runners-up Sweden at Foxboro. Sweden and Brazil present a matchup of strong, experienced teams. The Swedes got to the quarter-finals having lost only to the United States in Group A. "I am not looking forward to playing Brazil because we lost to them in the 1995 FIFA Womens World Cup and also in the 2000 Olympics," admitted Sweden coach Marika Domanski Lyfors. The United States and Norway have also met plenty of times before, and the Norwegians are in fact the only team with a winning record against the United States. "I think this Wednesday night is going to be a great battle," said US striker Shannon MacMillan. "They are a world-class team and even though they fell to Brazil, they rallied back and made it to the quarter-finals. Now, it's game-for-game." In 1995, Norway knocked the US out of the World Cup in the semi-finals - the only loss the Americans had ever suffered in the tournament. And Norway also topped the US in overtime in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games to take the gold medal. "It's historically the greatest rivalry in women's soccer," said US captain Julie Foudy. "You look at 1991 to 2000, it has been us or Norway that has won the Olympics or the World Cup. We have tremendous respect for them." The remaining two quarter-finals will take place on Thursday in Portland, Oregon, when Canada face China and Russia take on Germany. Canada will face a stiff test in their first-ever Women's World Cup quarter-final when they meet the Group D winners - the 1999 World Cup runners-up. The young Canadian side has been gaining momentum through the first round, thanks in large part to the emergence of Charmaine Hooper in the center of defence. More than a few heads were turned by coach Even Pelleruds decision to move the veteran striker back into defence ahead of USA 2003. The all-time leader in goals for Canada with 58, Hooper had never really lined up in defence before an August 31 match against Mexico. "At the beginning, moving into defence was a little bit of a surprise seeing that Id never played there before," Hooper said "I mean, why would I play defence, especially coming into a World Cup? Its a bit of a learning experience of course, but I think a welcome learning experience." Canada followed up their opening defeat by Germany with 3-0 and 3-1 victories over Argentina and Japan, and Pellerud hopes the momentum will carry on against a China side that has seemed more vulnerable than in 1999. Even though they finished top of their group, Chinese coach Ma Liangxing says his side needs to score more goals. China scored just one goal in each of its first three matches, compared to 12 goals in group play in 1999. But in other areas of the game, China have outplayed all of their opponents, dominating the ball and out-shooting Ghana, Australia and Russia. "We all regard China as a great team," Pellerud continued. "They are a terrible team to play against, because you never get the ball. They keep the ball as long as they want, with their skill and technique. We need to stay very patient and organized and hopefully we can get the ball against all that." Russia will be playing in their second straight Women's World Cup quarter-final, after advancing with victories over Australia and Ghana and a 1-0 loss to China. Germany, who emerged undefeated from the first round, are also undefeated against Russia in 10 encounters - with eight victories and two draws. In those matches Germany have scored 29 goals and conceded just two. But Germany will be without veteran Steffi Jones, who tore a knee ligament in the final group match against Argentina on Saturday. "It's a bitter blow for the team," Germany coach Tina Theune-Meyer said. "Steffi was having a fantastic tournament." bb/gph03 Fbl-WC2003-women
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