Germany smashed Argentina in opening match

With nine world champions in their starting XI, Germany (Deutschland)

easily defeated Argentina in the opening match of the FIFA Women’s

World Cup China 2007 tonight. The Germans won 11:0 at the Shanghai

Hongkou Football Stadium. Captain and three-time FIFA Women’s World

Player of the Year Birgit Prinz scored three times.



“It was much more straightforward than we thought it would be,

although it was made easy for us because they gave us so much room,”

said Prinz. “The coaches did tell us that beforehand, but we didn’t

really want to believe it. Would I say we played to perfection? No, I

wouldn’t say that. OK, we scored more goals than we ever thought we

would today, but we still made too many mistakes. Everything has to

come together for perfection.”



Deutschland’s 21-player roster features 12 FIFA World Cup champions

from USA 2003, including Prinz who won both the adidas Golden Shoe and

adidas Golden Ball awards. Champion Linda Bresonik, meanwhile, is one

of two alumni from the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship Canada

2002. The other is Anja Mittag, a late substitute who made her FIFA

Women’s World Cup debut.



Deutschland are favourites in Group A while Argentina, England and

Japan are battling it out for second place and a spot in the

quarter-final. England and Japan play tomorrow on 11 September while

all four teams play their next match on 14 September.