03:50 GMT 15th June 2011
Of the 16 teams competing at the July 26- 17 finals, two come from Africa, the Super Falcons of Nigeria and the Nzalang Nationale of Equatorial Guinea, who both secured tickets to the competition as fmalists at the 20 I 0 African Women's Championship (AWC). Their ultimate aim is to wrest the cup from two-time defending world champions Germany.
Led by coach Uche Eucharia, a former captain of the side, the Super Falcons go to Germany as Africa's strongest team, having won the AWC six times. In the 2010 final they defeated Equatorial Guinea 4-2 to reclaim the crown they lost two years ago. Placed in the tough GroupA, they play the opening match against France before going on to challenge Canada and Germany.
The Super Falcons have had five previous FIFA Women's World Cup outings but have never improved upon their 1999 performance when they reached the last eight only to be beaten by Brazil 4-3.
Eucharia took over in 2008 inheriting an array of talented and experienced players like Perpetua Nkwocha, Stella Mbachu, Cynthia Uwak, Effionwan Ekpo and goalkeeper Precious Dede. These veterans have since been joined by young and enterprising players like Ebere Orji, Desire Oparanozie, Francisca Ordega, Amarachi Okoronkwo, Loveth Ayila and Esther Sunday, who all made their mark as junior internationals.
Faced with this embarrassment of riches, Eucharia is unfazed by the burden of expectations and believes she has the kind of players who can at last take the Super Falcons to the next level on the big stage.
'We are talking about the senior World Cup where experience and maturity count a lot in the game,' she said. 'These are the things we are putting into consideration. We don't want to be carried away with the array of players we have at our disposal.'
The team's 8-0 loss in a friendly match to the Germans at the end of last year would appear to be an unfortunate one-off. 'Things will be different this time around. No team is going to beat us by that margin at the World Cup,' Uche recently insisted.
But Doglas Obliserr, the Gennan expatriate contracted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to give technical assistance to Eucharia, fears the squad's Achilles heal is its lack of striking prowess.
'When I take a look at the German attack, I weep because we are going to play them in our group matches and I [don't know] how we will survive their firepower,' Obliserr said. 'The technique is not just there and may be we just need something extraordinary to achieve success during the World Cup to scale through to the second round.'
Irrespective of Obliserr's reservations, Stella Mbachu and Perpetua Nkwocha remain the team's most potent weapons. Although age means they will probably be playing in their last World Cup, they have been enjoying a rich vein of form lately. Nkwocha, a two-time African player of the year, has been one of the deadliest strikers in the game and is expected to once again lead the onslaught in Germany.
Veteran coach, Joseph Ladipo, a member of the technical crew of the Nigerian team to both the women's World Cup of 1999 and 2003, told NewsAfrica that he expected the squad to put up a tough challenge.
'As usual everyone's attention will be on Nigeria because of the fact that Super Falcons have always been in the competition and often the well-established teams have been made to struggle before beating them,' he said.
Equatorial Guinea's Nzalang Nationale are making their debut at the Fifa Women's World Cup to face 1995 champions Norway, Brazil and Australia in Group D. The squad were largely unknown in the women's game until February 2007 when they beat their more illustrious opponents from South Africa 2-1 in an Olympic qualifying game, although the South Africans triumphed 4-2 in the return fixture to make it to the next stage.
A year later, the tiny African nation sent shock waves through the football world when they beat Nigeria 1-0 in the semifinal of the AWC and went on to win the championship beating South Africa 2-1, thus becoming the first nation other than Nigeria to win the most prestigious prize in African women's football.
Since then, Jean-Paul Mpila has built a side that has not only become competitive but formidable. 'Whatever we have achieved, we have done it as a team,' he stated. 'As we travel to Germany, we are the underdogs and I guess we are used to being the underdogs. But we will put on a good show, we will fight for our place.'
He added, 'The World Cup will be big test for us, but more importantly, it should be an opportunity for these players to grow and learn more.'
Nzalang Nationale's star players include goalkeeper Miriam Paixao Silva, and the duo of captain Genoveva Ayong Man and striker Salimata Simpaore. Both were at the centre of a gender row last year when several rival African teams complained they were men. In Feblllary, following an investigation by Africa's football governing body, Fifa settled the issue after stating the Equatorial Guinea team that qualified for the Women's World Cup is all-female.
The country's football federation claimed that there was a 'campaign of defamation' against the team's rise, motivated by an 'inferiority complex'.
Football pundits rank Germany and the United States, who have each won the championship on two occasions, as favourites. Led by the legendary Brigit Prinz, Germany will launch their quest for a third title in Group A where they play Nigeria, France and Canada. The core of coach Silvia Neid's team has hardly changed over the past few years, with striker Prinz, goalkeeper Nadine Angerer and defender Ariane Hingst boasting an impressive pedigree.
The United States, who are drawn in Group C alongside North Korea, Sweden and Columbia, won the World Cup in 1999, and were the Olympic champions in Athens 2004 and four years later in Beijing, are strongly fancied to return to the top of the podium despite their Stlllggle to qualify.
The team's prolific striker Amy Rodriguez believes their toughest opponents will be Japan, Brazil and Germany. 'Every team has their ups and downs,' she said. 'We went through a bit of a rough time during qualifiers, but we've been able to train really hard and get ourselves back into good form. Our team is stronger than ever. Our goal is to bring home the gold medal this summer.'
After the retirement of evergreen Kristine Lilly, Shannon Boxx takes over as the heartbeat and inspiration of the side, with a clutch of ambitious youngsters providing a talented supporting cast.
The general consensus is that ifthere were any team with a real chance of upstaging both the Germans and the Americans, it is Brazil. Boasting the striking talents of Marta, Fifa World Player for the last four years, the Brazilians are likely to give all sides a run for their money. The 24-yearold is the inspiration behind steady growth of the Brazil squad whose form in recent years is underlined as runners-up in the Fifa World Cup in 2007 and the Olympic Games in 2008.
Eight cities will host the 32 different matches over a three-week period. 'Five years after the unforgettable summer of 2006 when Germany played host to the men's World Cup, the FIFA women's World Cup 2011 promises to be a wonderful tournament and source of excitement and joy, when our nation and its people will again show themselves to be friendly, peaceful, cosmopolitan and hospitable,' said Steffi Jones, president of Germany 2011 Local Organising Committee.
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