Group H looked to be all but decided until Sunday, when Germany lost a stunner to Colombia and Morocco won its first World Cup match by beating South Korea. That means every team in the group — even the Koreans, who haven’t won a game or even scored a goal — can still advance if the results break right.
The Germans are looking to bounce back with a win over South Korea, which, while mathematically alive, is most likely exiting the Women’s World Cup after its final game. Colombia leads the group with a commanding 6 points, but needs to avoid a rout by Morocco, which might be able to advance with a win.
South Korea vs. Germany
Germany, surprised by a last-minute defeat against Colombia, is coming off its first loss in the group stage since 1995. The Germans, one of the pretournament favorites and a losing finalist at last summer’s European Championship, will be aiming to do enough to go into the round of 16 with some momentum. South Korea can only advance by defeating Germany by five goals or more. And even then, it will need help.
Morocco vs. Colombia
Colombia is one of the dark horse teams of this tournament, led by the 18-year-old Linda Caicedo, who scored a brilliant goal against Germany that showed that the Colombians could hold their own against one of the top contenders. With that win, Colombia rose to the top of the group and all but guaranteed its berth in the round of 16.
Morocco, while disadvantaged by goal difference, isn’t out just yet — but it would need to win, as well as for South Korea to upset Germany, to get through. That is a very unlikely double.
Sumber: www.nytimes.com
