Soccer Extreme : Surely, Wednesday's main event at the 2011 Women's World Cup is the debut of Equatorial Guinea. There can't possibly be a story that overshadows this one, can there?
The country, located in the gold coast region of Africa, has slightly more people than El Paso, Texas (because it's impossible to get your head around a country's population unless it's compared to a US city).
The national team are playing in only their third major international competition, qualifying for each African Women's Championship since 2006 be never previously appearing in a World Cup or Summer Olympics.
On Wednesday that changes as they drink from the poison chalice of being thrown to the fire. They're widely expected to be one of the worst teams in the tournament (ranked 61st in the world), the surprise qualifier from a region that's accumulated a 3-3-26 record in World Cup history, scoring only 20 goals and letting in 79.
Equatorial Guinea have a couple of advantages their predecessors lacked. Italian/Brazilian Marcelo Frigerio can prepare his team with reference to the trials Ghana and Nigeria (Africa's only two previous qualifiers) were put through. He also has a legitimate star player in Genoveva Anonma, the 23-year-old attacker who recently made the move from Jena to powerhouse Turbine Potsdam in the Frauen Bundesliga.
With 15 goals from 28 caps, Anonma has a scoring record from midfield that rivals the position's other elites. In Dorine Chuigoue and Gloria Chinasa, Frigerio has other attacking threats, though in the days leading up to their debuts, the Nazlang Nacional lost Anonma's running mate, Spanish-born playmaker Jade Boho, when it was decided the midfielder didn't meet eligibility requirements. Unfortunately, that's not an uncommon story for the Equatoguineans, whose country's lax immigration policies invite potential nation-traders, even if the paperwork can't actually be completed.
Combined with some nasty accusations from a handful of African nations that Equatorial Guinea's rise has been fueled by fielding men and you have one of the more convoluted Cinderella stories imaginable, one that's likely to end with pumpkins and broken slippers.
For Norway, Equatorial Guinea's first World Cup opponent, Wednesday's match will be about two things: goal difference, and showing that one of the three nations to have won a world title is still a factor. The 1995 champions have never failed to make it out of group play in a World Cup, and despite semifinal appearances at China 2007 and Euro 2009, few are considering the Gresshoppene to be a threat in Germany.
They're unlikely to persuade anybody on Wednesday, with most expecting Norway to run out easy winners.
If they do, expect forward Isabell Herlovesen to find her way on to the score sheet. The 23-year-old's 19 goals are the most of any player on the Norwegian roster, a total boosted by leading the team in scoring during their qualifying campaign.
Of course, any conversation of goal scoring in the women's game leads to the reason most will be tuning in on Wednesday. True, some may fire up the flat screens to watch Equatorial Guinea, but it's much more likely they'll tune in at noon Eastern to witness the single player in the women's game they're most likely to know by name - the real reason people are going to turn in for the tournament's fourth day - Marta.
What Lionel Messi is to the men's game, Marta is to the women's game - the unquestioned best player in the world. The five-time reigning World Player of the Year has 76 goals in 69 career appearances despite being only two months past her 25th birthday. She's also been devastating a club level, good for more than a goal per game for Umea in the Swedish league before moving to Women's Professional Soccer in 2009.
Since then, she's been the best player in the US-based league (winning the circuit's MVP and scoring titles twice), guiding her teams to the league's best record each season.
Clearly, Marta is a winner, though for Brazil, she's recently developed a nasty habit of finishing in second place. In each of the last three major tournaments (two Olympics and a World Cup), she's led Brazil to silver-winning finishes, a trend she's intent on changing this year.
Rewriting history starts with Australia, who may need a big day from captain Melissa Barbieri in goal to keep Marta off the scoresheet. The only player over 30 on the team, Barbieri is one of the few Maltidas returning from the team that was eliminated by Brazil in the quarterfinals of China 2007. As a result, few from Australia will have experience against the game's best player.
Wednesday will be a case of there being no substitute for experience. No player in the game has Marta's skillset, and while almost every athlete puts themselves through the exercise of imagining themselves going up against an impending opponent, if you have no point of reference, it's impossible to imagine exactly how fast Marta is.
It's impossible to predict when she will go on the runs only she seems consistently able to pick out. It's impossible to know if you've trained yourself not to get caught watching (instead of playing) the game when the ball's at her feet.
If the Malitdas aren't prepared for these things, expect them to get frustrated, expect them to get physical, and don't expect them to replicate the 3-2 loss that saw them eliminated in China.
Even if everything goes right for Australia on Wednesday, they could be staring at a similar result in Moenchengladbach.
(foxsports)
