Winless England has eyes on quarterfinals

Soccer Betting Lines

09/16/2007 - Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England advanced to the quarterfinals in its only other appearance in the Women's World Cup in 1995. The team is in a great position to do so once again Monday despite the fact it has failed to win either of its first two games in the group stage.

England was held to a 2-2 draw by Japan in its first match after conceding a goal in the 94th minute, but it put together a much better performance in holding defending champion Germany to a 0-0 draw on Friday.

England will advance to the next round no matter what if it records a two- goal win against Argentina, which should not be a problem for Hope Powell's club.

The Brits have performed better than expected to this point, and will give any team in the quarterfinals a tough time. Star striker Kelly Smith has proven to be one of the top strikers in the world, scoring two goals against Japan and giving the strong German defense all it could handle.

What has been the most impressive so far is how well the English defense has held up.

England keeper Rachel Brown has performed well, including a big stop in the final 10 minutes to preserve the 0-0 draw with Germany. Both Japan goals came from free kicks, so England has not allowed a goal from the run of play in two matches and shouldn't have a problem keeping that streak going against a weak Argentina side.

England captain Faye White has anchored the back line, along with Alex Scott and Casey Stoney. That trio combined to hold the German attack in check, including Birgit Prinz, who had almost no impact on the match.

Argentina has hardly even threatened to score and, with no firepower up top, is unlikely to do so against England. The South Americans have lacked any ability to sustain a build up, and although they lost only 1-0 to Japan last time out, don't look to have much of a chance.

Poor play in goal has been another problem for Argentina, with Vanina Correa getting overmatched in the first game with Germany, and veteran Romina Ferro spilling a bad rebound in stoppage time that prevented Argentina from earning a point against Japan.

This combination bodes well for England's Smith, who figures to add to her goal total in this competition.

England should not have to do any watching of the scoreboard on Monday because it will go out and put itself in the quarterfinals with a big win, something Japan failed to do against Argentina.

Powell has England going in the right direction, and it will take more than Argentina to knock the team off track.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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