Maybe This Rout Leads to Success

LANDOVER, Md. — What do you call a Women's World Cup soccer tournament without the invariable trespassers and hangers-on and other assorted stragglers whose credentials deserved to be pulled at the entrance gate?

The quarterfinals.

You didn't see it mentioned in any of the "This Is My Game, This Is My Future, Watch Me Play" promotional literature, but, truth be told, a 16-team Women's World Cup, at this stage in the game's evolution, is too large by half. This isn't only one man's opinion; these are raw statistics, lifted straight from the scoreboards from major football stadiums across America:

Brazil 7, Mexico 1.

Norway 7, Canada 1.

China 7, Ghana 0.

Russia 5, Japan 0.

Germany 6, Mexico 0.

Six teams--Denmark, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Australia and Ghana--went winless during the first round.

Mexico, playing with a spate of passport-nationals imported from Upper California, was outscored in its three games, 15-1. Canada, the weak sister to the north, scored three goals and yielded 12. Ghana was gone in a flash, getting pummeled, 10 goals to one. Even Denmark, which traditionally has held its own against Scandinavian powers Norway and Sweden, looked overmatched here, getting outscored, 8-1.

Two other teams, Italy and North Korea, booked passage home Sunday. Italy did beat Mexico--something to trumpet through the streets of Milan, no doubt--but its stultifying eight-players-behind-the-ball-at-all-times tactics were a drag on the tournament. Yes, in Italy, the women play soccer like the men--and isn't it about time for a nationwide "Goals Are Good" public-service campaign over there?

North Korea was the only non-qualifier to acquit itself here. World Cup first-timers, the Koreans upset Denmark, nearly tied Nigeria and played gamely against the Americans, holding the tournament favorites scoreless for 55 minutes. Then again, they were so lightly regarded that U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco used Sunday's match to start four reserves with little risk to the inevitable final outcome.

Eight teams, two World Cup victories among them.

Their inclusion in this tournament didn't make for good soccer.

But it was good for international women's soccer, if growing the sport throughout the world is as important an objective as the World Cup organizers say it is.

"The future of football is feminine," FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said.