World Cup Soccer

As South Africa gears up to host next year's soccer World Cup, there are plenty of doomsayers predicting the worst. If transportation shortages don't ruin the event, crime will. The beer will run out. Or the stadiums will be half empty. But no one expected an ugly plastic trumpet to dominate the controversy.

It was June 1978, the worst of times for a nation in the vise of dictatorship. And the best of times for soccer-obsessed Argentines. Argentina won its first championship 30 years ago this month, in the only World Cup tournament to be played here. The victory caused a torrent of nationalist pride in a country beaten down by repression.

The United States has, arguably, the strongest women's soccer team in the world, but if it is to regain the Women's World Cup it won in 1991 and 1999, it will have to do so the hard way. The draw for the 2007 tournament was held in Wuhan, China, on Sunday and the Americans were grouped with three formidable opponents for first-round play. They will open, intriguingly, against North Korea in Chengdu on Sept. 11, then play Sweden in the same city on Sept. 14 and Nigeria on Sept. 18 in Shanghai.

What might be the final soccer campaign for Kristine Lilly could complete the circle in such a tidy, theatrical way this fall in China. Her first international trip with the U.S. women's national team was to China, and not only did the then-15-year-old have to go out and get a passport, but permission from Mom and Dad. Now she is back in China with a husband and considerably more baggage, but of the very best kind -- two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, 126 goals and a record 331 caps.

One of the great moments in American sports went virtually unnoticed. It occurred at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China, in the fall of 1991, when Pele, inarguably the greatest soccer player of all time, did a little celebratory tap dance up on stage with Carin Jennings.

SHANGHAI -- Germany sent an emphatic message of its readiness with its 11-0 romp over Argentina in the Women's World Cup opener. Contenders such as the No. 1-ranked Americans, who play North Korea in Group B in Chengdu, China, today at 1:45 a.m. PDT, are expected to take notice. Germany set a Women's World Cup for goals by one team and the largest margin of victory. The record for the most lopsided result was 8-0 twice: Sweden over Japan in 1991, and Norway over Nigeria in 1995.

Kristine Lilly glanced up, catching sight of Abby Wambach 25 yards ahead racing down the left side toward Sweden's goal. She reacted instinctively, lofting a soaring ball for Wambach to run under. Wambach did just that, settled it off her chest, and lashed a left-footed half-volley from 15 yards that ripped into the net behind Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl. It was Wambach's second of the game -- her third in two games in China.

Brazil's men have won the World Cup five times. Now Brazil's women look as if they can win their first, establishing themselves among the favorites by thrashing host China, 4-0, in a Group D game Saturday in Wuhan with two goals each from Marta and Cristiane. Marta is now the tournament's top scorer with four. The victory makes Brazil an overwhelming favorite to win Group D, which is likely to give the South Americans a clear path to the semifinals.

Defending champion Germany, with a record-setting goal from Birgit Prinz, beat Japan, 2-0, at Hangzhou, China, on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup. England was the second team to advance from Group A with a 6-1 win over Argentina in Chengdu. Germany finished the group stage with seven points, followed by England with five, Japan with four and Argentina with none. Germany will meet the second-place team from Group B -- probably the United States or North Korea.

LONDON -- You don't hear much about women's soccer in England. Then again, you don't really hear all that much about rugby, cricket, golf or, come to think of it, anything about tennis, or curling, or even all that much about O.J., compared with how much you hear about the stupefyingly colossal English Premier League.