The U.S. women's national team had its best performance so far in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China over the weekend, sweeping aside England 3-0 in a quarterfinal win that sets up a final four clash with Brazil. Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx and Kristine Lilly all found the net in a game that the USA dominated in nearly every aspect.
The offense ignited for all three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, while the defense shut down Kelly Smith and Co. for the entire 90 minutes. The victory means that the Red, White & Blue are just one win away from the final, which will feature either Germany or Norway from the other half of the bracket.
Brazil earned its semifinal berth by knocking off Australia 3-2 in a thriller. Reigning champion Germany is still yet to concede a goal following their 3-0 quarterfinal victory against North Korea. Host nation China was eliminated in a 1-0 loss to the Norwegians. Germany and Norway will meet in the first semifinal on Wednesday, with the U.S. match vs. Brazil scheduled for the following day.
On the international club circuit, Arsenal retained its place atop the English Premier League with a 5-0 drubbing of Derby County on Saturday. U.S. internationals Eddie Lewis and Benny Feilhaber saw their side completely undone by the North London club, which was led by Emmanuel Adebayor, who scored a hat trick. Vassariki Diaby scored the first goal in the 10th minute, while Cesc Fabregas also found the net for the fourth time this season.
But the real talking point of the EPL over the weekend was another London club, Chelsea. Under new boss Avram Grant, the Blues had another sub-par showing and were on the wrong end of a 2-0 score line against Manchester United. Carlos Tevez scored his first goal for the Red Devils by heading home a corner kick just before halftime, and Louis Saha iced the game with a last-gasp penalty kick. The result moved United into second place, while Chelsea has now fallen to sixth. Manchester City dropped to third following an entertaining 3-3 draw with Fulham FC.
In Spain, FC Barcelona gained ground in the standings with a crucial win Saturday against Sevilla. Argentinean striker Leonel Messi scored both goals for the Catalan club, which left Brazil's Ronaldinho on the bench, in a 2-1 victory. The win was made that much more important on Sunday when Real Madrid failed to defeat Valladolid. Javier Saviola's strike three minutes from time saved a point for the reigning champions against last season's second division winners.
Despite the draw, Madrid stays in first place with 10 points. Villareal and Valencia each has nine, while Barca is now just two points behind the leaders in fourth.
The weekend's top encounter in Italy over the weekend saw Seria A leader Roma retain its top-of-the-table standing with a 2-2 draw with Juventus. Francesco Totti's two goals gave Roma a 2-1 lead heading into the locker rooms, and a missed penalty kick by Juventus seemed to spell doom for the Turin club. However, Vincenzo Iaquinta saved a point for Juve when he struck two minutes before the final whistle.
Inter Milan was held to a draw with the same score by Livorno, Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring both goals after seeing his side fall behind twice. Like Inter, Atlanta and Fiorentina trail Roma by two points with eight on the season, while four teams are sitting on seven. AC Milan is in ninth place with six.
With six games completed, Bayern Munich is in the top spot in Germany, while unheralded Nancy is atop France's top flight. Rivals Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven are tied in first in the Dutch Eredivisie with 13 points each. Former MetroStars and U.S. national team midfielder Michael Bradley scored this weekend for Heerenveen, though his side fell to Utrecht and is in 12th place in the Netherlands.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
