Brazil Women v Norway Women 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup betting sees the top two in Group D go head to head. These two sides are the ones who are expected to get through and now they go head to head to try and get themselves into pole position in the group. Brazil opened up their account with a 1-0 win over Australia. The Brazilians, who are still looking for that break through in the women’s game, despite being immensely talented, are favourites to top the group, and therefore are backed to win this. They were made to work very hard by the Australia Women, who really got stuck in and were really determined at the back and in the middle of the park. Things were pretty even in the first half, and in fact Australia had more possession than the runner’s up of the 2007 Women’s World Cup. While both sides had chances, Brazil did have the better of the game in the second half as they pushed to pick up their first three points. But there were thin margins here, and it took a bit of Brazilian magic to get that precious breakthrough. It was left to Rosana to provide that magic, taking a first control touch past the defender and then unleashing her shot into the net. As good as that was, the ball came to her via a flick over the head of an Australian defender and nodded into Rosana’s path. It was a great goal, and if Brazil played with that kind of flair for ninety minutes, no one would touch them. Still, they were somewhat cautious in their approach in the match, happy to fall back behind the ball while the Australians were pushing forward in possession.
As for Norway, they must have thought that they were never going to break down the tournament outsiders Equatorial Guinea Women in their opening match. The Norway Women hit the woodwork three times in the match, which was surprisingly heading to a goal less draw, a result which would have been something of a shock. But up stepped Emilie Haavi to spare Norway’s blushes in the match, a cruel blow to the African women yes, but Norway, who are quite an efficient side will feel that they deserved it. Things could easily have gone the other way in the match, as the West Africans strung together some nice football, completely belying their status in the world of being the 61st ranked team. They had chances to take the lead, but their failure to do so was punished six minutes from time when the European women struck. Both sides will have been happy with the result really, Norway because they got their expected three points, and Equatorial Guinea because they gave a very good account of themselves. On the basis of what we have seen in Group D so far, Norway will have a tough fight with Australia for second place. We are not sure that Norway showed enough to beat Brazil’s Samba Queens on the day, because they won’t be as adventurous and gung ho as the Aussies were against the South Americans. That will leave Brazil with a lot of possession which should translate to goals. The state of this game could depend on how long Norway’s defence stands up for in keeping a clean sheet.
Brazil women are the better of the two sides, and are worth backing. Yes, their start to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup was a bit slow, but they are one of the tournament favourites for a reason, and that is because they are good. They have great flair and watch out for the diminutive Mata who is a genuine world star. The first match nerves are over and all of the teams have gotten a game under their belts, so the second round is where the big teams can really start to press home their advantage. That is what we can expect to see from Brazil in this match, just a little bit more tournament savvy, coupled with class and technical ability. Brazil Women v Norway Women 2011 FIFA World Cup betting should lean towards the South Americans. Norway do have a solid looking team, but will probably be broken down, because Equatorial Guinea carved them open at times. So look for a Brazil -0.75 Asian Handicap for Evens at Victor Chandler, which looks pretty decent value in the market.
Brazil Women v Norway Women 2011 FIFA World Cup betting
Brazil Women to win: 7/10 at Bet365
Draw: 13/5 at Paddy Power
Norway Women: 9/2 at William Hill
