Death leaving in good health

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This article was published 13/06/2015 (4101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

And with that, Winnipeg bids farewell to the Group of Death.

From here the four teams that provided the city its first World Cup experience will head west, and with a round of matches still to be played, the permutations are fascinating.

The United States, which drew Sweden 0-0 on Friday at Investors Group Field to stay atop the section, leads last-place Nigeria by just three points.

The Swedes, meanwhile, will be far happier with Friday’s draw than Monday’s 3-3 split with the Super Falcons — 2-0 losers in the day’s early showdown with Australia.

Rather surprisingly, Nigeria failed to show even a semblance of the spunk that brought them back from 2-0 down in their tournament opener and were decisively beaten by the Matildas as a result.

Star attacker

Star attacker Asisat Oshoala looked a shadow of the player who so tormented the Swedish defence, missing several chances, including a close-range header in the 72nd minute, and while playmaker Ngozi Okobi created numerous opportunities, all went unconverted by her teammates.

But Australia, to its credit, rebounded admirably from a disappointing defeat to the United States and can now realistically target second place in the bracket.

Kyah Simon scored both goals in the Australian win — the first a 29th-minute strike that did justice to captain Lisa De Vanna’s powerful, swerving run and well-placed outlet pass.

De Vanna was named player of the match for her contribution to the victory, and if Australia can pick up even a point against Sweden in Edmonton they’ll likely have the modest reward of facing Brazil in the next round instead of two-time champions Germany.

But the United States, too, has much at stake despite its bracket-pacing four points.

A draw with Nigeria in Vancouver, coupled with an Australia win over Sweden, would see them finish second in Group D.

And it’s a scenario that’s not exactly out of the question.

Other than the Megan Rapinoe-Sydney Leroux combination that once again drove their side forward, the Americans struggled to impose themselves on their opponents, as has typically been their trademark.

At a loss for ideas in midfield, they also failed to exploit the right-hand flank, and while manager Jill Ellis’s decision to bench record goal scorer Abbey Wambach from the start of Friday’s match was a brave one, it neither paid off nor instilled the slightest bit of faith this team can create enough meaningful chances to challenge for the trophy.

Anxiety

Thus the anxiety in the American camp. There’s nothing coming out of it that tends to inspire confidence, or instil dread.

That said, the United States was denied a clear penalty when Christen Press was hauled to ground by Nilla Fischer after just seven minutes, although Sweden might have pointed to Sydney Leroux’s apparent handball in the 22nd as a decision that went against them.

The best chances of the match came late when Blueyellow midfielder Caroline Seger’s sliced effort was headed onto the crossbar and Wambach’s diving header skipped just wide of the far post.

And while Sweden’s Pia Sundhage will have been the happier of the two managers at the final whistle, she’ll surely be looking for further progress from her side over the next few days.

A third-place finish would set up that undesired meeting with Germany, and given what they’ve shown so far, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the holders.

Nor would any of this quartet.

The reality is this World Cup’s Group of Death isn’t anywhere near decided. The irony is the teams it advances aren’t likely to put the fear of death into anyone awaiting them.

jerradpeters@gmail.com Twitter @JerradPeters