I Follow the World Cup Soccer Stories of Experiences

When I was a teenager, I live in Brasil. I had the good fortune to witness what I think was Pelé's last international match. It was played 18 July 1971 against Yugoslavia in Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã stadium. The stadium holds...

I considered calling in sick from work. Instead I pulled it up on my iphone . There is something so primal about Soccer/futbol. I fell in love with the game as a child and it's kept me company in foreign language and foreign lands.

Brazil wins Group D with a perfect 3-0 record. Not a shocker to anyone of course. They have the greatest female player on the planet, and Marta demonstrated her skills to the world. She is so fast, even with the ball. Most mortals will...

Sweden wins Group C ! In an upset shocker the Swedes beat the US 2-1 and won the group with a 3-0 record. A team that struggles to score goals managed to win 1-0 against Columbia and North Korea. They seized on defensive gaffes...

England wins the group ! Talk about building momentum. England started poorly, tying Mexico 1-1 and then barely beating New Zealand 2-1. A team some considered an outside chance to pull an upset and win this tournament was...

Two of the groups finished playing today, the other two will finish tomorrow and round out the field of eight teams moving on.

Group A - Germany wins ! No surprise here. There has been some turmoil on the team over their captain...

A win is a win is a win. 2-0 is better than Sweden beating Columbia 1-0 in the goal differential tally that is used to break a tie.

Those are the obvious. What about the details? What can improve ?

Our defense has two obvious...

At 9am US Eastern Daylight Time Nigeria and France begin the tournament, with the Germany v Canada clash beginning three hours later.

I'm glad the day is here.

Australia, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Norway

Brazil is the best team in the group, and has two of the best players in the world, Marta and Cristiane. They are solid, experienced, and are looking to avenge a loss to Germany in the...

Columbia, North Korea, Sweden, USA

The US and Sweden should not have any trouble advancing out of this group. The US should win the group, but their erratic play of late makes them vulnerable. If they tie Sweden, the goal...

I thought Germany v Canada was the first game, traditionally the host country begins the tournament. But a few hours before they play Nigeria v France will be kicking off.

Who's your team? Are you going to watch any of the games...

England, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand

I believe England will win this group, and Japan will take second place. Mexico has a good team but they need better strikers, and I think they will not be able to score against good opposition...

Germany, Canada, France, Nigeria

Defending World Cup Champion Germany is the obvious favorite to win the group. I think Canada and Nigeria will fight for second place, with their match deciding who moves on to the next round.

I...

The first game is Germany v Canada, June 26 in Berlin.

I'm excited, and I'll be watching. I may be the only one on EP who does so, but I'll be watching !!!!

Who's your team?

www. fifa.com/womensworldcup is the official FIFA...

Will you be watching? Will you get to attend a game?

Who do you think will win, who are you rooting for ?? Sixteen teams will be striving for glory.

The US is always a strong favorite, and I'm hoping they will win. I have...

There were amazing plays and amazing stories and glorious moments. What a month of soccer.

See you in Brasil 2014 !!!!!

Netherlands v Spain

A new country to be added to the Cup's history of winners.

Netherlands v Uruguay

Spain v Germany

Uruguay v Ghana

Netherlands v Brazil

Argentina v Germany

Paraguay v Spain

choose your teams !!!

I made up a system of points.    One point for each team correctly to go to the next round, one additional point if I picked the two teams correctly for 1st and 2nd in the group.

My results:

Group H
+1   One...