Aussies leave it late against Norway

Soccer Betting Lines

09/15/2007 - Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lisa DeVanna came on as a second-half substitute and rescued a point for Australia as she scored in the 83rd minute to give the Matildas a 1-1 draw with Norway on Saturday.

Ragnhild Gulbrandsen scored five minutes into the game for Norway, but the Scandinavians could not hold off the rugged Australians and ensure advancement into the next round.

The group will now be decided on the final day, with Australia and Norway tied atop the group with four points and Canada right behind those two with three.

Ghana, meanwhile, has been eliminated after dropping its first two games and will finish up its World Cup campaign on Wednesday against Norway, which should have no problem in taking care of the African club.

Australia will take on Canada on Wednesday in a game that will decide the second team to go through. The Aussies need only a draw while Canada must produce a win to move on.

Norway picked up where it left off against Canada in the opening game, when the team scored twice in the second half for a comeback win. The Norwegians came out strong and scored on their first chance of the match.

Melissa Wiik took a pass on the right and dribbled through the middle of the field toward goal. She then slid a perfect pass to Gulbrandsen inside the area, and the striker turned it past keeper Melissa Barbieri and into the lower left corner.

It looked as though Norway would overpower the Matildas, but Australia was not unnerved by the early goal.

Cheryl Salisbury got her head to a corner but put the ball over the net, and four minutes later, Collette McCallum carried the ball to the end line on the left and drove a cross through traffic that rolled across the face of goal. There was nobody on the other end, but Australia began to show its quality.

McCallum in particular was giving the Norway defense trouble, and a big giveaway in the 23rd minute nearly handed McCallum the equalizer. A poorly handled pass in the back allowed McCallum to collect a loose ball near the box. However, Norway keeper Bente Nordby came off her line and McCallum fired her shot into the keeper.

Norway nearly doubled its lead minutes later when Camilla Huse curled a shot from the edge of the area that narrowly missed the right post, but Australia looked good at the end of the first half.

McCallum continued to create in the offensive third, providing nice passing and a hard shot from the left that forced Nordby to punch the ball away.

The early part of the second half was a back-and-forth affair with Australia claiming the first good opportunity of the half. DeVanna came off the bench and scored twice against Ghana in the opener, and she once again provided a spark for the Matildas.

DeVanna dribbled into the box and laid a pass off to Dianne Alagich on the left, giving Alagich a great look at goal. However, she was let down by the shot, which squirted well wide of the far post.

Norway's Lene Mykjaland then drilled the post with a driven shot minutes later, and DeVanna dashed through the midfield and found herself one-on-one with the keeper. Nordby came to the edge of the box and DeVanna rolled a shot around the keeper toward the right corner. However, it hit the post and stayed out, denying Australia the equalizer by inches.

Australia kept pressing while Norway looked like a team that was just trying to hang on.

DeVanna would get another chance to equalize in the 83rd minute, and this time she capitalized. After taking a pass from midfield, DeVanna turned with the ball and took on a defender. She cut the ball back to get room at the edge of the area and fired a perfect left-footed shot into the upper right corner past a diving Nordby.

Salisbury sent a header wide in the 90th minute that would have given Australia all three points, but it is still a great result for a team that has never advanced past the group stage in three previous World Cups.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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