China-New Zealand game postponed for Typhoon Wipha
Updated: 2007-09-19 18:05
TIANJIN, China -- Typhoon Wipha, which made landfall on early Wednesday, has forced the rescheduling of two more women's World Cup matches.
The Canada-Australia Group C match in Chengdu and the China-New Zealand Group D match in Tianjin will both be postponed until Thursday, team officials announced on Wednesday.
FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, on Tuesday moved two matches - Norway vs. Ghana in Group C & Brazil vs. Denmark in Group D - from Wednesday to Thursday, while the Group D match between China and New Zealand was set to go ahead.
The new schedule will allow the teams to be played simultaneously with the other final group matches set for Thursday - Norway vs. Ghana in Group C and Brazil vs. Denmark in Group D.
All four games are critical and will determine which four teams will advance to the quarterfinal. Of the eight teams, only New Zealand and Ghana have no chance to advance.
Under FIFA's planned schedule, all group matches were to be played at the same time, ensuring competing teams could not get an advantage by knowing the outcome beforehand of another match.
Although teams confirmed the move earlier, FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, was late making the announcement.
"It's disappointing to find out so late about the rescheduling, but that aside it allows all teams to compete on an equal footing," Australia coach Tom Sermanni said.
Crowds in North China's Tianjin are upset. There was a big crowd expected in the 60,000-seat Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium to watch host China play.
"We just heard this news," China's media officer Meng Hongtao said Wednesday afternoon. "We were prepared and the players were getting ready for the game. They ate at 4 o'clock and were planning to leave for the stadium at 6."
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