By Scott French, Senior Editor in Philadelphia
With the expected result Thursday against Nigeria, and a little help from the North Koreans, the U.S. women can nail down their place in the Oct. 1 quarterfinals at the fourth Women's World Cup.
The Americans, coming off an emphatic 3-1 triumph Sunday over Sweden in their Group A opener, are massive favorites against the African champions, who gave a dismal performance in a 3-0 loss Saturday to North Korea in their first match.
The Koreans face Sweden in a critical clash to open the doubleheader at Lincoln Financial Field.
U.S. coach April Heinrichs was again mum about her lineup but said she was looking for a possession-oriented group capable of quickly releasing the ball to escape the Nigerians' notoriously dangerous tackles. Their take-no-prisoners approach left American players with cleat marks — ''Up and down [our] legs,'' reported defender Kate Sobrero — following rough victories over the Super Falcons at the 1999 World Cup (a 7-1 victory) and 2000 Olympics (a 3-1 win).
''I wouldn't call them 'brutal,' but it's on the verge of reckless,'' Heinrichs said. ''I don't think it's purposeful and cynical. It's exuberant. It's wanting to win.''
''We are physical,'' acknowledged star forward Mercy Akide, who played two seasons with U.S. captains Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett with the WUSA's San Diego Spirit. ''If you're not tough, you cannot play this game. We are learning from [the Nigerian men], and that's what we play.''
An inexperienced referee, Argentina's Florencia Romano, could add to the menace.
The Americans could play in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 — both formations were utilized against the Swedes — and the only certain change is that University of North Carolina defender Catherine Reddick will step onto the backline. She could play centrally, in place of injured Brandi Chastain, or as an outside back with Sobrero moving inside.
Tiffeny Milbrett, quick and surprisingly strong for her size, could get a starting role up front with first-game stars Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.
Nigeria played without spark in its loss to the Koreans. The Lagos-based Vanguard newspaper reported that many of the Super Falcons played ''under severe bouts of fever'' claimed to be the result of medical inoculations received before their departure to the United States. The newspaper also said a lack of funding had eliminated the players' allowance and prevented their federation from providing Nigerian food.
A Nigerian official did not reply to an email seeking confirmation of the Vanguard's report.
The official did say that two players injured against North Korea — captain Florence Omagbemi, who played two seasons in the WUSA, and defender Ifeanyichukwu Chiejine — were in fine shape and ready to play. Omagbemi pulled herself off the field just before halftime with an undisclosed injury, and Chiejine was taken to the hospital, her head secured in a neck brace, after a second-half collision with Ri Hyang Ok. A teammate said she had suffered a neck strain.
Omagbemi is expected to start, but Chiejine could be replaced at left back by Onome Ebi.
Nigeria coach Sam Okpodu, a former North Carolina State star who took charge of the Super Falcons after 10 years as Virginia Tech's women's coach, also must decide whether W-League standout Patience Avre or China-based forward Perpetua Nkwocha accompanies Akide up front. Nkwocha started against North Korea.
The United States and North Korea are looking to become the second and third quarterfinal qualifiers. Group C power Germany advanced with a 3-0 win Wednesday over Japan in Columbus, Ohio.
USA vs. NIGERIA (Sept. 25 at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia)
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET.
TV: ESPN2, Galavision (live).
Referee: Florencia Romano (Argentina).
Projected Starting Lineups:
USA — Scurry, Pearce, Fawcett, Reddick, Sobrero, Foudy, Boxx, Lilly, Wambach, Milbrett, Hamm. Nigeria — Dede, Iweta, Ajayi, Kayode, Ebi, Egbi, Ekpo, Omagbemi, Mbachu, Akide, Nkwocha.
USA
1 SCURRY Briana, 2 BIVENS Kylie, 3 PEARCE Christie, 4 REDDICK Cat, 5 ROBERTS Tiffany, 6 CHASTAIN Brandi, 7 BOXX Shannon, 8 MACMILLAN Shannon, 9 HAMM Mia, 10 WAGNER Aly, 11 FOUDY Julie, 12 PARLOW Cindy, 13 LILLY Kristine, 14 FAWCETT Joy, 15 SOBRERO Kate, 16 MILBRETT Tiffeny, 17 SLATON Danielle, 18 MULLINIX Siri, 19 HUCLES Angela, 20 WAMBACH Abby.
NIGERIA
1 OPARA Ugochi, 2 EKPO Effioanwan, 3 KAYODE Bunmi, 4 NKWOCHA Perpetua, 5 EBI Onome, 6 AJAYI Kikelomo, 7 MBACHU Stella, 8 YUSUF Olaitan, 9 IKIDI Faith, 10 AKIDE Mercy, 11 EGBE Nkechi, 12 DEDE Precious, 13 OKOSIEME Nkiru, 14 CHIEJINE Ifeanyichukwu, 15 MMADU Maureen, 16 IWETA Florence, 17 OMAGBEMI Florence, 18 AVRE Patience, 19 OKHAE Esther, 20 OKOLO Vera.