Nigeria looks for upset over Sweden in opener

Soccer Betting Lines

09/10/2007 - Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden has been the World Cup runners-up for four years and the five-time qualifiers are ready to put the past behind it to make a run at its first title.

The Swedish side lost the final on a golden goal in overtime to Germany, 2-1, four years ago in the United States. Many of the players who led Sweden to the final four years ago are back, which is why it's one of the favorites to capture a title.

Sweden opens its tournament on Tuesday against Nigeria, the lowest-ranked team in Group B, which also features the United States and North Korea.

Group B figures to be the toughest group with Sweden ranked third in the world by FIFA, the United States No. 1 and North Korea No. 5. So, Sweden needs to get off to a good start in a group featuring the same four teams as 2003.

Four years ago, Sweden lost its opener to the United States, but didn't lose again until the final.

Sweden defeated Nigeria, 3-0, in its third game in the group stage to secure its spot in the quarterfinals. Hanna Ljungberg, who is back this year, scored two goals in the second half of the victory.

Ljungberg, who once received an invitation to play for Italian Serie A men's club Perugia, scored 10 goals in qualifying for this year's Cup.

"If we prepare properly and remain free of injuries, we can match our showing of 2003," Ljungberg said on FIFA.com. "We know what we're capable of if the conditions are right."

Nigeria would also like to forget about the 2003 World Cup, but for different reasons. Nigeria, also a five-time Cup qualifier, lost all three games in the group stage without scoring a goal.

"I believe the 2007 World Cup is going to be good to us," Nigeria coach Effiom Ntiero said on FIFA.com.

In their five trips to the tournament, the Super Falcons are 2-10-1 and have advanced out of the group stage just once. The team staged a dramatic rally against Brazil in the 1999 quarterfinals, coming back from three goals down in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss.

If Nigeria is finally going to make its impact on the world stage - the team has won all five African Championships - it will need to open the tournament with a dramatisk (dramatic in Swedish) victory.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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