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09/12/2007 - Wuhan, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Xialoi Song scored the game-winner in the 88th minute as hosts China opened its World Cup with an exciting win over Denmark, 3-2, on Wednesday.
Song's goal came less than a minute after Denmark scored in the 87th minute to tie the match at 2-2. Jie Li and Yan Bi scored China's first two goals.
Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen and Cathrine Paaske Sorensen scored for Denmark.
China pulled even with Brazil in Group D with three points, although it trails by four in goal differential. Brazil rolled to a 5-0 win on Wednesday over New Zealand.
China plays Brazil on Saturday in its second game of the group stage. Denmark will look to bounce back against New Zealand on Saturday.
The Chinese looked impressive in the first half of their tournament opener, creating numerous chances while Denmark struggled to mount any offense.
China had a couple chances off three consecutive corner kicks seven minutes into the match. Yan Bi and Caixia Xie alternated taking the kicks and swung balls toward the goal. Denmark goalie Heidi Johansen punched the first two chances wide before her side finally gathered the third kick.
The Chinese had a long blast by Xiaoxu Ma knocked down by Johansen in the 17th minute and she easily covered up the ball with no players even in the box.
China also had the next scoring chance in the 23rd minute when Duan Han raced into the box near the left end line and had her shot from a tough angle saved by Johansen.
Denmark threatened for the first time in the 27th minute when Maiken Pape just missed connecting with a cross in front of China goalie Wenxia Han.
China quickly regained control of the action and Bi set up the first goal when she stole a ball about 15 yards outside Denmark's box. She dribbled toward the goal and was fouled outside the area, setting up a free kick.
Bi stood over the attempt for a long time, lining up a left-footed shot, but it was Li who moved in and unleashed a blast into the upper right corner with her right foot in the 31st minute.
China's 1-0 lead almost disappeared minutes later when Pape's leaping header went just wide of the right post. Pape had a few more chances on headers in the half, but couldn't convert.
China countered Denmark's aerial assault with a header from Duan Han that went just inches wide of the right post for the last good chance in the first half.
After all the missed opportunities in the first half, China opened the second half by converting its first scoring chance. Bi's long blast didn't look good off her foot, but it deflected off Denmark captain Katrine Pedersen. The ball changed direction, fooling Johansen and sailing into the upper left corner of the net in the 50th minute.
Denmark wasn't down by two goals for long, though, as it answered in the 51st minute. Off a corner kick, Dot Eggers Nielsen ran unmarked to the ball at the far post and scored off a strong header.
Still facing the one-goal deficit 15 minutes later, Denmark turned to all-time leading scorer Merete Pedersen. Although she is nursing an injury, Pedersen came off the bench in the 75th minute when Denmark made two substitutes.
Although she wasn't directly involved in Denmark's tying goal in the 87th minute, Denmark's other sub assisted on the goal. Stine Dimun also came on with Merete Pedersen, and her cross was headed home by Paaske Sorensen.
Paaske Sorensen hit the ball well and it cleared the outstretched arms of the Chinese goalie and just under the crossbar.
But similar to when Denmark answered China's second goal, the Chinese bounced back to take the lead less than a minute later.
Off the restart, China pushed forward and Song chested down a pass and turned and blasted a shot from just outside the box. The well-placed shot sailed into the left side of the net, giving the hosts a dramatic win.
China improved to 8-1-3 all time against Denmark.
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Ranked ACC foes square off in Atlanta >>
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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