The buzz: Brazil is playing in its eighth Women’s World Cup, Jamaica in its first, but the meeting may not be as one-sided as it seems. The South Americans, whose roster is a mixture of young hopefuls and old hands such as Marta, Cristiane and Formiga, lost nine times in as many games leading up to the tournament and will be without Marta, a six-time world player of the year, in Sunday’s opener because of a hamstring injury. Formiga will make history by becoming the first player — male or female — to appear in seven World Cups if she hits the field in Grenoble. Jamaica, which qualified for its first World Cup by finishing third in the CONCACAF tournament, is a largely U.S.-based team topped by Khadija Shaw, who led all players with 19 goals in qualifying. This is a homecoming for Shaw, nicknamed Bunny because of her love of carrots, since she plays club soccer at Bordeaux.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 09, 2019 01:03 UTC