U.S. women favored to win title while China determined to make impact

Chinese women, back to the World Cup stage after eight-year absence, are determined to pull off a Herculean feat in the expanding tournament where the United States are heavily favored.

The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off on Saturday in Edmonton when Canada host China in the opener.

China, a young team with no player ever playing a World Cup game, are well prepared to face Canada, according to their head coach Hao Wei.

"We made a meticulous plan to prepare all what we should do, we took care of every details, and now I think we are ready to face Canada," said 38-year-old Hao.

Hao has been preparing for the World Cup since he took over the team at the beginning of 2012 in the wake of China's failure to qualify for the London Olympics.

His team have been together for more than three years and enjoy a mutual understanding and solidarity. Under Hao, who is an admirer of former Barcelona coach Pep Guadiola, they developed an enjoyable passing game based on ball possession.

But their preparation suffered a heavy blow when their top scorer Yang Li dropped out of the team due to knee injury at their pre-tournament training camp in Seattle, the United States.

"It is a bad omen, and it is really bad luck for us, as Yang is almost indispensable for our team. She is an efficient and lethal striker," one of China's coaching staff said.

Yang's drop-out means her striking partner Li Ying and attacking midfielder Ma Jun will have to shoulder more attack duty.

"It is a shame that Yang Li had to leave us, we will carry her dream to play the World Cup games," said Ma Jun.

"Her absence will inspire us to fight harder, and we fear no team in the World Cup. We are confident to go far in the tournament," Ma said.

Hao once told Xinhua that his aim was to take China to the final four in this World Cup, which would be their best result since the 1999 final where they lost to the United States on shootout in the final.

The U.S. side, considered the heavy favorites, stand a good chance to end their title drought since 1999.

The American team, currently second in the world rankings, will open against Australia on Monday in Winnipeg. They also have their own problems.

Their forward Alex Morgan, 25, has missed the team's last three matches with a bone bruise in her left knee. The U.S. will need Morgan to provide offense. She has 51 goals and 32 assists in 84 international appearances.

American goalkeeper Hope Solo are trying to drag herself away from troubles.

The 33-year-old , who is among the best goalkeepers in the world, has had to overcome a 30-day suspension by U.S. Soccer earlier this year related to the DUI arrest of her husband and former NFL player Jerramy Stevens. Domestic violence charges against her were dropped by a judge in January.

Solo is now in daunting form with five straight shutouts heading into the tournament.

No player in the U.S. team is more hungry than Abby Wambach for the World Cup title.

The 35-year-old striker has made 242 international appearances with the U.S. She broke Mia Hamm's international scoring record in 2013 and currently has 182 career international goals. But the one honor that has eluded Wambach has been a World Cup title.

Germany, currently the top-ranked team in the world, is the other favorite to win the title.

The eight-time European champions will be making their seventh appearance in the World Cup and have won two titles consecutively in 2003 and 2007.

France could also be a serious contender. The French finished fourth in the 2011 World Cup, losing to the U.S. in the semifinals.

The reigning World Cup champions are facing an arduous task to defend the title they won in Germany in 2011 over the U.S. The aging of their players are expected to count against them with the progress of the tournament. Endi