Is this soccer's deadliest striker?

There is unstoppable and then there is Marie-Laurie Delie.

The 23-year-old forward from Villiers-le-Bel, France struck the only goal of the opening match of the 2011 Women’s World Cup tagainst Nigeria to continue a torrid pace very few players — men or women — could match.

   Delie has tallied 22 goals in just 21 caps, and if that wasn’t good enough, her last six games have seen her tally 12 goals.

   “I give it my best each time the purpose of a striker is to score and voila!” answered Delie, who scored three goals as the top  goal scorer at the 2007 U19 FIFA’s Women World Cup.

   Delie’s first cap for France’s senior side came in a 7-0 routing  of Croatia — in which she scored a goal on September 23, 2009. She also scored nine goals in France’s qualifying for the 2011 World Cup.

   Delie shifted into another gear during the 2011 Cyprus Cup March  in which she scored six goals — on two hat-tricks against New Zealand and Scotland.

   And she continued that form in June, hitting two goals against Belgium and then three more against the Belgians three days later —  her third hat-trick in five matches heading into the World Cup opener against Nigeria.

   “It just keeps going. She is really unbelievable. I cannot say it will be her World Cup. But it is her time,” said French coach Bruno Bini.

   The French boss joked about his relationship with Delie.

   “It’s like a game between us. We have little challenges between us before the game,” Bini said.

   The coach was impressed with how hard Delie worked without the ball.

   “She didn’t have the ball a lot, but she worked rally hard. And that was the reward for her work,” said Bini.