They face a tough test to progress from Group D with a team predominantly made up of amateurs, which has been made even more difficult after their opening result, as they have been drawn with World Cup winners Germany, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Georgia.
It can even be argued that historic social justice measures like the New Deal and the GI Bill mostly helped whites to survive in tough times and to progress.
"I don't want to cry, I want to be tough," she said after failing to progress in the semi-finals of the 1,000m, the distance at which she is European champion.
Having finished no higher than sixth in any race this season that's a tough ask, but you have to progress to keep competitive, and having now raced on all the tracks I'm fully confident I will succeed in that goal.
To have any chance of meeting them, Team GB will need to progress from a tough group to meet them in the knock-out phase.
It was a nightmare scenario for manager Roberto Mancini, who will be expected to take his side far in this year's competition after they failed to progress from a tough group last season.
At Northamptonshire police, deputy chief constable Suzette Davenport suggests that it may become harder for women to progress as the tough financial climate takes its toll, with cutbacks leading to officers seen as less "difficult" to manage being favoured for opportunities and promotion by hard-pressed bosses.
The Kildare man was not expected to progress from the tough heat despite ducking under 1 46 for the first time recently and France's Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (1 47.70), Poland's Marcin Lewandowski (1 47.83) and Italy's Giordano Benedetti (1 47.90) duly took the three qualifying spots.
His team was genuinely unlucky not to progress from the toughest group in the qualifying series, during which we had great moments against Germany and were more than a match for the Robert Lewandowski-inspiRobertles.
