The United States opened their title defense with a victory against Vietnam on Saturday, while Japan easily got rid of the Zambian trap. At the end of the morning, the English did the minimum service against a surprising Haitian team.
The nets shook nine times. Double reigning champions, the Americans signed a clear success against the Vietnamese who discovered the World Cup (3-0), Saturday, July 22. Same scenario for Japan against Zambia (5-0), also a novice at this level. On the other hand, the English did not have the expected control over the meeting against Haiti and came out with a narrow victory (1-0). Here’s what to remember from the matches at the start of the weekend.
Haiti far from ridiculous against the European champions
On paper, it was one of the most unbalanced posters of the first round. But from the height of their status as European champions, the English struggled to win against the 53rd nation in the world. The Grenadières were not disunited when Georgia Stanway opened the scoring on a penalty withdrawn (29th).
If the statistics are in favor of the Lionesses (75% possession and 21 shots to 7), the players of Nicolas Delépine had opportunities to equalize, on a corner played at the end of the first period (45th), by their nugget Melchie Dumornay (50th) then via the incoming Roseline Éloissaint whose dangerous shot was deflected with the foot by Mary Earps (82nd). If they repeat their performance against China, then Denmark, the Haitians can hope to join the eighth from their first participation in the competition.
The Japanese Mina Tanaka had to do it three times
Particularly active, the Japanese striker Mina Tanaka was in all the blows, good and bad, against Zambia. On an action that recalled the goal denied to Antoine Griezmann against Tunisia in Qatar, the Inac Kobe player was first reported in an offside position by the VAR when she thought she had opened the scoring with an eccentric free kick (22nd). In the same way, his second achievement was then canceled after returning from the locker room (49th).
The third was finally the right one for number 11, who scored her first goal in the tournament with a six-meter tackle (55th). A decisive passer to allow her teammate Hinata Miyazawa to score twice (43rd, 62nd), the 29-year-old player then gave up her place to assist from the bench at the end of the Japanese recital. Eliminated in the round of 16 by the Netherlands four years ago, the Japanese returned to the World Cup with the firm intention of showing that they were still part of the world’s gratin. Thanks to this result (5-0), the Japanese take the lead in group C ahead of Spain, thanks to a better goal difference.
Alex Morgan confirms penalty difficulties
If the reigning double world champions ensured in the night against weak Vietnamese by winning 3-0, star Alex Morgan nevertheless saw her penalty attempt rejected by the goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh. Enough to confirm a real waste of the attackers in the exercise since the start of the World Cup (4/8 scored).
Before her, New Zealander Ria Percival sent her shot to the Norwegian crossbar in the opener. The essentials Christine Sinclair (Canada) and Jennifer Hermoso (Spain) lost their duel against the Nigerian and Costa Rican porters. After missing her first opportunity, Japan’s Riko Ueki benefited from a referee’s decision to withdraw and score her try from 11 meters. Same thing for the English Georgia Stanway against Haiti.