ESPN
ESPNThe 2023 Women’s World Cup is already going on, and these daily files give you the latest news from the tournament, betting lines, what to watch for, and the best books. Check ESPN often during the tournament to discover what’s happening in Australia and New Zealand.
The USWNT moves forward by the width of a post.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The Women’s World Cup was almost a disaster for the U.S. national team until the ball hit the post with a loud clank.
In stoppage time, with the score at 0-0 and the USWNT facing elimination, if they lost to Portugal, Portugal’s Ana Capeta got on the end of a long, lofted ball and shot from inside the box. Alyssa Naeher, the goalie for the USWNT, dove for it, but she couldn’t get it. Instead, the save was made by the near-side post.
Naeher said afterward, “It was a beautiful sound to hear it hit the post.” “But we talked about that, and we knew that they were good at counterattacks and liked to get in behind.”
Naeher gave Naomi Girma credit for following Capeta’s run and blocking the far post, which forced Capeta’s shot to the near side, where it just missed the goal. The USWNT’s best player may have been the center-back Girma.
– Women’s World Cup: Home page, schedule, rosters, and news – How teams can get to the round of 16
Now that the USWNT came in second place in their group, they will play Sweden in the round of 16. It’s a path the USWNT would want to avoid since Sweden beat them badly at the Tokyo Olympics just two years ago.
Alex Morgan, a striker, said that the USWNT didn’t do as well as they wanted to against Portugal, but the players still have faith.
Morgan said, “I know this team and what we’re capable of. Just because it hasn’t worked out every time on the field and we’re not scoring goals doesn’t mean these aren’t the right players for the job.” “We have confidence, but now we must show it on the field.”
When asked if Sweden will be the favorite going into the 16th round, Morgan gave a short answer: “No.” —Kaitlin Murray
Robin Alam/USSF/Getty Images
The day’s news is that the one-millionth person to attend the 2023 Women’s World Cup did so at the match between Portugal and the United States at Eden Park. Rebecca Sheely from Colorado was the one-millionth fan to enter one of the ten venues in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament mascot, Tazuni, was there to greet her. With the final 19 days away and 22 more games to play after Tuesday, FIFA is still on track to put on the most prominent women’s sports event ever.
Canada was the first team to lose in the next World Cup group stage after winning the Olympics. Australia beat them 4-0 on Monday. After the game, Canada’s head coach Bev Priestman said: “From the Tokyo Olympics, I know that these moments make you who you are. With this result, Australia is going to be on a huge high. They changed things in just one game. They were brave and went for it, which made a difference. I’ve said from the start that Australia is a great team. Nothing stops them from getting through this since they should probably be in the top four of a World Cup.”
England was in charge.
THE CITY OF ADELAIDE — If you had asked Sarina Wiegman what an ideal evening for England would have been like in Adelaide, she would have said something like what the Lionesses did when they beat China 6-1. It was a rout, and they won their third game. Lauren James was at the center of everything they did right. She helped score two goals and set up three others, and England won the game in every way.
Wiegman used a new 3-5-2 formation, with James playing the No. 10 position. She made three changes to the team that had won 1-0 against Denmark. Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp needed goals, and they both scored in the first half. James added to the hype around her with a great performance, setting up both Russo and Hemp’s goals and scoring one of her own with a beautiful first-time shot off Alex Greenwood’s free kick. James had another great goal called back because Lucy Bronze was out of position, and the referee didn’t see Russo get her hair pulled in the 35th minute.
At halftime, Wiegman took Georgia Stanway off the field to protect her because the midfielder had a yellow card. The second half got off to a slower start. Wang Shuang scored a penalty for China in the 55th minute after a questionable handball call against Bronze that VAR helped. But James quickly ended China’s hopes when she scored another great goal with a first-time volley into China’s far corner.
And they still had time for two more goals. The first was again set up by James, whose lofted through ball was missed by the goalkeeper Zhu Yu, giving Chloe Kelly a chance to tap it in. Rachel Daly scored England’s sixth goal with a brilliant volley from close range. This showed that, even though she was playing left wing-back, she still had striker instincts. — Thomas Hamilton
Netherlands gets seven points.
Knowing that the top spot in Group E could come down to goal difference, the Netherlands beat Vietnam 7-0 in Dunedin. This was Vietnam’s first World Cup game. In the eighth minute, Lieke Martens scored the first goal. Three more goals were scored in the next 15 minutes by Katja Snoeijs, Esmee Brugts, and Jill Roord.
The best shot came from 20-year-old Brugts, whose goal sent the Oranje to the finals. It was a fine strike from 25 yards. Danielle van de Donk scored the fifth goal just before halftime, and Brugts scored her second goal after the break. That made it possible for a teenager named Wieke Kaptein to play. At 17 years and 337 days old, he was the youngest player the Netherlands has ever sent to a World Cup for men or women. Then, in the 83rd minute, Roord scored the seventh goal.
It was a rough game for Andries Jonker’s team, who are now in first place and will avoid Sweden in the next round unless many goals are scored on Wednesday. Before the tournament, not as much was said about the Dutch as about some of the other favorites. However, after topping a group that included the USWNT, the 2019 runners-up are full of confidence as they head into the knockout rounds. — Samuel Marsden
How knockout football makes you feel
We expect certain kinds of pictures to come out of knockout sports events. These pictures show the two extremes of emotion that sports can make a person feel. In the foreground, parties, happy tears, and roars of relief will be frozen in time. Then, past the happiness, there are the players lying still on the ground, exhausted physically and emotionally.
As we get closer to the stage of the World Cup, where each team’s journey ends, more and more of these images will show the full range of what it means to be human. On Monday night in Melbourne, the cliché was working overtime as co-hosts Australia snatched victory from the jaws of national humiliation and the biggest letdown in Matilda’s history. They won by a score of 4-0. On the other hand, Olympic champions Canada were kicked out of the tournament because they were fighting with their federation. Players and fans alike shed tears of happiness and sadness at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. It was an emotional roller coaster for everyone.
It’s both the best and worst part of tournament football and now that the last group games are over, it’s only just getting started. Get ready to cry, everyone. — Sophia Lawson
The Matildas are Jamaica’s secret weapon.
Australia’s MELBOURNE — Jamaica, on the verge of making more history, might have a secret weapon to help it beat Brazil and move on to the next round. The Reggae Girlz are one of three teams based in Melbourne during the World Cup. They have trained at the Victorian State Football Centre, also known as “The Home of the Matildas,” during a World Cup journey that started with a famous 0-0 draw with France and ended with the country’s first-ever win on this stage, a 1-0 win over Panama.
The first phase of the Bundoora facility opened just before the World Cup as the Matildas were getting ready for their final warm-up game against France. It was made possible by the most prominent investment any level of government in Australia has ever made in a football-related project. But because the Matildas chose to stay in Brisbane during the tournament, Jamaica was able to use it to help their campaign.
Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson said, “I tell all my Reggae Girlz this: I wish we could take you back to Jamaica with us.” “It has the best facilities for training that I have ever seen anywhere in the world. It’s better than most men, and it’s not even finished yet, so it’s not even finished. We’ve had a great time, the staff has been great, and it has everything we need to train. I think it’s great. It would be great to give it to the Matildas. I think it’s great that they fought for it, and Jamaica needs something like that.”
Even though he wouldn’t talk about his team’s problems getting resources from their federation, Donaldson gave a rallying cry when asked what the World Cup was giving up-and-coming countries like Morocco, the Philippines, and Colombia.
“You talk about smaller countries where women play football, and the growth has been huge,” said Donaldson. “Now, small countries and young women and girls worldwide will see that there is a platform out there. It’s time for all of these governments and everyone to step up. Stop talking nonsense. Help women’s football by stepping up. Let’s keep going.” — Joseph Lynch.