WWC 2023

E

espola

Here's a good starting point --

www.rawstory.com

Women's World Cup started out with shorter games, outsized kits

Asako Takakura played in the first Women's World Cup in 1991 and recalls with a hint of disdain how the matches lasted 80 minutes instead of the usual 90."At the time football was still thought of as a man's sport," Takakura tells AFP, casting her mind back to a tournament in which only 12 teams...
www.rawstory.com www.rawstory.com
 
First game --
#26 New Zealand 1-0 #12 Norway

Entertaining, clean play throughout. My biggest complaint was with their audio engineer -- the crowd noise was turned up so much that it was difficult to understand what the announcers were saying.
 
Second game --
#10 Australia 1-0 #22 Ireland

The only goal was a PK, but the game was pretty much all Australia all the way, even without their injured star Sam Kerr.

Things got physical toward the end, which really played into bigger Australia's favor.
 
#7 Canada 0-0 # 40 Nigeria.

Lots of cards being shown at the end. This must be seen as a moral victory for Nigeria.
 
#20 Switzerland 2-0 #46 Philippines

Philippines got killed by reviews, losing what would have been the first goal of the game to an offside review and then having a PK called against them after VAR review.

Philippines is sort of like a USA B team --

en.as.com

Philippines women’s soccer team roster: players, profiles, stars

The lowdown on every member of the Philippines Women’s national team roster ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
en.as.com en.as.com

Reina Bonta is the daughter of CA AG Rob Bonta, himself born in Quezon City, PI.
 
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#6 Spain 3-0 #36 Costa Rica

Middle of the night WCC overload so I slept through most of this game.

I would have expected Spain to score much more in this matchup, but the game was convincingly in their control (at least the parts I witnessed).
 
espola said:
#1 USA 3-0 #32 Vietnam

If they had made all those open shots it would have been 12-0 or more.
Click to expand...

But....they didn't....

That logic is baffling to me....

Pales in comparison to what Spain did (or didn't do)......

Can't imagine the US is happy with that result.
 
NorCalDad said:
But....they didn't....

That logic is baffling to me....

Pales in comparison to what Spain did (or didn't do)......

Can't imagine the US is happy with that result.
Click to expand...
The defense wasn't tested at all, so that's still a complete unknown. The good news, I guess, is that the offense was able to set up many beautiful combinations in front of the opponent's goal, even if the final touch was missing.
 
10% conversion rate in a game like that seems pretty normal to me. Would be interesting to compare with other similar games in the past.
Lavelle being in sure does make the game more fun to watch!
 
#11 Japan 5-0 #77 Zambia

Zambia is the lowest-ranked team ever on the WWC, and looked like it. Lots of GK drama at the end. Lots of offside callbacks and slowly drawn-out VAR decisions. I expect there will be even more of this techno-intrusion in the later rounds (and I like getting everything right).
 
#13 Denmark 1-0 #14 China

I was asleep when this game took place and missed the whole thing.

Watched the highlights this morning --

 
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espola said:
#1 USA 3-0 #32 Vietnam

If they had made all those open shots it would have been 12-0 or more.
Click to expand...

... with many non-starters in the lineup. Sophia Smith will replace Alex Morgan as the goal scoring threat for US and it may happen sooner than later.
 
NorCalDad said:
But....they didn't....

That logic is baffling to me....

Pales in comparison to what Spain did (or didn't do)......

Can't imagine the US is happy with that result.
Click to expand...

They looked very choppy to me but several new faces probably contributed a lot to that. Not the typical flow we're used to.
 
espola said:
The defense wasn't tested at all, so that's still a complete unknown. The good news, I guess, is that the offense was able to set up many beautiful combinations in front of the opponent's goal, even if the final touch was missing.
Click to expand...

They continued lobbing balls into the 6 as if the height advantage was the only way to beat a 5-4-1. Made no sense to me. The overlapping, through balls to the outside were far more effective with Smith and Rodman.
 
Soccerfan2 said:
10% conversion rate in a game like that seems pretty normal to me. Would be interesting to compare with other similar games in the past.
Lavelle being in sure does make the game more fun to watch!
Click to expand...

Lavelle may not be ready for 90 minutes yet but, to your point, completely changed the U.S. attack.
 
#3 Sweden 2-1 #54 South Africa

Sloppy defense gave each side a goal; Sweden scored again to win on their 11th corner kick.

Highlights video --

 
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