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USWNT open 2023 World Cup as expected, no more no less

  • by Sebastian Oliveira
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The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) kicked off their 2023 World Cup campaign with a fairly comfortable 3-0 win over tournament debutants Vietnam in Auckland.

Portland Thorns star Sophia Smith led the charge, scoring twice in the first half of her World Cup debut before Lindsay Horan buried the third and final goal in the 77th minute.

 

Analysis

The USWNT put together a complete performance that was apparent both on the field and in the stat book. 

Using their slight height advantage (avg. 5’5” vs avg. 5’2”), the US played a lot of balls in the air early on. Combined with the energetic pressing of Smith and Trinity Rodman on the wings, the four-time champions quickly unsettled Vietnam and established control over the tempo of the game.

As the game continued the US kept dominating the air, and made good use of the second balls by playing quick combinations through the Vietnamese defense. 

Once the US had Vietnam’s defense pushed back far enough, they stuck to combining on the ground, drawing defenders out of position and using the speed through the channels to break in behind. 

Both gameplans led to Smith goals, though Rodman and Alex Morgan would feel hard done by not to have scored one each themselves. 

The second half gameplans followed a similar suit. A mix of set pieces played high and smooth combination play along the attacking wings kept the US unpredictable in their search for a third.

Horan found it eventually with Smith adding an assist to her already impressive display. Three was where it ended for the USWNT, maintaining a clean sheet before the 2019 Final rematch against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

 

Opinion

The game went pretty much as expected. Controlling most of the aspects of the game from early on and not really letting go, at least definitively, was textbook USWNT World Cup Group Stage performance. 

Smith, Rodman, and Horan led the way performance wise. The movement off the ball from both wingers was complimented well by the sharp anticipation by Horan and the rest of the midfield, and helped to show just how potent this USWNT is. 

The backline shined quietly, which is the best kind of shine for a defense. Any sniff of a chance that Vietnam had was thwarted immediately. The shots comparison speaks for itself. 

That to say, it wasn’t without some rust. 

Alex Morgan’s missed penalty made her performance seem a little worse than it actually was. For most of her surprisingly short 64 minutes she infiltrated a lot of annoying spaces in and around Vietnam defense, using her awareness on the field to her advantage to notch a perfectly timed assist for Smith’s opener. 

Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle both came in midway through the second half, the former for Morgan, putting in solid performances of their own. Rapinoe’s major blight came with just under 20 minutes to play when Lavelle set her up for what seemed like a tap in, but alas, into the stands it went.

Lavelle shook off some early nerves on the ball by displaying her skills a handful of times throughout her cameo. The OL Reign midfielder was probably the unluckiest of the group to have not scored, smashing a shot onto the underside of the crossbar with minutes left. 

Overall, a good performance with common complaints for those that find themselves at the top. A sharper, third group stage or maybe round of 16 squad puts together a more clinical display to settle goal differential before it has the chance to become a problem.

Vietnam deserves their flowers, though. Goalkeeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh was all over her 18 yard area, and contested a majority of the aerial attacks successfully throughout the entire match. Her penalty save might honestly be an early contender for save of the tournament.

It was a game to be proud of on both sides, but fell the way it seemed it would on paper. There’s still plenty to improve on, and it’s crucial that some of it is before the rematch with the Netherlands on Wednesday.

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Sebastian Oliveira