The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team opened its quest for the Women’s World Cup title on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Vietnam.
The Americans have won the tournament twice in a row already. Now they’re shooting to become three-peat champions. A mixture of newcomers and veterans, the U.S. squad is ranked No.1 in the world. The match with Vietnam was held at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, and it offered a chance for the U.S. team to warm up for what lies ahead.
During Vietnam’s first World Cup appearance, the team could not get off a single shot in the first half, compared to 16 for the U.S.
In the 14th minute, the U.S. scored the only goal it would need. Alex Morgan passed the ball to Sophia Smith, who beat Vietnamese goalkeeper Trần Thị Kim Thanh.
Smith scored a second goal in stoppage time, and American co-captain Lindsey Horan added a third in the 77th minute.
“I came into it with the mindset I’ll do whatever it takes to help this team win, and tonight that’s what it was,” Smith said, according to Texas Public Radio. “It’s good to have a game under our belt. We know the next two games are going to be hard. We’ll celebrate this for a second and then put our focus into the next game.”
U.S. Coach Vlatko Andonovski said he was satisfied, despite scoring only three goals.
“I wouldn’t say that I expected more goals, but with the way that we played and the opportunities that we created, I sure wanted to see more goals. I thought that we deserved to score more goals,” he said, CNN reported.
The U.S. plays the Netherlands next at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday, July 26. The Dutch lost to the Americans in the 2019 World Cup final.
***
FREE KICKS
— The American team has 11 of the top-15-paid players in the World Cup. Veterans Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe made more than $7 million in the last 12 months (before taxes and agents’ fees), Forbes estimated.
— Only three USWNT players (Julie Ertz, Alyssa Naeher, and Lindsey Horan) sang along with the American national anthem as it played before the game, the New York Post reported. All of the Vietnamese players sang their anthem aloud as it played at the World Cup for the first time.
— The Philippines qualified for its first World Cup. Only one of the squad’s 23 players was born in the Philippines. Eighteen of 23 were born in the United States. The Filipinas lost 2-0 to Switzerland in their opener.