Day 8: If Caitlin Foord is being Sam Kerr, who is being Caitlin Foord?
Nigeria upset the hosts as 2019’s finalists draw
Australia 2 - Nigeria 3
Wow. This match was undoubtedly the game of the tournament so far. Until this moment, the group stages have broadly been a set of cagey wins with a clean sheet in tow but Nigeria blew all of that wide open.
Let’s talk about some of the cultural significance of this first. Nigeria came to the tournament threatening to boycott their opening match against Canada due to unpaid bonuses from their federations. Now they are on the cusp of qualifying for the knock-out stages. Meanwhile when Asisat Oshoala scored Nigeria’s third goal, she became the first African player to score in three World Cup tournaments. Her celebration said it all.
Australia were not bad, they were just playing in a world that did not exist for them anymore. The blow of Sam Kerr’s injury loomed large in their first match against Ireland but it loomed even larger here, with Caitlin Foord forced to pair up with Emily van Egmond after Mary Fowler sustained a concussion during training. Foord worked hard to do a lot of the things that Sam Kerr does for this team. She peeled out wide or dropped deep, looking to win the ball. But when she got into those positions and looked up, there was no Caitlin Foord running in for her. Van Egmond is a more reserved player whilst Cortnee Vine was anonymous for most of the match and Hayley Raso only came alive right at the end. For all of the early Matilda’s possession, they created very little.
That left the match open for Nigeria to create just enough for an upset. They had shown early on that they were comfortable running at Australia and it was as if once they had conceded they felt free to go for it. Mackenzie Arnold struggled in both the second and third goals, and maybe on a different day or with a different goalkeeper, Australia would not have conceded. As it is they are left needing a win over Canada to go through without help from elsewhere.
USA 1 - Netherlands 1
The rematch of the 2019 World Cup final certainly lived up to its billing as the USA and the Netherlands played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Group E. The Dutch took a first half lead through a fantastic Jill Roord strike before Lindsay Horan equalised from a Rose Lavelle corner in the second half.
The US started strong with an intense press that the Dutch were struggling to deal with but after Roord scored, they sat back, seemingly focusing on covering the midfield. It looked like they would be happy to give the back three of Sherida Spitse, Stefanie van der Gragt and Dominique Janssen the ball in favour of stopping it reaching Rood, Jackie Groenen or Danielle van de Donk. But it remained too easy for the Dutch to just play vertical balls forward through the centre of midfield, and the longer it continued, the more the Dutch stepped up.
Credit should go to the Dutch midfield three who worked extremely hard to make the US’ midfield seem as disjointed as it did. But aside from switching Savannah DeMelo for Rose Lavelle at half-time, US coach Vlatko Andonovski did little to try and change the mismatch which was being aided by Lieke Martens dropping in to help out. Crystal Dunn kept stepping inside to support but all that did was leave plenty of space for Victoria Pelova out wide. Whilst that did not supercharge the Netherlands’ chance creation, it did limit the US’ ability to sustain pressure on the Dutch defence.
The Dutch gambled in this match that their back three would have the 1v1 ability to deal with Morgan, Smith and Rodman. It paid off here, thanks in part to their long spells of midfield dominance which limited the number of opportunities the US attackers got to run at the Dutch defence. The fact they scored from their only shot on target also gave them something to defend. Both of these teams certainly have their flaws - but that is what made this match so much fun.
Portugal 2 - Vietnam 0
Portugal got a comfortable win over Vietnam to keep their hopes of progressing to the knock-out rounds alive. The hope might be slim - it involves beating the US - but it is there. Regardless of what happens, this win - their first at a World Cup - was a demonstration of how accomplished they have become as a nation against smaller teams. Whilst the scoreline did not flatter them as much as it could have, they had some impressive moments against Vietnam.
Kika Nazareth was the stand-out player here. Nazareth has long been tipped to be the next big thing without really doing a whole lot but this felt like a statement performance from the 20 year old Portuguese forward. Her calmly taken goal was just one example of how prepared she looked to be playing on a World Cup stage. She didn’t start against the Netherlands; it remains to be seen whether that will have changed when they play the US.