SYDNEY, Australia — Cristiana Girelli’s goal in the 87th minute broke a stalemate and Italy kicked off the Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina on Monday.
Italy put the ball in the back of the net twice in the opening half but both times were offside, before Girelli’s breakthrough header. Girelli came into the match as a substitute in the 83rd minute.
The Italians have never dropped an opening match at the World Cup. But this time they faced tenacious Argentina, eager for its first-ever win in the tournament.
Going into the World Cup, La Albiceleste were inspired by their men’s side and star Lionel Messi, who brought home the World Cup trophy from Qatar late last year.
Italy has had more success on the big stage, advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2019 after a 2-0 round of 16 victory over China. The Italians were stopped by the Netherlands, which went on to lose to the United States in the final.
Argentina had a boisterous section of fans – including a drum corps – at the match at Eden Park. The crowd at the match was announced at 30,889.
Argentina´s women returned to the World Cup four years ago in France after a 12-year absence and had a tough time: after a draw with Japan and a loss to England, the team played to a tie with Scotland – but couldn´t collect enough points to advance out of the group.
Arianna Caruso, who plays professionally for Juventus, appeared to score from distance in the 15th minute but Italy was quickly ruled offside. The 23-year old was the youngest woman to reach 100 appearances with Juventus.
A midfielder, she was one of Italy’s most dangerous players early in the match. But she was handed a yellow card in the 25th minute and was subbed off in the 58th minute.
Italy was offside again on Valentina Giacinti’s attempted goal late in the half.
Manuela Giugliano had an opportunity for Italy early in the second half, but her shot sailed over the net.
Italy goalkeeper Lara Esponda held Argentina at bay on a dangerous free kick in the 73rd.
Jamaica 0, France 0
Jamaica frustrated France and earned a 0-0 draw in a Group F opener at the Women’s World Cup.
Herve Renard knows all about World Cup shocks. He also knows an early setback can be overcome in international soccer.
Renard led Saudi Arabia to a famous win against Argentina at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year; before Lionel Messi’s team rebounded and went on to lift the trophy for their country.
“I´ve already won competitions after drawing my first two games,” said the two-time Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach. “Let´s talk about the World Cup 2022. I don´t think that we should be getting ahead of ourselves.
“There are lots of people, lots of teams that start with the fanfare and are not there come the final and others are maybe slow to get out of the starting blocks,” Renard added according to AP.
While there is no need for France to panic, this was still an unexpected result for the fifth-ranked team in the world and one of the tournament favourites.
By contrast Jamaica is ranked 43rd and entered the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand having lost all of its games at its World Cup debut in 2019 with a goal difference of -11.
“We always tell our players just don´t worry about the rankings,” said Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson, who declared his country’s first point ever in the competition as its greatest achievement in soccer.
“I think it is the No. 1 result I have seen men or women,” he said. “I would put it there. If you go by the rankings you would say that result on this stage has to be No. 1.”
Jamaica’s players ran onto the field after the final whistle as if they’d been crowned world champions. It would have been a very different story had Kadidiatou Diani’s 90th-minute header not struck the bar.
In a game of few chances, Diani had France’s best opportunities to score a winner, but could not find a breakthrough at the Sydney Football Stadium.
She forced a save from Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer in the first half and saw another effort deflected wide.
Another header in the second half also went wide of the target before her late effort came back off the bar.
The French were expected to be too strong for Jamaica, but favorites have not had everything their own way so far in the tournament. The 2019 quarterfinalists were the latest to struggle against an underdog.
Netherlands 1, Portugal 0
Stefanie van der Gragt gave the Dutch an early lead and they limited Portugal to two shots (one on goal) to win a Group E opener in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Van der Gragt headed home a corner kick in the 13th minute, but teammate Jill Roord was originally called for obstructing the goalkeeper. A VAR review overturned that call and the goal stood up.
Portugal, making its World Cup debut, did not have a shot on target until the 82nd minute when goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar thwarted an attempt by Telma Encarnacao.
The Netherlands will take on the United States and Portugal clashes with Vietnam on Thursday.
