2023-07-29 02:50:57
The United States and the Netherlands met in Wellington, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, for the shock of the group stage of the World Cup-2023, four years after the final won in Lyon by the American double title holders . This summit will not have made it possible to identify a winner (1-1).
Since its kickoff, the queen competition, the first to 32 nations, has shown that the gap between the participating teams is narrowing, and the all-powerful Team USA is no exception. The Americans gave up their record streak of thirteen consecutive World Cup victories against the Dutch.
They must, therefore, settle for a point, a lesser evil in view of the meeting which saw them tremble after the opener by Jill Roord (17th). Captain Lindsey Horan finally equalized from a corner (62nd). “It was a difficult game. Even if it’s not the result we wanted, it was a very good match for our team, for a group of young players, commented Vlatko Andonovski the American coach. This team is not only young, they are new, they haven’t spent many minutes together. We will improve from game to game. We will also be much more efficient in the future. »
Australia beaten and in danger
The two nations, which share the lead in Group E with four points each, keep their hand in view of qualifying for the rest of the tournament. Thanks to better goal difference, substitute Megan Rapinoe’s teammates are temporarily in first place, which can save them a potentially dangerous Round of 16 tie against Sweden. They will face Portugal, victorious over Vietnam (2-0), Tuesday August 1, during the last day, to compost their ticket. The Netherlands will play against Vietnam at the same time.
The Australians, co-hosts of the World Cup deprived of their injured star Sam Kerr, were surprised by the Nigerians (3-2), who are taking a big step towards the knockout stages. For their part, the “Matildas”, who could have qualified directly with a victory, must now absolutely win against Canada, Olympic champions, to advance to the round of 16. For this clash of Group B, Canada only needs a draw to go to the final phase.
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