Germany and Italy Shine on Opening Day of Women’s World Cup
Monday’s matches at the Women’s World Cup produced plenty of drama and goals, with Germany and Italy both coming away with impressive victories. Germany put debutants Morocco to the sword in ruthless fashion, while Italy left it late against Argentina.
Germany 6-0 Morocco
Germany underlined their credentials as one of the pre-tournament favourites to win the Women’s World Cup with a hugely one-sided victory over Morocco, who became the seventh side to make their World Cup debut in the 2023 edition of the competition, with all seven sides now having lost their opening matches without managing to score.
Germany took the lead early on in Melbourne, with goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi getting nowhere near a cross into the box to leave an unmarked Alexandra Popp free to head the ball into a completely empty net. They doubled their lead shortly before half-time in similar fashion, with Popp attacking a corner and managing to power a thunderous header past Er-Rmichi despite falling to the ground as she did so.
Morocco made the worst possible start to the second half, with some calamitous defending resulting in a goal-mouth scramble which eventually saw Klara Buhl fire home just 21 seconds after the restart during a frantic passage of play which also saw Germany hit the post. That rather opened the floodgates and more shocking defending saw Morocco fail to clear a hopeful cross into the box before the ball was nudged over her own line by Hanane Ait El Haj. More disastrous play at the back saw Er-Rmichi punch a cross against the back of her own team-mate, with Yasmin Mrabet credited with the unlucky own goal, before the goalkeeper palmed a shot straight into the path of Lea Schuller who added the finishing touches to the 6-0 victory.
Italy 1-0 Argentina
In the day’s early kick-off, meanwhile, Italy and Argentina looked to be heading towards a goalless draw with neither side creating many clear-cut chances in a stop-start match – until, that is, veteran forward Cristiana Girelli was introduced late on. The 33-year-old, the oldest member of the Italian squad, is her nation’s third highest scorer in history and she took just four minutes to make an impact, powering a looping header into the back of the net in the 87th minute.
Italy probably deserved the win and had edged the contest with two goals ruled out for offside in the first half, while 16-year-old Giulia Dragoni gave an impressive display and was a bright spark in a match that was more about defensive resilience than attacking football.
What’s Next?
Next up, Panama will be looking to become the first debutant team to score at this year’s World Cup when they take on a Brazil side featuring the legendary Marta, who is looking to become the first player – man or woman – to score at six World Cups.
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