Canada and Nigeria played out a goalless draw as Switzerland and Spain picked up wins on day two of the Women’s World Cup…
CANADA 0-0 NIGERIA
Hero of the day was Nigeria’s goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie who saved Christine Sinclair’s penalty to steal a point for the Super Falcons
The first match of day two saw Olympic champions Canada, one of the tournament’s favourites, unable to overcome a mighty Nigerian side in the tournament’s first goalless stalemate.
Despite dominating the ball and starting the match looking every bit World Cup contenders, the No. 7 ranked Canadians couldn’t craft many clear chances at goal and only edged the Super Falcons 16-11 in total shots with the Nigerians defending stoutly.
Football icon Christine Sinclair, the world’s all-time leading international scorer failed to convert a penalty which was well saved by the Falcon’s goalkeeper, as she missed the chance to become the first player to score at six Fifa World Cups, a moment that could have proved to be a turning point for the Canadians.
The Nigerians too did enjoy several positive spells in the game causing the Canadians more than a few headaches with keeper Kailen Sherdian coming up with a couple of stops of her own to keep the Super Falcons at bay with star striker Asisat Oshoala unable to shine.
The first red card of the tournament came for the Super Falcons late in stoppage time, seeing Deborah Abiodun sent off as she caught Ashley Lawrence with her studs above the ankle in a nasty challenge. The red card came too late to benefit the Canadians who were unable to take the advantage
Nigeria will be without a doubt the happier side, whilst for Canada it will inevitably be disappointment. G oalkeeper Kailen Shderidan said: “It feels like we dropped points. It feels like we lost. I think we wanted more from ourselves.” She added: “There were a lot of good things that we’re going to want to take away. We have an incredible team so I know we’ll bounce back really hard.”
Group B is considered by many to be the Group of Death at this World Cup, and the 0-0 draw will only serve to make the battle for the top two spots even more fierce with two group matches to go. The result of today’s match will heavily favour the Matildas who only need to win their next game against the Nigerians to secure qualification for the knockout round.
SWITZERLAND 2-0 PHILIPPINES
Embed from Getty ImagesDebutants, in their first ever World Cup – men or women – the Philippines thought they were off to a dream start when Katrina Guillou pounced on a ball over the top, rounded the goalkeeper, and audaciously placed the ball in the back of the net.
However, celebrations were soon cut short by the offside flag.
As the half wore on, the Nati began to make their presence felt and were soon awarded a penalty in which Ramona Bachmann made no mistake sending the goalkeeper the opposite way and putting the Swiss ahead just before the break.
Switzerland continued to dominate the second half and were rewarded by doubling their lead through midfielder Seraina Piubel, who smashed home in the 64th minute after Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel made two great saves to deny both Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic and Coumba Sow.
The Philippines pushed hard to equalise but the Swiss proved too strong as they soared to the summit of Group A.
Alen Stajcic, Philippines manager and former Matildas manager, spoke after the game – “I was really proud of the spirit that our team showed. I think we showed that we can be competitive. To come to this level and play against players from Europe, against a team like, that is miraculous.” Likewise, such optimism was reciprocated by Philippines goalkeeper, Olivia McDaniel exclaiming “This may be our first time out here but it doesn’t feel like it. We have way more to give. We’re going to look forward to the next one and bring it as hard as we can.”
SPAIN 3-0 COSTA RICA
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Spaniards showed why they’re amongst the favourites for this year’s World Cup, rifling 46 shots against a Costa Rican side who spent majority of the game defending as they cruised to a 3-0 win, with the Central Americans unable to lay a glove on their opponents.
First-half strikes from Aitana Bonmati and Esther Gonzalez as well as an own goal from Valeria Campo sealed the victory for the Spanish side with Bonmati remaining classy playmaker throughout the contest creating many of Spain’s best chances.
One could even say La Sele were flattered by the scoreline as Costa Rican goalkeeper, Daniela Solera, was the shining star for her side, saving a first-half penalty from Jennifer Hermoso amid a host of stunning saves which totalled 9 across the match’s duration.
La Roja dominated possession from the off with their slick passing and threatened for things to get out of hand for Costa Rica when all three goals came in the space of six minutes midway through the first half.
The main concern for the Spanish however, will be the scoreline as if they are here to challenge for the trophy, they have to become much more clinical in front of goal. On another day the scoreline could easily have reached double digits and the introduction of Ballon d’or winner Alexia Putellas, although producing some neat touches over the closing minutes, couldn’t help a frustrated Spain add to the scoresheet.
“Sometimes our players missed the target but they played really well,” Spain coach Jorge Vilda told reporters. “Obviously we had more opportunities than we actually took advantage of.”
Costa Rica can at least take heart from a gutsy second-half display where they managed to stop Spain from adding to their rampant first half performance. Head coach Amelia Valverde spoke after the game : “For 22 minutes we were compact but after the own goal the whole team lost concentration”. She then went on to say “For the second half we changed our strategy a little bit but we didn’t have chances despite our best efforts to defend the shirt. We’re obviously not happy.”
With Spain now on top of Group C, both teams have matches to play against Japan and Zambia who themselves face off tomorrow morning at 8am BST.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: DUNEDIN, AUSTRALIA – Photo by Joe Allison Pantling – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
