Women's World Cup 2015: Wednesday's Day 12 Takeaways
The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup group stage is complete following four matches on Wednesday in Groups E and F.
Brazil completed group play with a flawless record, beating Costa Rica 1-0 despite fielding a team made up largely of second-choice players. South Korea advanced as the Group E runner-up after coming from behind to defeat Spain 2-1.
In Group F, France recovered from its surprising loss to Colombia with a 5-0 rout of Mexico. With the result, Les Bleues claimed first place on goal differential. England finished second, though level on six points, after edging Colombia 2-1.
Here are the key takeaways from Day 12 at the Women's World Cup.
France played its best game of the tournament, and Necib was not in the team
For the first time in this tournament, France on Wednesday performed like the world's third-ranked team, thrashing Mexico 5-0 in Ottawa to finish atop Group E. After a tight victory over England and a shocking defeat to Colombia, Philippe Bergeroo's side started quickly and dominated its opponents for the full 90 minutes.
Marie-Laure Delie opened the scoring in the first minute, heading in from close range after Mexico was unable to clear an Elodie Thomis cross. It was the second-fastest goal in Women's World Cup history, as FIFA confirmed:
France scored twice more by the 13th minute. A Jennifer Ruiz own goal doubled the lead, and Eugenie Le Sommer's poked finish made it 3-0. Le Sommer put her name on the scoresheet again in the 36th minute, taking an inadvertent final touch on a Delie shot that looked goal-bound.
Amandine Henry added the fifth goal with a perfectly struck rocket into the top corner in the 80th minute.
After the match, Bergeroo told reporters:
"When you win 5-0, a coach is always going to be happy. The team made this an easy match, we made a decision going into it and worked tactically to attain a high form. We are going to try to relax and analyse what happened in the game, but we know we played very well. We can't win every game, and not every match will be easy, but we always have to maintain confidence in our squad and protect the group. We knew right at the draw that this would be a difficult group not to be taken lightly, and we put ourselves in trouble against Colombia. Our first objective was to progress from the group, and it's done now, so we can breathe a little and take the rest of the tournament match-by-match.
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The primary reason France won the match by such a lopsided margin was that Les Bleues are simply a much better side. But interestingly, Bergeroo's team played without influential playmaker Louisa Necib, who has been recovering from a knee injury in recent weeks. We might never know whether she sat on the bench because of the injury or because of her outburst in the last match, but it is a fact that France played its best game of the tournament, at least so far, without her.
Necib is undoubtedly a top-quality player, perhaps the best playmaker currently in the women's game. If France is to make a deep run in the tournament, she will almost certainly play a major role, ideally in her preferred No. 10 position. But it should not pass without comment that when France needed a result on the final matchday of group play, Les Bleues won—and turned in their best performance yet in Canada—without her.
Maybe that's a significant development for France. Or maybe Mexico was just a vastly inferior opponent, and Necib will be the star in Les Bleues' next match. She will, after all, be rested.
Regardless, now that France is playing and scoring like we all expected, this team will be dangerous in the knockout stages.
England moves into knockout stage with momentum
England put in a classy display to beat Colombia 2-1, sealing second place in Group F behind France. The Three Lionesses built a 2-0 lead heading into halftime thanks to goals from Karen Carney and Fara Williams.
Lady Andrade pulled a goal back for Colombia in second-half stoppage time, but it wasn't enough to deny England a deserved victory.
The win was England's second straight after a narrow 1-0 defeat to France in its opening match. Mark Sampson's side created little attacking danger against France but recovered nicely against Mexico and Colombia.
Up next for the Three Lionesses is a tricky match against Norway in the round of 16. Norway held Germany to a 1-1 draw in Group B and will be a tough opponent in the knockout stage. England will have to play well both offensively and defensively to advance.
"We’re very happy to have won and to have qualified for the next round," Sampson told reporters after the match. "We’ve shown that we’re a versatile team, applying various systems and giving lots of different squad members some playing time.
"My players have demonstrated that they’re mentally very strong and ready for bigger challenges," Sampson added. "Our set pieces have been very good, and that’s an important asset in really tight games."
Colombia, meanwhile, is set for a daunting match against the United States. In beating France in the group stage, the South Americans proved they can play with the top teams in the world. But in the round of 16, they will be without goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda, who received her second yellow card of the tournament in the match against England.
Sepulveda starred in the win over France, and her absence will be a significant blow for Colombia. But the U.S. has not found its offensive rhythm yet, and anything can happen in a one-off match.
Tiniest of margins decides Group E
Brazil and South Korea advanced out of Group E after both of Wednesday's matches finished with plenty of drama.
The group winners made six changes, leaving out the likes of Marta, Cristiane and Formiga, but still won 1-0 thanks to Raquel Fernandes' 83rd-minute goal. Until that point, Costa Rica was in position to advance as runner-up in Group E. Instead, despite fighting hard and earning plenty of admirers, the Ticas are out.
In the other match, South Korea came from behind to beat Spain 2-1. Spain's Sonia Bermudez hit the crossbar with a free kick in the 95th minute. Had her shot gone in, the match would have finished 2-2, with Spain and Costa Rica drawing lots to determine which side finished second behind Brazil.
Apart from Brazil, which won the group with a 3-0 record, Group E came down to the slimmest of margins. The sort of drama we witnessed on the final matchday is part of what makes the World Cup the spectacle it is.
Bracket finally complete
With the group stage officially finished, the knockout bracket is at last complete. All six seeded nations—Canada, Germany, Japan, USA, France and Brazil—won their groups and will theoretically face easier games in the round of 16.
On one side of the bracket, the matchups are: China vs. Cameroon; USA vs. Colombia; Germany vs. Sweden; and France vs. South Korea. Germany and Sweden will be an intriguing encounter in the round of 16, with both teams in the top five of FIFA's most recent world rankings.
Germany and France could meet in the quarterfinals, with the winner potentially playing the U.S. in the next round.
On the other side of the bracket, the matchups are: Brazil vs. Australia; Japan vs. Netherlands; Norway vs. England; and Canada vs. Switzerland. This half of the bracket seems the more manageable of the two, though a potential quarterfinal meeting between Brazil and Japan would be highly anticipated.
The round of 16 is set for June 20-23. The quarterfinals will be played June 26-27, with the semifinals on June 30 and July 1. The final is scheduled for July 5 in Vancouver.
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