Hope Solo Stands Tall as Women's World Cup 2015 Begins with a Bang
It started with a kick—and although it took until stoppage time in the opening match, the Christine Sinclair penalty kick which won it 1-0 for host nation Canada against China gave the 2015 Women’s World Cup lift-off.
The iconic Sinclair winning the game so dramatically, with what was her 154th goal in 224 international appearances, was—with apologies to China—the perfect way to set the seventh edition of the event in motion.
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That motion has been ratcheted up in the subsequent group games, in particular during the sensational clash between Sweden and Nigeria that ended 3-3. There has also been the almost inevitable off-the-pitch World Cup controversy with USA goalkeeper Hope Solo the subject of a damning ESPN report.
The TV network’s Outside the Lines show claimed to “shed new light” on an incident at Solo's half-sister’s house 12 months ago that resulted in her arrest on two counts of domestic violence.
At the time, police said Solo was so combative as she was being arrested that, even though she was handcuffed, she had to be forced to the ground.
The charges were dropped on procedural grounds earlier this year, but Outside the Lines reported that prosecutors have filed an appeal with the Superior Court of Washington and are scheduled to file their argument by July 13.
The timing of the ESPN programme, a day before the USA’s World Cup opener against Australia, led to a media frenzy around the American camp, but it did not appear to faze Solo in the slightest.
The keeper had a fine game, pulling off some excellent saves, in a 3-1 victory that put the USA on top of the Group of Death. “Hope came up absolutely huge for us,” said Player of the Match Megan Rapinoe, who scored two goals.
Solo will undoubtedly continue to be the USA’s first-choice keeper, but the media interest in her turbulent private life will not go away.
Oshoala Living Up to the Hype
The USA’s win followed Group D’s scintillating 3-3 draw between an experienced Sweden team and a young Nigerian side that showed defensive naivety—particularly at the set plays that led to Sweden’s first two goals—but also a thrilling, free-spirited style of attack typified by striker Asisat Oshoala.
The 20-year-old Liverpool starlet not only scored one of the Nigerian goals but also terrorised the Swedish defence throughout, continuing her rise to prominence after enjoying a phenomenal 2014.
She won the Golden Boot as top goalscorer and Golden Ball as best player at the 2014 Under-20 World Cup finals, also played in Canada; the Golden Ball when playing for Nigeria’s senior team at the African Women’s Championship; and the awards for both the African Women’s Player of the Year and Youth Player of the Year after helping her club side, Rivers Angels, become Nigerian champions.
It was following the Under-20 World Cup that Oshoala signed for Liverpool, choosing England’s Super League champions—who she had previously supported from afar—ahead of clubs from around Europe and America.
After watching her carve open Sweden’s defence in what was an early candidate to be named the match of the tournament, Liverpool manager Matt Beard told me, "Asisat was tremendous, but she will get even better with more experience, and I think she’ll become one of the best players in the world. She’s still very young, and she’s a bit hit-and-miss at times, which can be frustrating, but she’s quick, strong, confident and an absolute winner.
"Most importantly for Nigeria at the World Cup, she’s a player who performs and scores goals in big games. And with players like Francisca Ordega around her, I think the Nigerians can get out of the group. I tipped them to be one of the surprise packages of the tournament, and they’re already proving me right."
From Thriller to Chiller
While the Nigeria-Sweden game was a six-goal thriller, Germany’s battering of the Ivory Coast was a 10-goal chiller. Scorelines like the 10-0 Group B massacre harm the credibility of the tournament and the women’s game as a whole.
At the 2007 World Cup in China, I watched Germany beat Argentina 11-0, and it was not a pretty sight. The Argentines, like the Ivory Coast here in Canada, were the proverbial lambs to the slaughter in Shanghai and have never recovered. They were 29th in the world rankings going into the 2007 edition and are now 36th, and they don't look like they'll be climbing any higher soon.
The Ivory Coast sit 67th in the world and were therefore never going to be anywhere near a match for top team Germany, whose ruthless performance simultaneously dismantled their opponents and perhaps, just perhaps, discredited the FIFA decision to expand the event from 16 to 24 teams.
On the one hand, it’s great to see the women’s game growing, and Canada 2015 is proving to be, for the most part, an excellent tournament. But 10-0? And what might happen to Ecuador, ranked 48th in the world and 6-0 Group C losers to Cameroon—who sit five places lower in the rankings—when they meet fourth-placed Japan, the reigning World Cup champions?
Germany will find it far tougher in their second group game against Norway, who opened their campaign with a 4-0 win against Thailand.
Record-Breaker Marta Leads Brazil Charge
Over in Group E, there were records set, as Brazil’s Marta became the highest scorer in Women’s World Cup finals history and her team-mate, Formiga, playing in her sixth edition of the tournament, equalled Japan’s Homare Sawa’s record.
Marta’s 15th goal in world-finals football was a penalty in the 2-0 win against Korea Republic, the same team against whom the Brazilian star scored her first goal, in 2003—also, coincidentally, with a spot-kick.
Another record went tumbling as Formiga notched the other Brazilian goal to make her, at 37, the oldest player to score in the tournament’s history.
Teething Troubles on Show
The Brazil-Korea Republic contest was played with the roof on at the biggest ground of the event’s six venues, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. There weren't any rain problems there, unlike at the smallest venue, Moncton Stadium in the province of New Brunswick.
France’s 1-0 Group E win against England saw most of the spectators as well as the players getting mighty wet, as the ground is open on three sides.
That was not the only hardship for the supporters, over 1,000 of whom were late turning up for the game due to the free shuttle bus service being overwhelmed as kick-off time approached.
"It's ko time in Moncton. Join the 1km queue. @BBCSporf @BBCSport #Lionesses pic.twitter.com/KFCC9nrOt4
— Matthew Gray (@Mattaround28) June 9, 2015"
The buses had been laid on by the City of Moncton authority, whose Isabelle LeBlanc told the city’s Times & Transcript newspaper in something of an understatement: “The park and ride has been a challenge. It was going well until about 1.20pm (40 minutes before kick-off) when everybody showed up at once….we are working on a more comprehensive plan for Saturday’s games.”
With the admission process also bogged down as security guards went through bags and backpacks, a number of spectators were still settling into their damp seats when Eugenie Le Sommer hit what proved the winner in the 29th minute.
Les Bleus’ victory meant they have now gone unbeaten against England in 16 matches over the last 41 years. Le Sommer, whose picture is featured on the many World Cup adverts spread around Moncton, rubbed salt into the festering wounds of les Anglais. “They probably won’t want to see that poster much anymore,” she said. Talk about the Entente Cordiale…
As Le Sommer was having her little dig, the second Group E game, between Mexico and Colombia, was unfolding into an entertaining affair that ended 1-1, with the Colombians grabbing a late Daniela Montoya equaliser.
It was a ripping 25-yard strike by Montoya, but the celebrations were even more spectacular to mark Colombia’s first-ever goal at a World Cup.
The players taking part and the rest of the squad hugged each other joyously on the touchline, holding up a shirt showing the name and number of Melissa Ortiz, who was sadly forced out of contention for the finals because of an Achilles injury.
Key Games Loom Large
And so to the next round of group matches, which promise some great clashes. Germany vs. Norway will be a key game in deciding who wins Group B; USA will be up against their former coach Pia Sundhage when they face Sweden; Canada coach John Herdman will face his previous team, New Zealand.
“It will be emotional,” Herdman told me. “If I could have picked a team to play against in front of 50,000 people at this tournament, it would have been New Zealand—just to share that experience with those players who you know, who you’ve worked with and some who you got started on their international careers.
“But at the same time, we’ve got to beat them. There’ll be no love lost. I had a few emails from one or two of the New Zealand players ahead of the tournament, and I know they’ll be up for this game—but so will we!”
Tony Leighton will be covering the Women's World Cup on location in Canada for Bleacher Report.
