USA, Austalia need wins to advance.
USA 1-1 Netherlands
This match for a long time was destined to be a win for the Dutch who looked more organized than the USA. The USA woke up after Lindsay Horan suffered a hard foul from her Lyon teammate Danielle Van Den Don. Horan would score the equalizer two minutes after that foul. The USA then were in the ascendancy, but could not find the winner. It leaves the USA needing a draw against Portugal to advance, though a win is preferable to win the group.
There were a few eyebrows raised when Vlatko Andonovsky announced an unchanged starting XI from the one that defeated Vietnam, there were more when he left four subs on the table at the final whistle. The US Women’s National Team is arguable not a dominant as it was in 2019, but they still are capable of better. That should be proven on Tuesday against Portugal (2am CT, FOX/Telemundo).
Meanwhile, the Dutch also just need at least a draw against Vietnam on Tuesday (2am CT, FS1/NBC Universo) to advance. A group win will happen if they win and the USA do not.
Portugal 2-0 Vietnam
Portugal became the second debutante to post a win at the World Cup. It came at the expense of fellow debutante Vietnam. While Vietnam have played with spirit, they are the fourth team eliminated from contention. Now, they goal is to at least score one against Netherlands on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Portugal need a win to advance and doing so against the USA will cause major shockwaves greater than the ones caused in Wellington and in Brisbane.
Australia 2-3 Nigeria
Make no mistake about this, Nigeria are good again and look odds on to advance to the next round as their final match in the first round is against already eliminated Republic of Ireland on Tuesday (5am CT, FS1/NBC Universo). They pulled the shock of the tournament so far with a 3-2 win over Australia, though one wonders what is going on in training if players keep getting injured there. Mary Fowler was out with a concussion and missed this match and you had players playing out of position (as well as Tony Gustavsson waiting until forever to make changes).
While former Red Star Emily Van Egmond put Australia ahead, Nigeria equalized before halftime and the Super Falcons went soaring while the Matildas and their fans ended up sore. It would be horrible if both co-hosts went out in the first round of the tournament, and both of them need wins essentially to advance. In the case of Australia, they need to beat the Olympic Champions Canada to advance. They also need to hope Sam Kerr is healthy enough to take the pitch.
It will be almost criminal is Sam Kerr is unable to play at a World Cup in her home country and in a World Cup where she was supposed to be one of the biggest stars. Should Australia fail to advance, there needs to be an instant removal of Gustavsson (he was in hot water before after a poor showing in the Asian Cup) and a massive rethink at Football Australia.
Soccer is increasingly popular in the Australia, the USA, and Canada; but if there has been one common problem for years, if not decades, it’s that the federations in those countries too often get in the way of themselves. Whether it is the situation with Gregg Berhalter, Canada’s unwillingness to pay its national team players to the point where said players are issuing cease and desist orders to sponsors, to Australia’s many issues–especially one that surfaced days after the Socceroos exited the men’s World Cup in Qatar.This is irrespective of the more popular sports in these respective countries. More and more people are playing soccer in all three countries. Yet, all three deserve federations that are as professional as the players that represent their national teams. Canada’s has yet to prove that, the USA’s has only done so in fits, and Australia’s need to get out of its own way.
Come Tuesday in Melbourne, either Australia or Canada will have an inquest as to what went wrong. It will definitely happen in the USA should the unthinkable happen in Dunedin on Wednesday.
