Last-gasp Dutch break Kiwi resistance

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Late strikes spare Sweden’s blushes

LE HAVRE, France, June 11, (RTRS): Substitute Jill Roord headed home a stoppage time winner as The Netherlands finally broke down New Zealand’s defence to emerge with a 1-0 triumph as both countries began their Women’s World Cup finals campaign at Stade Oceane on Tuesday.

The European champions had numerous attempts at goal in a match marked by a myriad of missed chances before Roord headed in at the back post.

The double attacking threat of Lieke Martens and Vivianne Miedema failed to deliver despite periods of sustained pressure. New Zealand looked on course for a well-earned, but unexpected, point before conceding two minutes into stoppage time.

Dutch striker Martens had the first chance of the game, producing a good save from Kiwi goalkeeper Erin Nayler, as a pattern of missed opportunities quickly began to emerge.

New Zealand hit the crossbar in the 11th minute when a shot from Olivia Chance went over the head of Dutch goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal, who soon after had to turn away a long range effort from Rosie White.

At the other end, Dominique Bloodworth missed a sitter from right in front of goal after a melee in the New Zealand penalty box on the stroke of halftime.

In the second half, Sarah Gregorius had a golden chance to put New Zealand ahead, but miscued her shot with only the keeper to beat. The Dutch took control for the last 15 minutes of the game, relentlessly attacking the opposing defence before finally scoring.

The Netherlands now share top place with Canada, who edged Cameroon 1-0 in Montpellier on Monday in Group E’s opening game.

Kosovare Asllani and Madelen Janogy scored late on as fancied Sweden laboured to a 2-0 victory over women’s World Cup debutants Chile in their Group F encounter at Roazhon Park in Rennes .

 The match was interrupted for 45 minutes by lightning and torrential rain in the second half, but Chile had to weather a storm of a different sort on the pitch as Sweden enjoyed the majority of possession and chances.

 They had found Chile goalkeeper Christiane Endler an impenetrable wall until Asllani profited from a poor attempt to clear the ball by Camila Saez on 83 minutes and arrowed her shot into the top corner.

 Substitute Janogy then sealed the points with an excellent solo goal in stoppage time as she danced past three defenders before crashing the ball beyond a helpless Endler

 Chile created little in the way of chances, and battled to keep possession, giving the ball away on 70 occasions in the first 45 minutes.

 Endler saved smartly from Nilla Fischer’s header at a corner, expertly reaching backwards to claw the ball to safety, in the best chance of the first half.

 Sweden created a number of half-chances at the start of the second period as they tried to pass their way through Chile, with Fridolina Rolfo’s effort deflected just wide of the goal.

 Shortly afterwards the rain started lashing down, but before the players left the pitch on 72 minutes, Magdalena Eriksson flashed a shot from the edge of the box narrowly over the bar.

 The lengthy break should have allowed Chile to catch their breath and re-organise, but when the game resumed, it was more of the same.

 Endler tipped a curling Sofia Jakobsson shot over the bar as Sweden continued to press for the opener, which finally came when Asllani provided the clinical touch that had been missing from most of the match and Janogy showed her class with a sublime finish.

Defender Kadeisha Buchanan scored on the stroke of halftime to hand Canada a winning start to the Women’s World Cup as they edged Cameroon 1-0 at a rainy Stade de La Mosson on Monday.

Buchanan came storming in at a corner and delivered a textbook header to break the deadlock.

Yet it was an unconvincing performance from Canada, who are fifth in the FIFA women’s rankings and were quarter-finalists at the last World Cup.

Despite all their possession and passing, Canada managed just three efforts on target as they battled to get the better of the African’s defence.

Canada’s veteran captain Christine Sinclair could only muster several half chances in her bid to become the first player to score at five different Women’s World Cups.

Nichelle Prince hit the outside of the post just before Buchanan’s goal and then also put a close-in effort wide on the hour mark.

But Canada almost paid a price for failing to add to the goal when Claudine Meffometou went just wide from a 70th minute corner in the only real effort of the night for Cameroon.

Meanwhile Japan coach Asako Takakura was adamant that her side never set up to be defensive against any opponent, despite a goalless draw with lowly-ranked Argentina in their World Cup opener in Paris on Monday.

Japan, champions in 2011 and finalists four years ago, started their 2019 campaign in disappointing fashion in Paris as they failed to overcome Argentina, ranked 30 places below them in the world rankings.

It was the first time Argentina had avoided defeat in a World Cup match.

The Nadeshiko may have had almost two-thirds of possession but they failed to make their dominance count, creating few chances.

Despite this, Takakura stood by her game plan.

“We don’t set out to be defensive against any team,” Takakura told reporters, according to Kyodo News.

“Of course, we have to keep a very solid defence, but we don’t want to play defensive football.

“It wasn’t in our mindset at all.” Takakura did admit her players were too cautious in the first half.

“In the second half, they realized they had to be more offensive, so their tempo was faster and they attempted more shots at goal,” she said.

“However, we weren’t good enough to break down Argentina’s defence today.” Takakura’s senior players agreed with her assessment and acknowledged that they had produced a disjointed display.

“We were really a bit tight, and maybe it cost us the win,” said defender Aya Sameshima, who is playing in her third World Cup.

Japan must now look for positive results in their final two Group D matches against Scotland in Rennes on Friday and England on June 19 in Nice.

German midfield stalwart Dzsenifer Marozsan will miss the rest of the Women’s World Cup group phase after breaking a toe in their Group B opening win over China on Saturday.

The 27-year-old midfielder, who helped Olympique Lyonnais to a record-extending 13th consecutive league title and fourth straight Champions League crown and won the French League’s best player award for the third year in a row, will miss their matches against Spain on Wednesday and South Africa next week.

“She has a broken toe and that means that we cannot count on her for the group phase,” Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg told reporters in France on Tuesday.

“We will try to get her back on the pitch at the World Cup, but I cannot give a precise prognosis.” Germany, looking to return to the world elite, are unbeaten in their last 13 matches – the longest winning streak of any team in the tournament in France.

“I feel for her on a personal level. You cannot replace her because she has special qualities and abilities,” Voss-Tecklenburg said.

Germany won the World Cup in 2003 and 2007 but were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2011 and finished fourth in 2015.

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