USA vs Vietnam LIVE: USWNT win 3-0 as Sophia Smith nets twice in Women’s World Cup opener

In case you had been questioning, throughout that complete recreation, the USA had 26 pictures together with six on track, whereas Vietnam had zero.

US midfielder Julie Ertz is returning to the World Cup after a two-year absence from professional football while she had her son, Madden Matthew.

But in a TV interiew just now, she said the only emotions going through her head during the game were “grit and determination”.

“The win is huge. That’s the way you need to begin off a match,” she mentioned. “Obviously you’ll go back and you’ll watch [to learn from mistakes]… but having a win helps with momentum for sure.”

Asked what she thought the crew ought to enhance earlier than it performs the Netherlands subsequent 12 months, she mentioned: “I think finishing our chances, for sure. We had some [tonight] that we didn’t finish. And I think just being clean on the ball.”

One of the celebrities of this present was World Cup first-timer Sophia Smith, who scored each US targets in the primary half.

“I feel relieved. I was a little bit anxious going into the tournament, so it’s good to have a game under my belt and get a feel for it, and know what to expect,” she mentioned in a post-match interview simply now. “We know the next few games are going to be hard.”

It’s a victory for the USA, however maybe not the victory they had been hoping for. As the reigning champions, and with Vietnam making its World Cup debut, they had been tipped by many bookies to attain 5 or 6 targets.

“The US are like a high standing mountain, but we will not balk at climbing it,” crew coach Mai Duc Chung had mentioned earlier than the match. “Vietnam will have reasonable tactics. Our first goal is to limit goals conceded and avoid injuries.”

So it proved, and Vietnam will in all probability be pleased with this end result. Many pundits are pointing to the USA’s inexperienced roster tonight, with 12 of its 23 gamers and 6 of the beginning XI having by no means performed in a World Cup earlier than.

Then once more, maybe the US can be glad to have given its newer gamers some expertise. They will want it after they play towards the Netherlands subsequent Wednesday.

90+9 minutes: The closing whistle blows, and it’s USA 3, Vietnam 0.

90+8 minutes: A valiant closing effort from Thu Thao, who surges down the US left almost unopposed. But she will be able to’t get in direction of the centre, and Alyssa Naeher has little bother stopping her shot.

90+7 minutes: Oof, what a close to miss for Rose Lavelle. A cross goes awry however she nonetheless manages to satisfy it, bopping it simply over the crossbar.

90+4 minutes: Hai Linh Tran is relieved from the pitch. Team USA has simply 5 minutes to enhance on their 3-0 rating, however Vietnam’s defence stays as spirited as it has been this complete recreation.

88 minutes: Looks like a nasty harm for Hai Linh Tran, who went all the way down to a zealous sort out from Kelley O’Hara.

Play stops for a time whereas the ref remonstrates with O’Hara, including to the now 9 minutes of additional time. It’s been a brutal recreation.

85 minutes: An extremely shut miss for Rose Lavelle, who has a good quantity of area however bounces the ball simply off the crossbar. It ricochets immediately all the way down to the bottom earlier than bouncing off and being shepherded away by Vietnam.