Sweden, Netherlands notch opening wins at Women's World Cup
Jamaica holds France to surprising draw
Sweden produced a drab opening Women's World Cup performance on a gloomy night of mist and rain but managed to pull off a surprisingly difficult 2-1 victory to fend off plucky South Africa on Sunday in Wellington, New Zealand.
South Africa caught Sweden off guard when Hildah Magaia scored in the 48th minute to take a shocking lead in the Group G match while threatening to notch the first major upset of the tournament.
Sweden had dominated a scoreless first half with 71% of possession and eight corners, but there was something lacking in its performance. Sweden looked lost after halftime and South Africa took advantage when Thembi Kgatlana dropped behind the defense and struck a high shot that keeper Zecira Musovic could only parry.
Magaia hurled herself forward with such force she was carried into the goal along with the ball. She rolled into the back of the net and layed there for several moments and was eventually substituted.
Sweden, which hadn't lost a World Cup group match since 2003 and was expected to ease past 54th-ranked South Africa, suddenly seemed in danger.
But Sweden got on the board in the 64th minute with Fridolina Rolfo's equalizer. Amanda Ilestedt then produced a perfect header from a corner with a minute left in regulation to help Sweden escape at the end of an unimpressive opening game effort.
The Banyana Banyana had danced from their team bus into the dressing room before the match, and looked likely to dance their way out before Ilestedt's late goal briefly suppressed that celebration. After time to reflect on its performance, South Africa was satisfied with its performance.
"They came off a bit disappointed because of the loss because we thought we could have got a better result," South Africa coach Desiree Ellis said. "But the way we played, we are very proud of that. We stuck to the game plan. We knew we'd get goals on transition. We knew we'd get chances.
"We scored and that is our that is one of our strengths," Ellis continued. "We have the speed up front, we have the skill upfront, we have this skill within the midfield and defensively we were really, really good and that is a big plus for us."
Netherlands scores early then shuts down Portugal
Stefanie van der Gragt scored on a header in the 13th minute, leading the Netherlands to a 1-0 win over Portugal on Sunday in Dunedin, New Zealand, as the 2019 finalists began their tournament run.
The Dutch defender gathered herself as teammate Sherida Spitse lofted a corner kick her way, then headed the ball across the goal into the far side of the net. An offside review delayed the celebration.
The goal by the 30-year-old van der Gragt, who plans to retire after the Women's World Cup, was the quickest first goal of the tournament. The Dutch controlled the tempo of the game — Portugal's first shot of the match didn't come until the 82nd minute.
The meeting with the Netherlands, ranked No. 9 in the world, marked Portugal's first-ever tournament appearance.
On hand were 11,991 spectators, who were sheltered from the rain inside Dunedin's covered Forsyth Barr Stadium, known as the Glasshouse, which has a capacity of 25,947.
Though most of the crowd appeared to be Dutch fans, a small but vocal group of Portuguese supporters with flags and team apparel banged on drums throughout the game, the beat echoing across the venue.
French held to scoreless draw by Jamaica
Jamaica produced one of the biggest surprises of the Women's World Cup by holding France to a 0-0 draw.
France's Kadidiatou Diani struck the bar with a 90th-minute header, but one of the tournament favourites had to settle for a point.
The draw saw Jamaica pick up its first ever point in the competition, despite ending the game with 10 players after Khadija Shaw was sent off in time added on.
In a game of few chances, Diani had France's best opportunities to score a winner, but could not find a breakthrough at the Sydney Football Stadium.
She forced a save from Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer in the first half and saw another effort deflected wide.
Another header in the second half also went wide of the target before her late effort came back off the bar.
France, a quarterfinalist in 2019, is ranked fifth in the world, while Jamaica is 43rd.
The French were expected to be too strong for Jamaica, which is playing in the tournament for the second time, having lost all of its games at its debut in 2019 with a goal difference of -11.
But favourites have not had everything their own way so far in the tournament and France was the latest to struggle against an underdog.
Australia needed a penalty to get a 1-0 win against Ireland, while European champion England also needed a spot kick to overcome Haiti 1-0. Nigeria held Olympic champion Canada 0-0.
Jamaica did well to disrupt a France team that struggled to put together fluid moves.
In one of France's few moments of quality in the first half, Diani saw a low effort bundled around the post by Spencer. From the resulting corner, Wendie Renard headed over from close range.
Kadidiatou was fractions away from giving France a halftime lead when firing from the edge of the area. Chantelle Swaby managed to get something in the way of the shot, which deflected narrowly wide with the keeper beaten.
After seeing another header go wide after the break, Kadidiatou almost came up with the decisive moment when hitting the bar.
Jamaica may well come to regret the red card for Shaw, who will be suspended for the next game.
WATCH | Detailing Canada's journey at the Women's World Cup:
