Women's Soccer: Group Play Day 1
Written By: Danny Albers
On the opening day of the women’s soccer group play of the 2024 Paris Olympics, controversy struck the defending Gold Medal winners. Canada had to send their head coach Beverly Priestman home after a scandalous revelation that she was aware of using drones to spy on other teams practices. The soccer world was curious to see how the Canadian Women’s National Team would respond after these events. As scandalous as this revelation is, I’m glad that they aren’t disqualifying the Canadian women from the current tournament. But investigation might reveal that this was going on in the 2020 Tokyo games, which would tarnish Canada’s Gold Cup victory. Let’s take a look at each game from day 1 and break down the action.
Spain mounts comeback of Japan, wins 2-1
Spain opened the day up with a shockwave across women’s soccer when they pulled off an impressive comeback to defeat Japan 2-1. Spain is currently ranked number 1 in the Women’s FIFA rankings, Japan is ranked number 7. One of Japan’s brightest young players, 20 year old Aoba Fujino put Japan ahead with a goal in the 13th minute. Japan wouldn’t have the lead for long. Elite Spanish goal scoring midfielder Aitana Bonmati, coming off 6 goals in the 2023-2024 Champions League in 11 matches for Barcelona, leveled the game in the 22nd minute. Neither team would pull away until the second half, when Mariona Caldentey scored in the 74th minute for Spain, taking the wind out of the Japanese sails, and securing the comeback victory for the European powerhouse.
Canada storms back to beat New Zealand 2-1 amidst scandal
Staying on the theme of comeback victories, Canada needed to come from behind to beat a game New Zealand side 2-1 in Thursday’s opener. With the scandal surrounding their head coach heavy on the minds, the defending champions prevailed in one of the more difficult games they have played as a team. When Mackenzie Barry scored in the 13th minute, Canada must have felt like things were piling on them. But 31 year old veteran Arsenal forward and the University of Iowa alumni Cloe Lacasse scored the game tying goal in the 45th minute in her olympic debut. Canada would take the lead in the 79th minute when former University of South Florida’s Evelyn Viens scored in the 79th minute. Canada survives a tough opener, but things are only going to get more challenging when they play the host country France in their next game.
Germany dominated Australia in the opener 3-0
Easily the most dominant win of the opening day was Germany’s 3-0 romping of Australia. The German Women’s National Team have been climbing the FIFA rankings, eclipsing the top 5, and they showed why today. 34 year old veteran Marina Hegering scored in the 24th minute to draw first blood for Germany in what was a fairly quiet first half otherwise. But in the second half, Germany opened the floodgates. Lee Schuller and Jule Brand scored just 4 minutes apart, and Germany saw themselves ahead by 3 goals in front of a rocking crowd. This sets up an epic matchup between USA and Germany this weekend that should determine a favorite to win the tournament.
Mallory Swanson lead the US to a 3-0 win over Zambia
It might not have been against their best competition, but it felt good to see the US Women’s National Team win in domination fashion. They beat Zambia 3-0. But the far more important takeaway is Mallory Swanson is back. Her two goals in one minute between the 24th and 25th minute helped us forget an abysmal world cup performance that the US displayed without her. Trinity Rodman also kicked off her olympic campaign in a big way with the opening goal in the 17th minute. We will know more about this team when they play Germany, but nobody is complaining about a 3-0 victory.
Brazil pull off 1-0 win despite flat opening performance
There is a lot left in 38 year old Brazilian star Marta. When her team needed her the most, she set up a beautiful goal by Gabi Nunes. This felt like a game that Brazil should have been more dominant in, but Nigeria came to play. Nigeria and Brazil both had 5 shots on goal, and basically split the battle for possession. We will see if Brazil can improve on converting their chances as we proceed through the tournament.
France jump to 3-0 lead, survive scare against Colombia
All eyes are on the hosts, and they almost crumbled under the pressure. France came out in impressive fashion, giving the home fans something to cheer for. They scored 3 unanswered goals in the first 42 minutes, including two by Mari-Antoinette Katoto. Things seemed over going into halftime. But an unnecessary penalty in the 54th minute allowed Colombia to have a penalty shot, which was converted by Catalina Usme. The temperature would increase in France as 10 minutes later, Manu Pavi scored in the 64th, Colombia would turn the pressure up on France who were reeling all of a sudden. They’d come out with the 3-2 victory, but the celebration didn’t feel as sweet as they play the defending champions Canada next.
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