Today was a day of close-fought games, an excellent day for the neutral fan. Three good matches between six evenly matched squads and a hard fought performance from an overmatched Korean squad.
Overall though, the day was full of the most likely outcomes and no real surprises. France and Brazil took care of business, England and South Korea must pick up the pieces, and Spain-Costa Rica and Colombia-Mexico showed us that these teams, while not the most skilled, bring an incredible amount of energy, desire, and passion to the tournament.
1) Biggest Winner: France
France convincingly defeat one of their biggest rivals and certainly their only competition to win the group. With England out of the way, France should be able to coast into the knockout stages with little trouble.
2) Biggest Loser: England
The Three Lionesses looked like a team that couldn’t be bothered today. Maybe it was the crap weather. Maybe it was the tiny half-full stadium of lackluster fans. Maybe it were those obnoxious tuba players in the audience. The team played flat and lost an opportunity to boss Group F. England should be fine in their next two games, but they will have to play much better. As it stands now, England wasn’t within shouting distance of France.
3) Standout Performer(s): Marta & Formiga, Brazil
Both of these long-time Brazilian stars broke records. Formiga became the oldest woman to score in the World Cup, while Marta became the top all-time World Cup goalscorer passing retired German star Birgit Prinz.
4) Results of the Day:
France 1 (Le Sommer 29′) England 0
Spain 1 (Losada 13′) Costa Rica 1 (R. Rodriguez 14′)
Colombia 1 (Montoya 82′) Mexico 1 (V. Perez 36′)
Brazil 2 (Formiga 33′; Marta 53′) Korea Republic 0
5) Tweet/Social Media of the Day:
“Would very much like to praise England for achieving such gender equality. Both their men and women’s team are dreadful to watch.” — Det_no, Something Awful forums
6) Goal(s) of the Day:
Mexico gets the nod for our first use of goal line technology in the Women’s World Cup!
But we’d be remiss to not include this beautiful strike from France’s Eugénie Le Sommer:
7a) Best Team Moment: Colombia’s first ever goal in the Women’s World Cup
7b) Best Individual Moment: Formiga’s Goal for Brazil
Formiga has been playing international soccer since 1995. Let me type that again… since 1995! She scored her first goal for Brazil at Copa America 1998. And here she is, in 2015 and in her sixth World Cup, scoring a nice goal for her home nation. We’d say this is likely her last World Cup, but who knows.
