USWNT opens World Cup with three-goal win over Vietnam
Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg recaps the U.S. women's 3-0 victory over Vietnam in their first match of the tournament and looks toward their next matchup against a formidable Netherlands team.
Video Transcript
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NICK BROMBERG: The scoreline doesn't wholly reflect it, but the United States was incredibly dominant in its 3-0 win against Vietnam to open the Women's World Cup on Friday. Sophia Smith scored twice in the first half for the US, before Lindsey Horan added a goal in the 77th minute to officially put the game away. Even without Horan's goal, Vietnam was not making a comeback.
The US could and probably should have scored at least twice more, but failed to capitalize on prime scoring opportunities. Vietnam did not record a single shot, and had a hard time stringing together any semblance of an attack against the United States. Even as the game was 1-0 for much of the first half, it never felt like Vietnam was close to having a chance at getting into the game.
The US had won by 6 or 7 goals, I'd be sitting here telling you not to overreact to a prolific goal-scoring performance against an overwhelmed opponent. And even though the scoreline was only 3 to 0, the over under at BetMGM was 6 and 1/2 goals. It is important to not overreact to this one either. It's easy to see how the US will be sharper in front of goal going forward.
However, the game against Vietnam is a missed opportunity, and the US could be ruing its failed chances later in the tournament. Goal differential is the top tiebreaker for group positioning, and it's possible the Netherlands could beat Vietnam by more than three goals.
Friday night's performance made it more imperative that the US beats the Netherlands on Wednesday to secure the top spot in the group. If there's a draw or loss on Wednesday night for the US, the US may have to worry about both Portugal and the Netherlands margin in the final group game.