#022 - The World Cup Diaries - Day 10
#022 - The World Cup Diaries - Day 10
Set-pieces are important!
Day 10 was a celebration of set-piece goals, especially from corners. It was for all the corner goal connoisseurs like me. Five of the nine goals scored in the day came from corners.
It was a mix of height advantage, some excellent movements and some perfect deliveries from the corner situation.
Let’s look at some corners baby (and the action from the day!)
Match 28: Sweden 5-0 Italy
Group G was in the balance with both Sweden and Italy having won their opening games, albeit neither did so in a convincing fashion. Two late winners by the veterans in the squad.
Sweden’s winner on the opening day against South Africa came from a corner situation as Arsenal’s Amanda Ilestedt headed home from a corner right at the end of normal time. Corners have long been a strength of the Swedish side with excellent takers and adept targets at their disposal and it showed in this game.
Ilestedt scored twice against Italy, taking her total tally to three and making her the front runner in the golden boot race.
Italy made one change and replaced Valentina Giacinti with yet another young gun, Sofia Cantore as the youth revolution continues at Italy.
The game did start really well for the Italians. Sweden looked like a shadow of themselves for the early parts of this game as well but managed to turn the screw in past that initial inertia. Italy could not capitalize on their early momentum and then just crumbled away.
Sweden , however, derailed the Italian train by simply undoing them from corners. They scored from a corner again in this game, not once but three times. In fact, the Scandi nation is responsible for 25% (4/16) of the set-piece goals scored at the tournament so far.
Here are all three goals from the corner situation and immediately some things standout:
The accuracy on the deliveries from Sweden was impeccable. Jonna Andresson and Kosovare Asllani both targeted the near post from their respective sides and picked out the right zones every time. It was clearly a part of Sweden’s corner routine to target this space.
A quick look at the deliveries from corner would highlight what levels of accuracy we are talking about. Andersson put it in the perfect zone to match Sweden’s idea to crowd the goalkeeper.
The height factor with Sweden. The Scandinavian nation is one of the tallest in women’s football, this gives them an undeniable advantage to reach the ball first and win first contact. While height alone doesn’t make a great aerial threat but it plays an immense part in it.
Sweden are the third tallest nation (171.6 cm) at the World Cup this year, only behind Denmark (173.5 cm) and Germany (172 cm). On the other hand, Italy ranks as on the the shortest ones. The mismatch was further accentuated today.
The inswinging deliveries is another facet of these corner kicks. Sweden deliberately attempt inswingers on corners by using a left footed player take coners on the right and vice versa. The advantage of inswinging deliveries from such perfect takers is that you can directly threaten the goal with it and if you couple that with crowding the keeper on corners, it makes it further more difficult for the goalkeeper to claim these deliveries.
Set-pieces are vital in tournament football and continue to be the difference maker.
With this win, Sweden have booked their ticket to the round of 16. This defeat has scratched an unhealed wound for Milena Bertollini’s Italy. They had only just recovered from the psychological damage of the 5-1 against France at the Euros last year and Le Azzurre will need to quickly move on and secure a win in their next game against a South African side that struggle to close games but have taken the lead in each of their previous two games if they hope to reach the next round.
Match 29: France 2-1 Brazil
France and Brazil is a classic despite the French dominating the head-to-head. They produced a thrilling contest at the previous edition of the World Cup when a French captain scored to sink Brazil and knock them out of the competition.
Four years later, a French captain has once again scored a winner to increase Brazil’s problems for the qualification to the next round.
The goal in 2019 was from a set-piece (a wide freekick). The goal in 2023 is from a set-piece (corner). Seems like not much has changed.
France were handed a boost ahead of this game after it was confirmed that Selma Bacha and Wendie Renard were both fit to start after an injury scare. Herve Renard lined up his side in a 4-4-2 and made some changes.
Maelle Lakrar was deployed in her natural center-back role and Chelsea’s Eve Perriset takes over at right back. Bacha was straight into the lineup on the left flank partnering with Sakina Karchaoui at left back.
Pia Sundhage made two changes to her Brazil side that dazzled their way to a 4-0 win against Panama, with Geyse replacing Bia Zaneratto up front in a 4-4-2.
This game was not for the faint hearted as it kept moving at an unbeliavable pace. The constant back and forth made it a proper end-to-end contest.
France’s pressing in the first half was phenomenal. Les Bleues caused a lot of turnovers in the opposition half with their player-to-player marking and high intensity. They were able to counterpress after losing the ball and won it back within 9 seconds on average.
Brazil had 43 loss of possession in the game, with 19 of those coming in their own half making them particularly dangerous. We also see a particular high density of turnovers on the left hand side for Brazil. This is due to the set-up used by France.
A glance at their passing network would suggest that the French had aggressively positioned their right hand side (look at the average location of players on the right side compared to left), they marked the immediate option and forced play on the right to cause turnovers.
France themselves had 46 loss of possession but very few within their own half and most of them
The game was happening at a frenetic pace. The above sequence is a perfect example of the flow of the game. The ball moves from one box to the other and back again within 25 seconds.
It was a constant series of turnovers caused due to a mix of sloppy passing and some intense pressing. Brazil had just one sequence of 5+ passes that reached the final 40% of the pitch while France had three.
Neither side were able to control possession to have long sustained spell on the ball. Neither Brazil nor Frane had a passing accuracy higher than 70%, which highlights the same thing. The game moved at lighting speed.
Eugenie Le Sommer’s 90th international goal gave France the lead early on and it was equalized by Debinha in the second half. With scores tied now, stepped up the inevitable head of Wendie Renard.
There are two main things that make Renard such a viable target on set-pieces:
Renard’s height makes her an unmissable target on freekicks and corners. The 1.87m tall frame is difficult to defend against for teams.
Renard’s movements to peel off her marker and you have a cheat code from set-pieces.
Brazil make a mistake of not marking the French captain and she just peels away at the far post perfectly to meet the excellent cross. Once she reaches the position, she is able to generate incredible power on these header with excellent technique.
Also notice how it was yet anothet inswinging delivery that resulted in the goal.
Having a set-piece threat like Renard (along with excellent crossers like Selma Bacha) in tournament football is a get out of jail free card.
One of the big decisions Renard took for his side in this game was to play Lakrar at centerback and bring Perisset in at right back. The move paid dividends as both players had a brilliant game defensively.
Lakrar was able to receive from natural angles and displayed excellent game-reading and 1v1 duel ability. While she had some risky moments stepping out from the backline, not nailing the timing of it, she looked really assured in recovering from precarious situations.
Perisset was able to add the offensive impetus that Lakrar couldn’t from fullback. The Chelsea fullback was solid defensively (the tackle to regain possession on the break in the sequene above is Perisset). She allowed France to be aggressive on the right flank and helped progress and support play from out wide on the right hand side.
With this win, Herve Renard became the first manager to win a game at both the men’s and women’s World Cup. These three points puts France in a good spot to qualify as the group leaders. Brazil now sit in third position and will have to beat Jamaica with a certain Khadija Shaw back, for a shot at qualification.
Match 30: Panama 0-1 Jamaica
This game will be etched in the history of Jamaican football. The Reggae Girlz won their first ever World Cup game after a good outing against France on matchday 1.
They became the first Caribbean team to win a game in Women’s World Cup history. And they did this without their captain and star striker, Khadija Shaw, no less.
Panama, one of the eight debutants, have been eliminated from the World Cup.
While Jamaica dominated this game for large spells, this was another game decided by, you guessed it, a corner. An inswinging corner no less.
The thing that stands out the most in this goal is the movements from the target and the placement of the header. Captain Allyson Swaby was crowding the goalkeeper before the kick was taken and moved away from her right at the moment the delivery is made, making the GK unbalanced and making it difficult for the defenders to follow her. She then perfectly directed the ball at the far post beyond the reach of the GK.
The technique and control on the header is impeccable. Another key skill in the making of an aerial threat.
Jody Brown and Drew Spence stepped up in the absence of Khadija Shaw to help the side see out a win. Spence did it all, even hitting the crossbar once. She was good with her passing, took some good shots and added a lot of value defensively with her covering.
The 21-year-old Brown showcased her excellent ball carrying and dribbling in the game while offering an outlet with her excellent runs in behind the Panama defence. She showcased her skillful nature in 1v1 take-on situations.
For Panama, Marta Cox and Riley Tanner were impressve. Cox basically did it all from the #10 positon and produced 20 of Panama’s 33 deep completion in the game. She was the player to provide the side with penetration from open-play and set-pieces, covered a lot of ground and helped recover possession.
Tanner on the hand added a bit of creative passing from the left to go with her penetrative ball carriny. She used her skill to get past her marker on the left and create some good opportunities. The defensive effort from the 23-year-old was great as she helped deal with Jamaica’s threat on the carry.
For a nation that had to run a fundraiser to reach Australia, this win for Jamaica just goes to highlight that it’s not a scarcity of talent but of resources that is limiting the nations. The Reggae Girlz needs at least a draw to make it to the next round and it they manage it, it will be a story for ages.
Highlight of the day
Waru is the moment. If you are having a bad day just look at Waru.
