Group H was the star of the show on Day 11. The results in the group flipped the dynamics on its head and produced some fantastic upsets and arguably a game of the tournament.
Amidst this, group A slowly crawled to finish in the most expected way after promising surprises. The two games there were a little underwhelming without context.
Co-hosts New Zealand and debutants Philippines are out of the tournament after recording their first ever wins at the World Cup and inspiring a whole generation of future stars.
Let’s run through the day’s action!
(Today’s newsletter will be slightly different as I will solely focus on top performers and brief up about games due to a shortage of time, apologies for this!)
Match 31: South Korea 0-1 Morocco
South Korea were dubbed as favorites in this game but a sixth minute header from a short corner situation. Ibtissam Jraidi’s glancing header was perfetly placed beyond the reach of the South Korean goalkeeper.
Morocco dropped back into their 4-4-2 compact defensive shape, making it difficult for the South Korean side to break them down. The Asian side managed to get 209 touches in the final third, yet were only able to record 29 touches inside the penalty box.
They did manage to breach the penalty box with crosses but their resultant efforts were all waywards. They did attempt more shots than the Atlas Lionesses but all of them missed the frame of the goal.
The 20-year-old Nesryne El Chad was one of the standout players in defence for Reynal Pedros’ side. The Lille center-back was good at reading the play and disrupting attacks with well timed step ups. While not the tallest defender, she isn’t dominant in the air but does well in 1v1 situations and is quick to loose balls.
Group A deciders (Match 32 & 33)
Group A called curtains and we have our two teams for the next round. The teams from group A will face either Spain or Japan in the next round.
Match 32: Switzerland 0-0 New Zealand
New Zealand needed a win to guarantee their spot in the next round while for Switzerland a draw would be enough and it showed.
The Swiss sucked the life out of the game. The European side weren’t even interested in scoring a goal. They took just three shots in the entire game with just one from inside the box. They managed just the 15 touches inside the penalty box and were happy to hold on.
New Zealand’s Katie Bowen was the standout with her performance with an without the ball. She put in a real shift, recovering possession (a whopping 22 ball recoveries), tackling, disrupting opposition play to then use the possession in a purposeful way.
The Football Ferns did throw everything they had in their tank, even putting the goalie up front in the third minute of the 11 added minutes for a corner. They were ready to embrace the chaos, seeing it as an opportunity, as a ladder. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be in Dunedin.
Match 33: Norway 6-0 Philippines
The Philippines’ cinderella story was met by its wicked stepmother in the form of Norway. The Scandinavian nation, whose campaign has been marred with controversy behind the scenes and disappointing on-field showings, crushed the dream of Filipinas.
The Filipinas were playing the occasion and couldn’t overcome the nerves. Norway smelled blood and pounced on it. The game was a forgone conclusion by the end of the first half with Sophie Roman Haug’s 11-minute brace and Caroline Graham Hansen’s thunderbolt.
Alen Stajcic’s side came out to defend their pride in the second half but things went from bad to worse as Alicia Barker bundled a ball across into her own net and it just kept getting worse as they received a red card just five minutes later. Goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel produced some excellent saves to keep the scoreline from getting uglier.
This will be a good learning lesson for the Filipinas to not play the occasion and play the opponent as they failed to do the things that they did so well in the past. The player to player marking was a bit off and the passing lanes were not screened diligently making it easy to bypass their first lines.
Sophie Roman Haug had her moment in the sun. The AS Roma forward was able to showcase her true strength, aerial ability. She scored a hattrick and could have had more with an absolutely outrageous catalogue of goals. She used her physical frame to serve as a focal point in attack. Her defensive action map is a thing of beauty as you can truly see her aerial prowess and target play. She wins the first contact more often than not.
Caroline Graham Hansen once again gave an account of her incredible ability. The Barcelona winger dazzled her way into the penalty box making defenders look like training cones and scored an absolute belter from outside the box. She was at her creative best on the ball. It was almost like she is one of the best wingers in the world or something.
Match 34: Germany 1-2 Colombia
This was arguably the best game of the tournament so far. Colombia stunned tournament favorites Germany flipping Group H on its head heading into the final gameday.
Colombia’s excellent attacking trio of Linda Caicedo, Catalina Usme and Mayra Ramirez were excellent again and caused Germany a host of problems. Colombia 4-2-3-1 was able to disrupt the German buildup structure by protecting the channels very well with the wingers and the midfielders.
Colombia seized their moments and with the help of some quality and clutch moments in attack produced arguably their biggest result. Germany did attack and continue to come forwards but the box defending was phenomenal from the Colombian side, who rocked up the stadium with their fans.
Linda Caicedo with yet another testament performance. The 18-year-old is arguably the biggest talent in WoSo and continues to prove it. Her moment of brilliance in the 52nd minute gave Colombia the lead. Her feel on the ball to take-on her marker to initiate combinations or to carry the ball is immaculate. She has quick feet, great close control and a low center of gravity which makes it very difficult to take the ball off of her. Goals in back-to-back World Cup games now.
Real Sociedad’s Manuela Vanegas scored the winner in the seventh minute of added time from….yes another corner (set-pieces are important!). This was the latest goal in the current edition of the World Cup. She was excellent at defending the box and made 10 clearances. Although this game was all about her off-the-ball abilities, she is a very adept high volume passer and that can be seen for her club side.
Germany’s crown jewel, Lena Oberdorf, returned to the lineup against Colombia and immediately showed what makes her one of the most complete midfielders in the game. She provided shielding presence, was physically imposing in duels and provided progression all at the same time. Watching Oberdorf play is like watching the best of all worlds and probably three players at the same time.
Highlight of the day
There are multiple highlights today:
Moroccon defender, Nouhaila Benzina, became the first player to wear a hijab at the Women’s World Cup. Inspiring generations and breaking boundaries!
This incredible goal from Linda Caicedo for Colombia’s opener is one for the ages!