Women's World Cup Du Jour: Don't let USWNT score fool you, and Thailand has something to celebrate
This is Yahoo Soccer’s daily Women’s World Cup recap. From the best performances to the buzziest moments, we’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing from France.
Key result
Our Henry Bushnell already covered the key talking points from the Americans’ second Group F match, so we’ll only add around the edges. Despite scoring 10 less times against Chile, which is actually ranked lower than Thailand by FIFA, the United States was beyond convincing in its control and performance on Sunday. As Henry pointed out, Chilean goalkeeper Christiane Endler (more on her below) had an incredible afternoon and the USWNT was unlucky not to have won by twice as many.
Combine that with the mass changes to the starting lineup and this result doesn’t alter what we knew about the Americans coming in. It also says something that the USWNT could win by three goals and raise more questions for some people than answers. The real mile markers are yet to come this Women’s World Cup, starting Thursday with Sweden, which beat Thailand 5-1 and figures to present a tougher test in the final match of the group stage.
Standout player
Endler, Chile
If Carli Lloyd finished off her hat trick, maybe she would have received today’s honor instead of Endler. But the Paris Saint-Germain keeper made great save after great save to keep the score respectable, and might have clogged Lloyd’s thinking ever so slightly on this missed penalty. She was beaten only by a brilliant strike and a couple bullet headers.
The Chileans’ goal difference is worst of the six teams currently in third place, and they face an uphill fight to reach the knockout stage, but Endler is doing all she can to see that they get there.
Best goal
Kanjana Sung-Ngoen, Thailand
After conceding 17 unanswered goals to start the World Cup, it sure felt good to watch Sung-Ngoen finally get the Thails on the board:
Despite losing to Sweden, the #THA women have their first 2019 #FIFAWWC goal!pic.twitter.com/21DnOoMzuu
— Yahoo Soccer (@FCYahoo) June 16, 2019
Headlines from the touchlines
Did Lloyd, USWNT troll their critics with goal celebrations?
Monday’s games
China vs. Spain, Group B, Noon ET
South Africa vs. Germany, Group B, Noon ET
Nigeria vs. France, Group A, 3 p.m. ET
South Korea vs. Norway, Group A, 3 p.m. ET
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