Jamaica holds France to scoreless draw in a surprising Women’s World Cup opener

Football
Published 23.07.2023
Jamaica holds France to scoreless draw in a surprising Women’s World Cup opener

SYDNEY (AP) — Herve Renard is aware of all about World Cup shocks. He additionally is aware of an early setback might be overcome in worldwide soccer.

With that in thoughts, the France coach was not unduly involved by his workforce’s 0-0 with Jamaica on Sunday, which was one of many greatest surprises to this point on the Women’s World Cup.

Renard led Saudi Arabia to a well-known win in opposition to Argentina on the males’s World Cup in Qatar final yr, earlier than Lionel Messi’s workforce rebounded and went on to elevate the trophy for his or her nation.

“I’ve already won competitions after drawing my first two games,” stated the two-time Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach. “Let’s discuss in regards to the World Cup 2022. I don’t assume that we needs to be getting forward of ourselves.

“There are lots of people, lots of teams that start with the fanfare and are not there come the final and others are maybe slow to get out of the starting blocks.”

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While there is no such thing as a want for France to panic, this was nonetheless an sudden end result for the fifth-ranked workforce on the planet and one of many event favorites.

By distinction Jamaica is ranked forty third and entered the event co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand having misplaced all of its video games at its World Cup debut in 2019 with a aim distinction of -11.

“We always tell our players just don’t worry about the rankings,” stated Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson, who declared his nation’s first level ever within the competitors as its best achievement in soccer.

“I think it is the No. 1 result I have seen men or women,” he stated. “I would put it there. If you go by the rankings you would say that result on this stage has to be No. 1.”

Jamaica’s gamers ran onto the sector after the ultimate whistle as in the event that they’d been topped world champions. It would have been a really completely different story had Kadidiatou Diani’s Ninetieth-minute header not struck the bar.

In a sport of few possibilities, Diani had France’s greatest alternatives to attain a winner, however couldn’t discover a breakthrough on the Sydney Football Stadium.

She compelled a save from Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer within the first half and noticed one other effort deflected vast.

Another header within the second half additionally went vast of the goal earlier than her late effort got here again off the bar.

The French had been anticipated to be too robust for Jamaica, however favorites haven’t had all the things their very own means to this point within the event. The 2019 quarterfinalists had been the newest to wrestle in opposition to an underdog.

Australia wanted a penalty to get a 1-0 win in opposition to Ireland, whereas European champion England additionally wanted a spot kick to beat Haiti 1-0. Nigeria held Olympic champion Canada 0-0.

“The French are used to having the upper hand during the opening games, but this is something that is going to change because things are getting a lot closer,” Renard stated. “We need to keep our heads up high and we need to keep our confidence high.”

Jamaica did properly to disrupt a France workforce that struggled to place collectively fluid strikes.

In one in every of France’s few moments of high quality within the first half, Diani noticed a low effort bundled across the publish by Spencer. From the ensuing nook, Wendie Renard headed over from shut vary.

Kadidiatou was fractions away from giving France a halftime lead when firing from the sting of the realm. Chantelle Swaby managed to get one thing in the way in which of the shot, which deflected narrowly vast with the keeper overwhelmed.

After seeing one other header go vast after the break, Kadidiatou nearly got here up with the decisive second when hitting the bar.

On an in any other case joyous night time for Jamaica, it might come to remorse the crimson card for star ahead Khadija Shaw, who might be suspended for the subsequent sport.

WHAT’S NEXT

France performs Brazil in Brisbane on Saturday. Jamaica travels to Perth the place it should face Panama.

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