Spain overwhelmingly wins the opening match of the World Cup 2023
* Score: Del Campo owns 21', Bonmati 23', E.Gonzalez 27'
Spain's dominance on Wellington's field today is evident in the fundamental indicators. According to Opta, the European representative holds the ball 80% of the time, and an average of nearly every two minutes is released, while Costa Rica only shoots once. Besides, Spain also has 588 passes, achieving a success rate of 86%, while this statistic of Costa Rica is only 142 and 47%.
In the last encounter at the 2015 Women's World Cup, Spain drew 1-1 with Costa Rica. In the previous seven games, the team won only one, drew two and lost four. Therefore, the performance on Wellington field this afternoon on July 21, Hanoi time showed the amazing progress of coach Jorge Vilda's teachers and students.
Immediately after the opening hour, Spain rushed to attack, forcing the opponent to retreat very deeply. After a series of failures, they were rewarded with the opening goal in the 21st minute when Costa Rica defender Del Campo counter-kick. The lead advantage helped Spain sublimate, scoring two more goals just six minutes later, thanks to Bonmati and Esther Gonzalez respectively.
34 minutes, the score could be 4-0 if Jennifer Hermoso didn't miss the penalty kick. This was the third unsuccessful penalty at the 2023 World Cup. Before that, New Zealand's Percival and Canada's Christine Sinclair respectively missed a 1-0 win over Norway and a 0-0 draw with Nigeria.
After a 15-minute break between the two halves, Spain still did not give the opponent a chance to get on the ball, but also did not score any more goals. The highlight of the second half only came from the substitution phase.
In the 73rd minute, Sheika Scott of Costa Rica became the youngest player - 16 years and 272 days - to play in the 2023 Women's World Cup, when he replaced Maria Salas. Four minutes later, Spain launched the reigning Golden Ball Alexia Putellas to replace Salma Paralluelo, marking the striker's return after more than half a year of injury.
3-0 in favor of Spain is still the strongest result since the beginning of the 2023 World Cup, and helps coach Jorge Vilda's army lead Group C.
Spain: Misa Rodriguez, Ona Batlle, Irene Paredes, Ivana Andres, Olga Carmona, Aitana Bonmati, Teresa Abelleira, Athenea del Castillo, Jennifer Hermoso, Salma Paralluelo, Esther Gonzalez
Costa Rica: Daniela Solera, Fabiola Villalobos, Mariana Benavides, Valeria Del Campo, Maria Coto, Katherine Alvarado, Gloriana Villalobos, Maria Elizondo, Melissa Herrera, Maria Salas, Priscila Chinchilla.
