Spain beats Costa Rica – Canada disappoints against Nigeria

Group C

Spain – Costa Rica 3-0

In the first match in Group C, Spain defeated Costa Rica 3-0. The three goals came in the first half, between the 21st and 27th minutes.

Jennifer Hermoso could have scored her fourth goal before the end of the first half, but the Spanish player took the wrong penalty kick in the middle of the goal and blocked it. This means that in the first five World Cup matches in Australia and New Zealand there was always a penalty kick, of which only two were scored (Steve Catley for Australia, Ramona Bachmann for Switzerland).

A look at the stats showed how one-sided the game was, and in the end there were 45:1 shots on target in favor of the Spaniards. The fact that the win was not higher was partly due to increasing carelessness in the handling of scoring opportunities.

The group’s candidates continue their match against Zambia on Wednesday. The Africans will play their first match on Saturday against Japan.

Group B

Nigeria – Canada 0-0

Canada will have to settle for a goalless draw in its opening match against Nigeria. The Olympic champions had more of the game, but rarely had any promising scoring chances against the well-positioned Africans. Captain Christine Sinclair clearly wasted the best in the 50th minute when she failed to convert a penalty kick to goalkeeper Chiamaka Nadozi.

The Nigerians finished the match with ten men. Shortly before the end, Deborah Abiodun received a red card after a strong challenge and a VAR intervention. But that didn’t change the outcome anymore. This means that Australia, which won on Thursday (1-0 over Ireland), remains alone at the top of Group B. (cat/sda)

Thomas Tuchel is firmly in place at Bayern Munich – despite a recent 5-1 defeat in Frankfurt and ongoing criticism of the champions’ record-breaking performances. But this could change soon.

Things are still quiet around Thomas Tuchel – at least internally, because while the Bayern coach is subject to frequent public criticism, which is… After his already legendary appearance in the Sky interview, Tuchel appears to have the full support at the club. There is enough reason for that.