This Sunday, Portugal plays its first match in a women’s soccer World Cup, facing the Netherlands, in Dunedin, New Zealand, in a decisive match, despite being from the first round of Group E.
At 7:30 p.m. local time (08:30 a.m. in Lisbon), the team led by Francisco Neto finally fulfills its “dream”, after a month of training, which included friendlies with England (0-0), Ukraine (2-0) and Norway (1-2), the latter unofficially.
Eleven from the Netherlands: Daphne Van Domselaar, Stefanie Van der Gragt, Sherida Spitse and Dominique Janssen; Jill Roord, Danielle Van de Donk, Jackie Groenen, Victoria Pelova, and Esmee Brugts; Lineth Beerenstein and Lieke Martens.
Eleven from Portugal: Inês Pereira; Ana Borges, Fatima Pinto, Diana Gomes, Carole Costa and Catarina Amado; Dolores Silva, Tatiana Pinto and Andreia Norton; Diana Silva and Jessica Silva.
The Forsyth Barr Stadium will be the scene of the historic match of the Portuguese women’s team, which after qualifying in which they had to play 13 games, managed to reach the 2023 World Cup, after two appearances in Europeans (2017 and 2022).
Ahead, the rookie formation of the ‘quinas’ will have the world runner-up in the title and European champion of 2017, who is widely considered a favorite having won seven of the eight previous duels against the Portuguese, losing only one.
However, if they want to go beyond the group stage and reach the round of 16, Portugal needs to be able to score, even for the presence in the group of the United States, the two-time world champion team in title (wins in 2015 and 2019).
In the event of victory, the Portuguese team would take a big step towards the “eighths”, which could even be sealed in the round of 16, against Vietnam, on Thursday, and, tied, it would leave everything open in terms of the classification.
Conversely, a loss would drastically reduce the chances of qualifying, only for the top two finishers.
As for the “eleven”, the biggest question is whether or not to use the young striker Kika Nazareth, 20, injured on July 1, in a friendly against England (0-0), but the goal holder (Patrícia Morais or Inês Pereira) and even the tactical scheme are also uncertain.
In either scenario, defensemen Ana Borges, Carole Costa, Diana Gomes and Catarina Amado, midfielders Dolores Silva, Andreia Norton and Tatiana Pinto and forwards Jéssica Silva and Diana Silva are likely to be used.
The ninth match between Portugal and the Netherlands, on the first day of Group E, is scheduled for Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. local time (08:30 a.m. in Lisbon), at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, in Dunedin, New Zealand, with the refereeing of the Ukrainian Kateryna Monzul.
The group is led by the United States, two-time champions, who beat Vietnam 3-0 on Saturday, with Sophia Smith in the spotlight, with two goals (14 and 45+7 minutes) and an assist, so that Lindsay Horan closed the result (77), in Auckland.
Source: TSF
