Brazil dance past Korea Republic to open campaign with comfy win
Brazil took their first steps towards winning the only major trophy that has eluded them, dominating and downing an overmatched Korea Republic side 2-0 at Montreal in the Women's World Cup opener for both sides Tuesday night.
Records were set with the win as Formiga, 37, became the oldest player ever to score at a Women's World Cup, while Marta set a new mark for career Women's World Cup goals at 15 when she sunk a second-half penalty.
Brazil are not considered as strong a side as in years past, but they have a couple advantages: A fairly easy path to the late rounds, and a lot of experience. That was on display as the reigning Copa America champs got off to a fast start against the Taeguk Ladies, with Adriana needing only three minutes to crash a shot off the bar. Formiga would flight a header past the near post in the 33rd minute and you can imagine the tone of the game from there.
For large spells in the first half, the vaunted Korean attack was pinned back into their own half, playing far more defense than offense. Korea Republic has been playing what they describe as a "new style" -- far more positive than the Korean sides of old that sat back and tried to use their fitness to eke out late results. But on Tuesday night, against a Brazilian side that was both slicker and faster, they had few forays past the halfway line, and fewer looks at Luciana's net. In fact, they had trouble stringing together passes and routinely coughed the ball up almost as soon as they got it.
“We put in a good performance,” Brazil coach Vadao told FIFA’s website. “There’s always a bit of tension in the first match, but we controlled it well and we showed good balance. The win gives us a bit of breathing space, and the draw in the Spain-Costa Rica game means that we’re clear at the top of the group. We made a few mistakes that we’ll need to work on, but overall I'm pretty satisfied.”
Reduced to playing a little more old-school than they would have liked, Korea's defense cracked after the half hour when, under pressure from Cristiane, Do-Yeon Kim inexplicably back-passed the ball to Formiga, who was in alone on Jung-Mi Kim for an easy goal. It was surely deserved considering that Brazil had been pouring in on the Korean net in a yellow wave. Andressa Alves might have earned a penalty minutes later when Fabiana whizzed in a cross from the end line and went down under pressure.
Formiga would then earn a penalty after another Korea Republic mistake. So-Yun Ji badly misplayed a ball across the box to So-Hyun Cho who was forced to foul to stop a one on one against Jung-Mi Kim. Marta stepped up, picked her spot and went into the history books in this, her fourth Women's World Cup.
Korea Republic tried to get back in the game late, as is their habit, with Gaeul Jeon sending their best chance of the match wide right. Luciana was forced to work a little more, and a couple of balls were hacked into the cheap seats. But there was little of note they could do. In fact, Brazil were unlucky not to be awarded another penalty when Marta was taken out with 10 to play. Perhaps match referee Esther Staubli felt the Koreans had suffered enough.
“We gave it our best shot and we’re disappointed with the defeat, but Brazil played very well,” Korea Republic coach Yoon Dukyeo told FIFA. “They’re a skillful, powerful team. My players did well from a physical point of view, but we made mistakes and conceded two goals. There are various aspects that we need to improve on, but I’m mostly concerned by the damage that the defeat might have done to our morale – we’ll need to recover quickly so that we can meet the challenges ahead.
Brazil next face Spain on Saturday. Spain were wasteful against Costa Rica on Tuesday, allowing Las Ticas to snatch a hardly-deserved 1-1 draw. Costa Rica get a quite winnable match now against Korea Republic that is likely to determine which team stays alive in the third-place race.
The four best third-place finishers will advance along with the 12 teams to finish in the top two of their group in this 24-team tournament. The Women's World Cup takes a rest day on Wednesday, but returns Thursday with a marquee matchup between Germany and Norway (live, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports Go, 4 p.m. ET).
