Dunedin was the venue as the Netherlands got their Women's World Cup tournament underway this summer, beating debutants Portugal 1-0, thanks to a goal from Stefanie Van De Gragt.
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VAR at the centre again
It feels like almost every game down under so far has had a VAR review in it of some nature. From the Lionesses retaken penalty fiasco yesterday, to the decision to award New Zealand a penalty in the opening game. The Video Assistant Referees have certainly had their work cut out so far.
In Dunedin, it was no different, with the tournament trialling a 'new' technology when it comes to VAR, seeing the referee announce their decision to the stadium via a microphone after reviewing the decision.
In the 13th minute of the clash in Dunedin, Stefanie Van De Gragt towered high up at the back post to plant her header into the bottom corner, however, the goal was originally disallowed. as new Manchester City midfielder, Jill Roord, was adjudged to have 'interfered' with the ball, but after a review, the goal was rightly awarded, after Roord did everything she could to move out the way of the ball.
With VAR under constant scrutiny in men's football and the Premier League in particular, even Gabby Logan said in the half-time analysis, "You've got to praise VAR when it's being used like this."
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Portugal follows up the debutant theme
With eight countries making their debuts at this World Cup, There are plenty of sides whom neutrals are excited to watch, simply because they wouldn't know what to expect!
Portugal is the seventh of the eight debutants to play in the World Cup so far, with Morocco set to complete the match-day one lineup tomorrow.
There have been plenty of impressive showings amongst debutants, most notably, Haiti, who pushed European Champions England the whole way yesterday, falling only to a retaken Georgia Stanway penalty in the first half.
Portugal, having their moment in the spotlight didn't really have the same effect as some other debutants, At the hour mark, they'd only registered 39% possession and not a single shot on the Netherlands goal, which does link them to the other debutants at the World Cup so far, they're all waiting for their first goal.
Their first effort on goal and touches in the Netherlands box came in the 82nd minute, after Telma Encarnacao chopped inside, progressed into the box but saw her effort beaten away by Daphne van Domselaar in goal.
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Ines Perriera follows the goalkeeping trend:
So far in this tournament, goalkeepers have been the ones earning the praise, from Mackenzie Arnold for Australia, Mary Earps for England and Tran Thi Kim Thanh for Vietnam, the players between the sticks have certainly delivered down under so far.
This was certainly the same for Portugal's Ines Perriera, who kept her side in it against the Netherlands.
Although she was beaten by Van de Gragt's stooping header in the 13th minute, The Servette stopper was responsible for not letting the Netherlands pull away. She made a notable brilliant save just after halftime to deny Danielle van de Donk, who really ought to have done better from twelve yards out, but couldn't beat the inspired Perriera.
She made four saves in total, with three of those coming from inside the box, proving how difficult she was to beat when Netherlands players bared down on goal. Her boss, Fransisco Neto will be hoping she can follow up that performance for the remainder of the tournament if the debutants are to have a chance of progressing,
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Groenen drives Netherlands forward:
PSG midfielder, Jackie Groenen, put in an absolutely phenomenal display against Portugal as the Netherlands got off to a winning start. Sitting just in front of the Dutch defence, she screened that area very well, part of the reason why Portugal only registered two shots on goal the whole match.
With an 86% pass completion rate (26/30), 48 touches of the ball, two key passes and three out of three accurate long balls, even on the defensive front, Groenen only lost possession six times and was only dribbled past once, in ninety minutes.
In a position and a team that can easily see her performances overlooked and underrated. The former Manchester United midfielder certainly deserves her flowers after a stunning opening game performance.
