CNN –
The United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) started the Women’s World Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Vietnam.
A brace from US soccer’s newest superstar, Sophia Smith, and a late strike from Lindsey Horan were enough to give the defending champions a dream start to their historic World Cup season.
The USWNT is aiming for its third straight World Cup and couldn’t have asked for a better start. She dominated the game from the start before Smith opened the scoring just 14 minutes into her World Cup debut.
Horan found Alex Morgan with a pass through Vietnamese midfield before Morgan’s clever shot sent Smith through and the 22-year-old’s practiced left foot found the ball easily into the net.
Andrew Cornaga/AP
Sophia Smith was the standout player in USWNT’s win.
Amid early US dominance, there was a brief climax for the underdog.
After a VAR review, the USWNT were awarded a penalty following a foul on Trinity Rodman. Morgan stepped up, but Vietnam’s goalkeeper Trần Thị Kim Thanh fended off the striker with a great save, which caused cheers from the Vietnamese team.
In first-half injury time, Smith scored again, doubling the USWNT lead. The Portland Thorns forward pushed the ball into the net – albeit with a much harder effort than her opener.
As opportunities came and went for the USWNT, it took more brilliant work from Smith to extend the lead. The superb player scooped a ball over the Vietnamese defense before crossing a pass to Horan, who just had to put the ball into the open net.
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Lindsey Horan made it 3-0 after a Smith assist.
“It’s so exciting. Every minute of this game was fun and the crowd was amazing and I think it was a good start to this tournament but I know we have a lot more to do,” Smith told reporters after the game.
“We’re going to celebrate that for a second but then focus on the next game,” concluded the player of the match.
For head coach Vlatko Andonovski, the USWNT played even better than the score line suggests.
“I wouldn’t say I expected more goals, but given the way we played and the chances we created, I definitely wanted to see more goals and thought we deserved to score more goals,” he said.