Smith sets sights on Dutch after stealing show on World Cup debut
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Sophia Smith said she couldn't wait to face the Dutch on Thursday in a rematch of the 2019 World Cupfinal after playing a starring role in the United States' winning start to their title defence.
The attacker scored twice and set up captain Lindsey Horan for the third in a comfortable 3-0 win on Saturday over Vietnam at Eden Park in Auckland.
«I think it is a good place to start and personally it was good to just get a WorldCup game under my belt and see how it felt,» said the 22-year-old from Colorado after enjoying a dream debut at the tournament.
«I think it honestly just makes me more excited for the next game.»
The meeting against the Netherlands in Wellington will be a repeat of the 2019 final, which the Americans won 2-0 to retain their crown.
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FootballSmith needed just 14 minutes to open the scoring against Vietnam and added another in first-half stoppage time, shortly after Alex Morgan's penalty had been saved. The Portland Thorns forward then set up Horan late on.
The holders and favourites were easy winners, but they were also wasteful in front of goal, meaning there was no repeat of the 13-0 thrashing they handed out to Thailand at the start of their successful 2019 World Cup campaign.
Vlatko Andonovski's side, featuring six World Cup debutants at kick-off, had 27 attempts on Vietnam's goal to none for their opponents.
«At the end I just felt we needed to be a little bit better with the final shot,» said the coach.
«We created opportunities, we had a penalty kick, obviously enough to score a few more goals, but there are lots of positives from game one going into game two.»
As well as Smith on the left
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