U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team overpowers Germany 3-0
SALON-DE-PROVENC, France (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U-20 Women’s National Team opened the Tournoi Maurice Revello Sud Ladies Cup with a convincing 3-0 win against Germany.
Forward Abigail Kim made it 1-0 in just the 3rd minute, forward Sophia Smith made it 2-0 in the 26th and midfielder Brianna Pinto clinched the match with a cracker of a goal in the 76th.
In the other match, France defeated Haiti, 5-0. The USA will face Haiti on Thursday, June 7 and finish the four-team tourney against host France on Sunday, June 10.
All four teams in the round-robin tournament have qualified for the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, making this competition a valuable dress rehearsal for group play at the World Cup, which will be held in four venues in the Brittany region of France from Aug. 5-24.
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The USA put the Germans on their heels with the early goal that came from a Smith service through the penalty area which Kim finished first-time for her sixth international goal in 21 caps.
Smith, the 2017 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, then scored in her fifth consecutive U-20 international match, firing from the top of the penalty box into the bottom left corner. It was her 16th international goal in 21 U-20 caps.
Pinto then put an exclamation point on the win. Defender Kiara Pickett lobbed a ball from midfield over the German back line to Pinto on the left wing and she brought it down with her chest before crushing a shot on the half-volley into the upper right corner.
The USA and Haiti met in the semifinal of the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship with the USA prevailing in penalty kicks (3-0) after a 1-1 tie during regulation to earn its berth to the World Cup. Haiti then upset Canada in the Third-Place match to earn its first-ever spot in a FIFA Women’s World Cup at any level.
+READ: USA blasts Bermuda 10-1 in Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship
All the games are taking place at the Stade D’honneur D’athletisme in Salon-de-Provence, which is about 30 miles north of Marseille.
The USA was drawn into Group C at the upcoming World Cup and opens the tournament on Monday, Aug. 6 against Japan (1:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. local), faces Paraguay on Thursday, Aug. 9 (1:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. local) and finishes the group against Spain on Monday, Aug. 13 (7:30 a.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. local). The USA will play its first two group games at Stade Guy-Piriou in Concarneau and its third group game at Stade du Clos Gastel in Dinan/Léhon.
The 16-team field for the tournament is a strong one, featuring Mexico, the USA, Haiti, host France, England, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Paraguay, China PR, Japan, Korea PRK and New Zealand. The USA has won the tournament three times (2002, 2008, 2012), as has Germany (2004, 2010, 2014), while Korea DPR has won it twice, in 2006 and most recently in 2016.
– U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team Match Report –
Match: U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team vs. Germany U-20 WNT
Date: June 5, 2018
Competition: Tournoi Maurice Revello Sud Ladies Cup
Venue: Stade D’honneur D’athletisme; Salon-de-Provenc
Weather: 70 degrees, dry
Attendance: 200
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 2 1 3
GER 0 0 0
USA – Abigail Kim (Sophia Smith) 3rd minute
USA – Sophia Smith 24
USA – Brianna Pinto (Kiara Pickett) 76
USA: 1-Laurel Ivory; 2-Kiara Pickett (capt.), 14-Samantha Hiatt, 23-Naomi Girma, 13-Tara McKeown (3-Isabel Rodriguez, 59), 7-Savannah DeMelo, 10-Viviana Villacorta (18-Jaelin Howell, 46), 8-Brianna Pinto, 17-Abigail Kim (21-Alexa Spaanstra, 78), 9-Sophia Smith, 4-Taryn Torres (20-Ashley Sanchez, 59)
Subs Not Used: Penelope Hocking, Erin Gilroy, Delanie Sheehan
Head Coach: Jitka Klimkova
JPN: 1-Vanessa Fischer; 3-Katja Orschmann (18-Klara Buhl, 46), 4-Sophia Kleinherne, 6-Janina Minge, 7-Nina Lange (2-Dina Orschmann, 46), 8-Jana Felkamp (capt.) (20-Ereleta Memeti, 59), 9-Stefanie-Antonia Sanders, 10-Laura Freigang, 11-Kristin Kogel, 13-Sarai Linder, 15-Lisa Schoppl
Stats Summary: USA / GER
Shots: 12 / 8
Shots on Goal: 7 / 5
Saves: 5 / 4
Corner Kicks: 4 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 5
Offside: 1 / 4
Misconduct Summary:
GER – Kristin Kogel (caution) 61st minute
USA – Naomi Girma (caution) 70
Officials:
Referee: Victoria Beyer (FRA)
Assistant Referee: Solenne Bartnik (FRA)
Assistant Referee: Stephanie Di Beneditto (FRA)
Fourth Official: Berline Geffrard (HAI)
| Tournoi Maurice Revello Sud Ladies Cup | ||||||||
| Team | GP | W | L | D | Pts. | GF | GA | GD |
| FRA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | +5 |
| USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
| GER | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -3 |
| HAI | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -5 |
