Football

USWNT vs Vietnam player ratings: Sophia Smith a World Cup debut to remember

July 22, 2023 9:19 am

The defending World Cup champions of USWNT opened their 2023 World Cup campaign in style with an easy 3-0 win vs Vietnam. On her World Cup debut, Sophia Smith scored 2 goals and assisted for the third, giving her the most memorable of first experiences on the highest stage there is for women’s football.

USWNT vs Vietnam ratings
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Photo by Icon sport
  • On her World Cup debut, Sophia Smith scored at the start and the end of the first half to put the US team in complete control vs Vietnam.
  • Morgan missed lots of chances, including a first-half penalty.
  • Cruising, the Americans scored 1 more goal in the second half. Smith put a gloss on her performance with an assist for her captain Horan.

USWNT Player Ratings: Inspired World Cup debutant Sophia Smith leads the way

GK Alyssa Naeher 6/10 – Naeher hardly got tested. She touched the ball only 4 times during the entire first half.

DF Emily Fox 5/10 – Fox didn’t have much to do defensively. She wasn’t very active in joining the attacks though so her impact in the match was minimal. Fox also wasted a great chance in the 66th minute when firing over from a point-blank range.

DF Julie Ertz 6/10 – Ertz wasn’t focused on her passes early on. She improved as the game progressed. Defensively, she wasn’t tested much but with the little she had to do she did well.

DF Naomi Girma 8/10 – Very solid at the back all match. Also, her diagonal passes kept causing problems all game. Her delivery brought the 2nd goal.

DF Crystal Dunn 5/10 – The full-back Dunn wasn’t much of a factor going forward. She also struggled to link up with Smith on several occasions.

MF Savannah DeMelo 5/10 – Defensively was a rock, but she had little to do there. Didn’t get involved much on the offensive end. Stayed passive all match.

MF Andi Sullivan 8/10 – Played very well in the heart of the midfield. Led the team with 16 defensive interventions. Her ball distribution was also very good.

MF Lindsey Horan 7/10 – The captain lacked consistency in the first half. She kept running into traffic. However, she was involved in Smith’s opener and eventually scored the last goal of the match late on.

FW Trinity Rodman 6/10 – Played very well out wide. Won the penalty that Morgan missed. Lost her edge after the break though. 

FW Alex Morgan 5/10 – Morgan’s early assist opened the scoring. Alex kept missing chances that came her way all match though. She even failed to convert a penalty. Should have scored.

FW Sophia Smith 9/10 – Smith was simply impossible to contain on her World Cup debut. Scoring her first goal very early on lifted her confidence. She went on to score again in the first half and then assisted Horan for the 3rd goal past the hour.

Substitutes 

FW Megan Rapinoe 5/10 – The veteran played her 200th game for the USWNT. Came on at 63”. Missed 2 good chances.

MF Rose Lavelle 6/10 – Improved the forward actions after her introduction on 63”.

The other 3 substitutes were made inside the final 15 minutes, so there was no time for those players to be ranked.

Vietnam Player Ratings: K. Tran Thi prevented humiliation

GK K. Tran Thi 7/10 – The busy goalie saved a penalty and on 8 other occasions had to be decisive. She was the only reason why Vietnam kept the scoreline respectful.

DF T. Tran Thi 5/10 – Struggled to keep up with the pace of the Americans. Late on delivered several good crosses.

DF Luong Thi 4/10 – Very insecure defensively. Gave away the penalty. Struggled for pace too.

DF My Le 6/10 – The most solid defender for Vietnam in this match. Didn’t make any major errors. Had 4 successful tackles.

DF T. Tran Thi 3/10 – Had an awful showing. She was at fault for 2 of the 3 goals that were conceded. 

DF Hoang Thi 4/10 – Never found a way to slow down Smith on the flank.

MF Ngyeng Thi 6/10 – Caused some problems on the right flank in the second half. Her deliveries were good. Her pace tested the US defence too.

MF M. Tran Thi 6/10 – Solid on the ball when she had it. Defensively helped a lot too.

MF Thai 6/10 – Did a lot of work defensively. Didn’t impact the game much on the attacking end.

MF Nguyen Thi 5/10 – Never got going.

FW Huyunh 5/10 – Left isolated up front for most of the match. Didn’t attack the few decent crosses well.

Substitutes 

MF Ngan Thi 5/10 – Didn’t pass the ball well. Struggled defensively too.

MF Chuong Thi 6/10 – Had some good solo runs down the left. Her crosses lacked precision.

FW Hai Pham 5/10 – Little impact in the 30 minutes she spent on the pitch.

DF Nguyen Thi 5/10 – Made a mistake for the 3rd goal. Otherwise, had 2 decisive blocked shots late on.

Player of the Match: Sophia Smith

Sophia Smith left no doubt about who will be the Player of the Match. Her dominant display and excellent scoring instincts announced her on the big stage already. Could the USWNT found their new superstar already?

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