First a work of art by the underdog, then a goal show before the favorite’s break: France made it into the round of 16 on Wednesday (02.08.2023) with a clear win against World Cup newcomer Panama.
The 6:3 victory gave France the group victory and thus possibly a meeting in the round of 16 with the German team, which on Thursday (12:00 p.m. in the ticker at sportschau.de) is playing its last group game against South Korea.
The “Equipe Tricolore” easily took the last hurdle in Panama and were not put off by a lightning goal by Marta Cox. An own goal by Deysiré Salazar (21′), Kadidiatou Diani (28’/37′) and Léa Le Garrec (45′) made things clear at the break. After the change, Panama made a lot out of little with two more goals. But there was nothing to shake about the clear victory for France. Before Panama could shine, Diani had made it 5-1 with her third goal. Vicki Becho scored the final point to make it 6:3 after a textbook attack in injury time.
Cox scores fastest goal of the World Cup
Beforehand, everyone had only speculated about the extent of the French team’s victory, and coach Hervé Renard also seemed certain of victory and gave five reserve players playing time. Compared to the top game against Brazil (3-2), Estelle Cascarino, Elisa de Almeida, Le Garrec, Clara Mateo and Becho were rotated into the team. But the plan of a walk was gone after 67 seconds because the outsider took the lead with a dream goal.
Cox circled a free kick from 18 meters straight over the wall and into the corner. It was the World Cup newcomer’s first goal on the big stage and one of the most beautiful in the tournament. The 26-year-old Cox seemed surprised by this dream goal herself, tears ran down her cheeks, while the shock was written on the French women’s faces, because a look at the table showed: With this standing and a draw in the parallel game between Brazil and Jamaica it would be France eliminated.
France forces own goal
It quickly became clear that this snapshot would not last long. The individually superior French women dominated the game and pushed for a quick equalizer. In the 1:1 (21st) Panama’s Salazar helped a lot. After an input from the right, she poked the ball into her own net while trying to clear, goalkeeper Yenith Bailey was already on her way to the corner and would have fished the ball out.
The spell was broken and from then on the engine rolled against the outsider who had no chance. After a simple mistake in the build-up, Becho prevailed on the right wing, Diani converted her input with a nice lob on the second attempt: 2:1 (28th).
Double pack by Diani
Panama stumbled from one embarrassment to another as France simply combined too quickly. The third goal was in the air and finally came from the penalty spot. After a hand ball from Pinzon, referee Laura Fortunato (Argentina) awarded a penalty. Diani took the chance, sent Bailey into the wrong corner and made things clear with her second goal: 3:1 (37th). Seconds before the break, an input from Le Garrec, which was actually intended as a cross, sailed into the far corner.
The deserved 4-1 lead at the break was also reflected in the numbers: 57 percent possession, 21-3 completions and 269 passes (Panama/83) were clear.
France warmed up against Panama for the round of 16
Panama scores twice after the break
And even after the change, the dilemma continued from the point of view of Panama. After a corner, after video evidence, handball and a penalty were decided again. Goalkeeper Bailey suspected the corner, but Diani’s ball was too placed: 5:1 (52nd). The third penalty of the game went to Panama. Sandie Toletti went to work much too impetuously in the penalty area and thus made it possible to reduce the score to 2:5 (64th). Pinzon attacked, hammered the ball into the goal with conviction and then celebrated her country’s second World Cup goal with a euphoric little dance.
Gates on the assembly line
One could only wish for the likeable underdog and brave goalkeeper Bailey that France would slow down in the final 25 minutes. And the Renard team did this favor for the World Cup debutant, who was even allowed to dance a third time in the 87th minute: after a free kick, the ball dripped back off the crossbar, Cedeno switched the fastest and headed in to make it 3:5.
After a long video check, the goal counted and ensured a conciliatory end to the premiere World Cup. The final point was reserved for the 19-year-old French Becho. She took an entry from the right at full speed and crowned the goal show between Panama and France.
2023-08-02 15:24:42
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