Sophia Smith Scores Twice As Holders US Ease To 3-0 Win In World Cup Opener

Sophia Smith scored twice and set up another as a new-look United States launched their bid to win a third Women's World Cup in a row with a 3-0 victory over Vietnam on Saturday. One of six members of the USA starting line-up making her World Cup debut, lively forward Smith finished a fine move to open the scoring in the 14th minute at Eden Park in Auckland. Veteran Alex Morgan was then denied from the penalty spot before Smith struck again deep in stoppage time at the end of the first half in front of a crowd of just over 41,000.

She then set up the third goal for captain Lindsey Horan in the 77th minute, after veteran icon Megan Rapinoe had come off the bench to win her 200th cap.

"I think it was a good starting point for our team in this tournament. I also know that we have a lot more that we can give, a lot more to do, little things to work on," said the 22-year-old Smith.

Vlatko Andonovski's title favourites missed a hatful of chances as debutants Vietnam avoided the humiliation that befell Thailand at the 2019 World Cup, when they were thrashed 13-0 by the United States.

There is clearly room for improvement for an American side who will also play Portugal and 2019 runners-up the Netherlands in Group E, as they aim to win an unprecedented third consecutive title.

However, this was a new experience for many of their side, and for Andonovski, taking charge of a World Cup game for the first time having replaced Jill Ellis as coach not long after their triumph at France 2019.

"Unfortunately we didn't capitalise on all the great opportunities that we created and that is something we are certainly going to focus on in the lead-up to the next game, but the first one is in the books and the focus immediately shifts towards