Haiti and Portugal yesterday qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time after winning playoff matches in New Zealand.
Carole Costa scored a 94th-minute clincher in Portugal’s 2-1 win over the Cameroon “Lionesses” who have reached the round-of-16 at the last two World Cups.
Haiti beat Chile 2-1 earlier yesterday in a historic match they hope would bring joy and “a breath of fresh air” to a strife-torn homeland.
Photo: AP
Melchie Dumornay scored twice to ensure 55th-ranked Haiti would return to the southern hemisphere in July to play in Group D of the World Cup alongside England, China and Denmark.
Haiti and Portugal have taken two of the last three places at the World Cup, while Paraguay is to play Panama today for the last place in the 32-team tournament, which is to be cohosted by Australia and New Zealand in July and August.
Haiti’s Dumornay was recently signed by seven-time Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais and showed why with two pieces of slick finishing. She won the race to a through ball from Roselord Borgella in first-half stoppage-time to give Haiti a 1-0 lead at the break.
Photo: Reuters
Dumornay then seemed to make the game safe in the eighth of 11 minutes added on by the referee after Chile captain Christiane Endler had saved Nerilia Mondesir’s attempt from the penalty spot.
Maria Jose Rojas scored in the 11th minute of stoppage-time to keep Chile’s hopes alive and make the final moments nerve-racking for Haiti’s Les Grenadiers, who held on to claim a historic victory.
Players shed tears of joy when the final whistle blew, reflecting on success attained in the most difficult of circumstances.
Haiti’s Les Grenadiers had to win two matches in New Zealand to qualify for their first World Cup. They beat Senegal 4-0 in their opening match and then 38th-ranked Chile for their first-ever win over a South American opponent.
Prior to the tournament midfielder Danielle Etienne told ESPN: “There’s a lot of unhappiness in the country and football is the joy.”
“Being able to qualify to the World Cup would be major,” she said at the time. “We want that for the country as a whole, to have a breath of fresh air and kind of step aside from anything going on.”
While Portugal’s win was sealed late it came at the end of a dominant performance. Portugal had 20 shots on goal, most of which were comfortably saved by Cameroon’s 16-year-old goalkeeper Cathy Biya, who was promoted after Ange Bawou was sent off against Thailand.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS