WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ROUNDUP
France 2, Brazil 1
Wendie Renard was threatening to skip the Women's World Cup and Eugénie Le Sommer wasn't in selection contention just a few months ago under France's previous coaching regime.
A management overhaul and a change of heart ultimately led to two of French football's most experienced players combining for Les Bleues on Saturday to deliver a win over Brazil that put them into a strong position to progress to the round of 16.
Le Sommer missed with a diving header in the 13th minute but needed only four more minutes to convert her next chance, beating Brazilian goalkeeper Leticia with a more emphatic header to score her record-extending 90th international goal.
Debinha equalized for Brazil as the hour approached, and the game opened up as both teams pressed for a winner. That's when Renaud stepped in.
Renard, who'd been in doubt for the match because of a calf injury she picked up in France's lackluster opening 0-0 draw against Jamaica, drifted unmarked to the back edge of the box to meet a corner kick with a powerful header in the 83rd and clinch victory.
It meant the well-traveled Hervé Renard, who was hired in March to replace Corinne Diacre, became the first head coach to win games at both the women's and men's World Cups.
Jamaica 1, Panama 0 Defender Allyson Swaby scored in the 56th minute and Jamaica hung on to edge Panama for its first-ever win at the Women's World Cup.
Swaby, who grew up in West Hartford and played for Boston College, knocked in a header off Trudi Carter's corner kick to clinch the win that moved the Jamaicans into a surprising share of top spot in Group F with France.
The Reggae Girlz were without captain and leading scorer Khadija Shaw, who received a red card in second-half stoppage time of the team's opening 0-0 draw against France.
Born to a Jamaican father, Allyson and her younger sister, Chantelle, a former Rutgers player, both are starting in their second Women's World Cup.
Sweden 5, Italy 0
After leaving it to the last minute against South Africa, Sweden left nothing to chance in a win over Italy which sealed its place in the knockout rounds of the Women's World Cup.
Sweden relied on Amanda Ilestedt's 90th-minute winner to salvage a 2-1 win from a sub-par performance in its opener against South Africa.
Ilestedt was Sweden's first scorer Saturday, this time in the 39th, and her glancing header from a corner sparked a flood of four Swedish goals in 11 minutes on either side of halftime. Her second goal came in the 50th and was a mirror image of the first.
Rebecka Blomqvist finished it off in stoppage time with Sweden's fifth goal.
"We are good at set pieces," said Ilestedt, who is now the tournament's leading scorer with three goals. "We have good shooters and we know we are good headers so it feels good the balls are coming where they should."
The Swedish attack again looked hesitant in the first 20 minutes. Italy appeared more composed over the ball in that period and more threatening with Sofia Cantore particularly dangerous on the right. Cantore had the first shot on goal in the opening minute, finding the keeper at the near post, and Italy had five shots on goal before Sweden had its first.
But as the first half progressed, Sweden began to look more composed, more organized and then more ruthless. The crowd of just over 29,000 appeared to sense the change.
AC Milan midfielder Kosovare Asllani began to get behind the defense and while at first she didn't find teammates forward to meet her crosses, her freedom marked a turning point in the match. Italy was forced to soak up more and more pressure until, at last, the dam broke.
Joanna Andersson curled the ball in from the right in the 39th and Ilestedt rose highest at the near post to glance the ball on a narrow angle into the net.