The U.S. women’s national team got off to a winning start — if not an imperious one — at the World Cup.
A 3-0 victory over Vietnam didn’t quite live up to some outsized expectations, but when you consider that Alyssa Naeher barely even touched the ball with her feet, much less her hands, it was also a functional, easing-into-it kind of performance. Vietnam was more physical and more organized than Thailand (who infamously fell to the USWNT 13-0 at the last World Cup), and they recently gave Germany a more difficult time than they did the U.S.
In other words, while it wasn’t amazing, it also wasn’t bad. The USWNT got valuable World Cup debuts in for six starters and two substitutes, they didn’t have to run themselves into the ground to take the three points, and they showed no signs of weakness at the back. No one got hurt (though a couple of players probably have some bruises, because Vietnam got stuck the heck in), and potential knockout round opponents probably still don’t know exactly what they’re going to be facing in a couple of weeks.
With all of that glass half-full thinking in mind, here are some points worth digging deeper into from what the U.S. hopes is the first of seven straight wins.