Italy beat Argentina in a rough match in the 2023 Women's World Cup
At Eden Park (Aukland city), the Italian players fouled 20 times, while Argentina were 16. The total number of fouls was at least 10 times more than the matches that took place in this year's tournament. The main referee issued six yellow cards - equal to the tournament record (Brazil vs USA match in 2011).
This partly comes from the winning and losing of the two teams, because the correlation between the two sides is not too different. Italy did not win their opening match in two of the three congresses they attended. Since 1991, the team from Europe has not once kept a clean sheet in the first match. Argentina is even worse, having not won a match through three World Cup appearances (draw 2, lose 7).
Therefore, the two sides competed fiercely. Italy actively attacked, but stumbled against the solid defensive style of Argentina. With a 4-5-1 chart, the representative of South America concentrated a large number of troops in the midfield, intercepting the opponent's organizational phases early.
In the rare exits, the Italian player fell into the offside trap. In the first half, Arianna Caruso and Barbara Bonansea twice put the ball into goalkeeper Vanina Correa's net, but the line referee raised the flag for offside. The VAR then steps in, and determines the correct umpire.
In the second half, Italy continued to control the game, and the ball almost rolled over the bottom third of Argentina's field. However, coach Milena Bertolino's army was not sharp enough to penetrate the opponent's "human wall", even when using a long shot.
To increase the firepower of the attack, coach Milena Bertolino launched the old striker Cristiana Girelli to replace the 17-year-old midfielder Giulia Dragoni, and switched to a 4-4-2 formation with two attacks. This change took effect immediately. Just four minutes after arriving, the 33-year-old striker pressed the Argentina defender, received Lisa Boattin's cross and then headed the ball past goalkeeper Vanina Correa's reach.
Winning 1-0, Italy got three points like Sweden - the team also struggled to beat South Africa 2-1 yesterday. In the second series on July 29, the top two teams of Group G will face each other.
