Cristiana Girelli’s Goal Gives Italy 1-0 Win Over Argentina at the Women’s World Cup 

Italy's Cristiana Girelli celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Women's World Cup Group G soccer match between Italy and Argentina in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
Italy's Cristiana Girelli celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Women's World Cup Group G soccer match between Italy and Argentina in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
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Cristiana Girelli’s Goal Gives Italy 1-0 Win Over Argentina at the Women’s World Cup 

Italy's Cristiana Girelli celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Women's World Cup Group G soccer match between Italy and Argentina in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
Italy's Cristiana Girelli celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Women's World Cup Group G soccer match between Italy and Argentina in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)

In the space of some four minutes, Cristiana Girelli made history.

Girelli became the first Italian to score in two Women's World Cups with her goal in the 87th minute that gave Italy a 1-0 win in its tournament opener against Argentina on Monday night.

“There’s nothing special, it’s just that I did my duty," Girelli said. “I did my best. I was really willing to help my teammates.”

Italy put the ball in the back of the net twice in the opening half but both times were offside, before Girelli's breakthrough header. Girelli came into the match as a substitute in the 83rd minute.

The Italians have never dropped an opening match at the World Cup. But this time they faced tenacious Argentina, eager for its first-ever win in the tournament. Going into the World Cup, La Albiceleste were inspired by their men's side and star Lionel Messi, who brought home the World Cup trophy from Qatar late last year.

“We will try to leave this game behind us, learn from what happened, and continue reinforcing the positive. Now we need to clear our minds, look at what comes next and take on the group," Argentina forward Estefania Banini said.

Italy has had more success on the big stage, advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2019 after a 2-0 round of 16 victory over China. The Italians were stopped by the Netherlands, which went on to lose to the United States in the final.

Argentina had a boisterous section of fans — including a drum corps — at the match at Eden Park. The crowd at the match was announced at 30,889.

Argentina’s women returned to the World Cup four years ago in France after a 12-year absence and had a tough time: after a draw with Japan and a loss to England, the team played to a tie with Scotland — but couldn’t collect enough points to advance out of the group.

“We couldn't really manage to get a positive result, but my players gave it their all. Yes, they gave it their all and they know this. I told them this,” Argentina coach German Portanova. “We took the field with a certain mindset, but we couldn't do it for the 90 minutes.”

Arianna Caruso, who plays professionally for Juventus, appeared to score from distance in the 15th minute but Italy was quickly ruled offside. The 23-year-old was the youngest woman to reach 100 appearances with Juventus.

A midfielder, she was one of Italy's most dangerous players early in the match. But she was handed a yellow card in the 25th minute and was subbed off in the 58th minute.

Italy was offside again on Valentina Giacinti's attempted goal late in the half.

Italy goalkeeper Lara Esponda held Argentina at bay on a dangerous free kick in the 73rd.

Italy started 16-year-old Giulia Dragoni at midfield and the Barcelona player nicknamed “Little Messi” is the second-youngest European to play at the tournament. Dragoni wears No. 16 to correspond with her age.

She was replaced by Girelli, at 33 the oldest player in the Azzurre squad, in the 83rd minute. Girelli's goal was the 54th of her international career.

Girelli, who also plays for Juventus, changed the tone of the match almost immediately when she subbed in.

“It was amazing, because, yes, we were looking for the goal for all the second half. We were trying. I think we played a good match in the second half and fortunately Cristiana put her head on the ball and scored,” said Italy's captain Barbara Bonansea.

Elsewhere, Sweden defeated South Africa 2-1 on Sunday to kick off Group G play at the tournament, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. Sweden now sits atop the group with a pair of goals compared to Italy's one.

Group G plays all of its matches in New Zealand. Argentina next faces South Africa on Friday in Dunedin, while Italy plays Sweden in Wellington on Saturday.



Amorim Says Future ‘Hasn’t Been Decided’ as Man United Shows Interest in Sporting Lisbon Coach

 Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
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Amorim Says Future ‘Hasn’t Been Decided’ as Man United Shows Interest in Sporting Lisbon Coach

 Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)
Sporting's coach Ruben Amorim attends a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League football match against SK Sturm Graz at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, outskirts of Lisbon, on September 21, 2024. (AFP)

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim said Tuesday his future "hasn’t been decided yet" amid interest from Manchester United.

"Nobody knows if this was my farewell match, or if there will be a farewell match," Amorim said in quotes reported by Portugal’s sports daily A Bola after Sporting’s 3-1 win over Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup quarterfinals.

Hours earlier, Sporting released a statement to the Lisbon Stock Exchange, saying it has told United that Amorim has a release clause worth 10 million euros ($10.8 million) in his contract.

The Portuguese champions said United "has shown interest" in paying that amount for Amorim.

United is looking to replace Erik ten Hag, who was fired on Monday with the team languishing in 14th place in the Premier League.

Ten Hag was the 20-time English champions' fifth permanent manager since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. United hasn't won the league since Ferguson's departure.

The 39-year-old Amorim has coached Sporting since 2020, leading the team to Portuguese league titles in 2021 and last season.

Sporting leads the league this season, too, having won all nine of its games, bolstering Amorim's reputation as one of Europe's most talented coaches.

"We have to wait a little bit more to explain everything I need to explain. It will be very clear," he said.

Amorim said he expects to still be in Lisbon on Sunday, when United hosts Chelsea in the Premier League, but when pressed he laughed and said: "I don't know."

He reportedly held talks with West Ham last season and was linked with replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool before Arne Slot was hired.

Amorim is a former Portugal midfielder who spent the majority of his club career at Benfica.

His contract at Sporting expires in 2026.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was asked earlier Tuesday if he thought Amorim has what it takes to succeed in the Premier League.

"All I can talk about is the experience of playing twice against Ruben’s Sporting Lisbon team (in the Champions League's round of 16 in 2022), and the pressure was really, really good," Guardiola said.

"I spoke with (current City player) Matheus Nunes, and he was his player, and he speaks highly about him. And look this season, he is unbeaten and winning all the games in the Portuguese league and (in) the Champions League, (they have) the same points as us. So a high manager. I have the feeling that Man United, what I hear, that they are thinking about him, it’s because he’s a good manager."

Ten Hag's assistant at United, Ruud van Nistelrooy, will take interim control of the team for Wednesday's English League Cup match against Leicester at Old Trafford.