World Cup NOW: Will Italy or Sweden win Group G?

After being subbed into the match in the second half, Italy’s Cristiana Girelli scored a momentous goal to give Le Azzurre a 1-0 lead and push the squad to an opening-round win against Argentina. Italy earned three points in the process, placing it atop Group G alongside Sweden, which defeated South Africa Sunday morning.

But it wasn’t until the final three minutes of regulation time that Girelli put away that goal. The other 87 minutes were challenging for Italy. The team had a number of opportunities to strike, but they misplaced several shots, and had two goals taken off the board due to offside penalties.

The World Cup NOW crew – Jimmy Conrad, Heather O’Reilly, Melissa Ortiz and Stu Holden – discussed Italy’s struggles, and debated who they felt would win Group G between Le Azzure and Sweden.

Holden: “I think Sweden, still. I’m not ready to bail on Sweden yet. I had them super high on my power rankings. I expect them to make a deep run. I know they have to go through the U.S. potentially … but I thought that Sweden got … punched in the face [by South Africa] … it kind of woke them up. The Swedes were – exactly what they say – crossing, set pieces, headers, but I just felt like they didn’t really play at a high enough tempo consistently. I think they gave them a little bit more than what they were expecting … but Sweden vs. Italy is going to be a tasty little matchup. I do think Sweden will win the group.”

Conrad: “Do you feel the same way, Meli?”

Ortiz: “Yeah, and I think a tasty one on our menu is Sweden-Argentina as well. … Argentina’s gonna give a fight – Sweden’s gonna go on obviously, but I do think on the menu of games in this group, I kind of like that one.”

O’Reilly: “I think Sweden’s gonna win the group. I mean, we can’t judge just based on one goal that Argentina gave up, but when you think about just the physical dominance of Sweden when they’re taking corner kicks, free kicks, crosses in the box. Argentina did give up their goal on a back-post header, and that’s the bread-and-butter of Sweden. So I see them … overpowering Argentina with their physicality, and just building into this tournament. This is FIFA ranked No. 3 team, this is a team full of veterans that have given the U.S. such a handful in previous years, so I’m with Stu, I think that Sweden is just building.”

Conrad: “Alright … now, Stu has some bias. He had Sweden getting to the final. You’ve got to ride or die with Sweden at this point.”

Holden: “I know man, I’m in! Just don’t break my heart.”

Check out the full Women’s World Cup schedule and how to watch each match live here. Find the latest scores here.

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