Sophia Smith: USA has lot more to give after opening WWC win

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — U.S. women’s national team forward Sophia Smith said that her team’s 3-0 win over Vietnam was “a good starting point” but that the Americans have “a lot more to give,” especially in terms of finishing off chances.

Smith — one of six U.S. players to make their World Cup debut on Saturday — was the hero, scoring twice in the first half and then assisting on Lindsey Horan‘s clincher with 13 minutes of normal time remaining.

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But the U.S. was forced to work hard for their victory against a disciplined and organized Vietnam side, perhaps harder than expected given that the Americans blew away Thailand 13-0 four years ago in the opener to the 2019 World Cup and that the Vietnamese suffered a 9-0 friendly defeat to Spain last week.

Yet both Smith and manager Vlatko Andonovski were satisfied that the first win of the tournament is behind them.

“I feel good. I think it was a good starting point for our team in this tournament,” Smith said. “I also know that we have a lot more that we can give, a lot more to do, little things to work…