Australia tops Ghana for first World Cup win

Soccer Betting Lines

09/12/2007 - Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australia won its first ever Women's World Cup contest on Wednesday as Lisa De Vanna scored twice to lead the Matildas to a thorough 4-1 win over Ghana in their opening contest in Group C.

Australia had gone 0-7-2 in its previous nine World Cup encounters, including a loss and a draw with Ghana, but got this campaign off to a strong start as Sarah Walsh grabbed the opener and Heather Garriock scored in the 69th minute between De Vanna's two goals.

Anita Amenuku scored the lone goal for Ghana, which has never advanced past the group stage in a Women's World Cup and will have trouble doing so in this edition either after the loss.

The first half was played at a slow pace with both teams content to knock the ball around and show little flair in attack.

Ghana produced the first chance of the game five minutes in as Florence Okoe got on the other end of a through-ball and held off her defender to create room for a shot. She drove the ball low and past the keeper but pulled it wide of the far post.

Walsh looked dangerous throughout the match for Australia and had an opportunity to get the Matildas on the scoreboard in the 12th minute. She was played into the box on the right but Ghana keeper Memunatu Sulemana cut down the angle and stopped the shot from close range.

Three minutes later, Walsh made the most of her second chance to put Australia ahead. A driven cross from the right was knocked down inside the area by Caitlin Munoz, and she played a pass back to Walsh, who quickly smacked a shot on goal that left the keeper standing.

Australia slowed things down in the middle part of the half, but should have gone up two goals in the 32nd minute. A cross through the face of goal found Munoz wide open at the back post, but she missed badly as the ball flew well wide off the side of her foot.

The Matildas came out strong after the restart with De Vanna hitting the crossbar from the edge of the area, and Joanne Peters heading wide of the target from close range.

The pressure continued to mount with Sally Shipard providing a nice cross for Garriock at the back post. Garriock slid and turned a shot toward goal but the ball sailed over the top.

Walsh continued to find the ball in space, and in the 57th minute, set up Australia's second goal. Walsh dashed down the wing on the right and slid a low cross through the box to De Vanna, who did a poor job with the finish by knocking it at the keeper. However, Sulemana was on the move and the ball deflected off of her foot and into the net.

Garriock extended the Australia lead to three goals in the 69th minute with a glancing header from the penalty spot, but the Black Queens immediately responded with a goal of their own.

A long ball from midfield was lobbed over the top for Amankwa, and she gained possession of the ball and cut it away from her defender. Amankwa then finished well by driving the ball into the upper right corner to make it 3-1.

De Vanna then added her second goal to effectively put an end to the suspense as she latched onto a ball at the edge of the box and slotted past the keeper, who had come off her line to challenge the shot.

Australia will meet group favorite's Norway on Saturday, while Ghana will look for a more positive result on Saturday against Canada.

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