‘19 WWC: New Zealand (Hassett, Cleverley) vs. Netherlands 6am; USA (Morgan) vs. Thailand (Nild) 12pm PT

The 4 Cal Bears in the 2019 Women’s World Cup will all start group play on Tuesday, June 11th. In case you missed it, I wrote a quick profiles of the 4 Cal Bears last week; they are Cal alumni Alex Morgan (USA), Betsy Hassett (New Zealand), and Miranda Nild (Thailand) as well as Cal rising junior Daisy Cleverley (New Zealand).

New Zealand (0-0-0) vs. Netherland (0-0-0)

Where: Le Havre, France

When: 6 am PT

TV: FS1

Two Cal Bears play for the New Zealand Football Ferns, both are veterans of the Women’s World Cup. Cal alum Betsy Hassett should be a starter in the midfield while Cal junior (in her 2nd World Cup) may start the match on the bench.

Netherlands with star play like Lieke Martens, FIFA’s best women’s player in 2017, is probably the favorite in this one, but these tournament opening matches are always tricky. There is also growing parity in the women’s game now.

USA (0-0-0) vs. Thailand (0-0-0)

Where: Reims, France

When: 12 pm PT

TV: FOX

Cal alum Alex Morgan apparently took the initiative to introduce herself to recent Cal alum Miranda Nild.

Of course, most of us will be rooting for Team USA and Alex Morgan in this tournament. Morgan has only scored 2 goals in 2019 internationally and she (and many other USWNT players) will probably get a lot of goal scoring chances in this one against an up-and-coming team in Thailand.

Thailand only qualified for the Women’s World Cup thanks to the play of Miranda Nild last summer. Nild, who just exhausted her collegiate eligibility last fall is not affiliated with any pro team, actually has been training in Berkeley. Be sure to check out this quick video feature about her.

These game threads are meant as a place to discuss the matches. I will update this post with short recaps of the matches afterward.

GO BEARS!