Carli Lloyd (C) of the United States celebrates her scoring with Megan Rapinoe (R) during the Group F match between the United States and Thailand at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in Reims, France, June 11, 2019. The United States won 13-0. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
by sportswriter Zhang Han
REIMS, France, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Alex Morgan scored five and three Americans got at least a brace as the FIFA Women's World Cup holders destroyed Thailand 13-0 here on Tuesday to begin their defending campaign strongly.
It's the biggest scoreline in the quadrennial event's history and Morgan leveled the record held by Michelle Akers who had been the only one scoring five in a World Cup match before tonight's U.S.-Thailand game.
The Orlando Pride forward, who turns 30 years old in less than a month, broke the deadlock with a 12-minute header, just six minutes after an earlier effort was ruled offside.
Her other goals all came in the second half, respectively on 53, 74, 81 and 87 minutes. And Samantha Mewis and Rose Lavelle each had a brace.
"I'm feeling in peak form right now," said the former Lyon player at the post-match press conference.
"The preparation days before this, I think, the team in general was feeling great. Having the pre-camp at the Tottenham training facility helped us build more together and united," added the 29-year-old Morgan.
Carli Lloyd sealed the victory in the second minute into the stoppage time, coming out the oldest goal scorer at the grand competitions. The 36 years and 330 days old now has scored in five consecutive World Cup games.
Averaging 29 years old, the Americans dominated from the very beginning in terms of both ball possession and the result, putting so much pressure on their opponents with three shots on goal in the very first five minutes.
Receiving from Kelley O'Hara who bursted down the right wing, Morgan was just in place to nod home with ease near the post to break the deadlock.
Eight minutes apart from the opening score, Washington Spirit's midfielder Rose Lavelle added the second with a long-range kick, before Lindsey Horan smashed home a Tobin Heath's free kick from close range in the 32nd minute.
It was not long after break that Mewis' powerful shot enlarged the advantage to 4-0 at 50, before Morgan, Mewis and Lavelle each added a second goal of the match respectively on 53, 54 and 56 minutes.
Mewis' 50-minute score was the 800th goal in the quadrennial event's history and the four goals in six second-half minutes saw the U.S., the most successful team in women's World Cup history, race into 7-0 lead.
The Americans then made successful scoring in every five minutes starting from the 74th minute, with Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh and Lloyd adding their names on the score board.
Thailand, who had only two shooting attempts against the Americans' 39, came up to their best chance in the 28th minute when Rattikan Thongsombut took a long-range shot to force Alyssa Naeher to make her first save.
"We accept the score today. We haven't done enough. They are very strong and they are excellent all-round," Thai coach Neungrutai Srathongvian said.
His counterpart of the United States, Jill Ellis responded: "Every team that is here has been fantastic to get to this point. To be respectful to opponents is to play hard against them."
"It's a tournament where goal differential is a criteria. This is about building momentum and so as a coach I don't find it my job to rein my players in.
"I respect Thailand, I spoke to some of them afterwards and they should keep their heads up. This is part of the growth of the game," she added.
With the big victory, the United States sit undisputedly on the top of Group F, beating Sweden, the 2-0 winners over Chile earlier on Tuesday evening in Rennes, to the second place.
