INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Holders USA have set a new record for FIFA World Cup finals, for either women or men, by thrashing Thailand 13-0 in their opening match of
the 2019 tournament.Alex Morgan, who scored five times in total, opened the goal spree for the title favourites, who are in pursuit of a
fourth world crown, with a header in the 12th minute and from then on there was no stopping the champions.Image:Alex Morgan scored five
timesEight minutes later, Rose Lavelle found the net with a left-footed shot while midfielder Lindsey Horan gave them a 3-0 lead going into
the interval.Samantha Mewis opened the floodgates five minutes after the break as USA made life miserable for the Thais by regularly finding
the back of the net.In total, seven Americans scored during the match - Morgan (5), Lavelle (2), Mewis (2), Horan, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory
Pugh and Carli Lloyd all finding their way on to the score sheet in a performance that is bound to strike fear into all of those teams
hoping to end the United States' reign as world champions."We really wanted to showcase ourselves and what we've been preparing for and
working on and I think we did that," Morgan said."Every goal matters in this tournament and so that's what we were working on in this game
We got a lot of attacks and I think we were really clinical in the number of attacks that we did get."Image:Thailand found it hard to
conceal their disappointmentThe size of the defeat clearly demoralised Thailand, ranked 34 in the world, with some of the players in tears
and having to to be comforted by their American counterparts.
