The September international window wrapped up Monday and Tuesday with six Thorns in action, with each of their respective national teams earning victories in friendlies or World Cup Qualifiers.
In World Cup qualifying action on Monday, Dagny Brynjarsdóttir and the Icelandic national team made a statement with an 8-0 rout of Faroe Islands. Brynjarsdóttir started the match, going the full 90 in a game which featured braces from three members of the Icelandic team.
Nadia Nadim helped the Denmark to a resounding 6-1 win over Hungary in World Cup qualifying action Tuesday, scoring the opening goal on a penalty kick in the 28th minute. She also just missed scoring a goal with a header flashing just over the frame.
A series of international friendlies for Thorns players began Monday as Amandine Henry and France met Spain. Henry captained Les Blues to a 3-1 victory, which included an assist of her own.
France took the game’s first lead in the 21st minute thanks to some nifty playmaking by Henry. A French corner kick was sent on to the far post where it appeared to be tailing out of play. Before it did so, Henry saved the ball with a left-footed volley which bounced into the six-yard box where Laura Georges was able to smash it home.
Then on Tuesday, Hayley Raso and Australia played host to Brazil in front of a record crowd in Newcastle. Raso started the match and played the first half of the Matildas 3-2 victory – Australia’s second win against Brazil in four days.
The match marked the Aussies’ fifth consecutive international victory—matching their longest winning streak in the team’s history.
The U.S. rounded out the day with a friendly against New Zealand in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a big night for Thorns players as Lindsey Horan scored the opening goal and recorded an assist and Tobin Heath made her return to the field after an extended absence due to injury.
Horan entered the match in the just past the half-hour mark and made an immediate impact, scoring just minutes after stepping on the field with an acrobatic header from distance. Eight minutes later, she set up Mal Pugh with a perfectly threaded ball into the offensive third for the second of the USWNT's five goals in a 5-0 win.
Heath’s cap—her first for the U.S. in six months—marks a long-awaited return from injury.
