The substitute Cristiana Girelli’s 87th-minute header gave Italy a 1-0 win in their Women’s World Cup opener at Eden Park on Monday, extending Argentina’s run without a World Cup victory to 10 matches across four tournaments.
Girelli, a 33-year-old striker, replaced the 16-year-old midfielder Giulia Dragoni in the 83rd minute and quickly made an impact, beating the goalkeeper Vanina Correa with a fine header to seal a hard-fought victory.
“When you have a player like Cristiana Girelli on the bench and you see that you can’t actually score … my choice was very simple,” Italy’s…
