Women’s World Cup: Let’s give Vanina Correa her due

Argentina have an outside shot at making it into the knockout stages of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and goalkeeper Vanina Correa is a huge reason for the team’s surprising success.

In their first game of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Argentina had the tall task of trying to hold off a talented Japan attack. They did so with aplomb, suffocating Japan’s possession-based offense in a 0-0 draw that gave Argentina momentum heading into their second group stage game against one of the World Cup favorites in England.

Although England got the better of Argentina, it took them 61 minutes to break Argentina’s organized defense. Defending is a team effort and Argentina understand this as well as anyone, but it’s important to point out that goalkeeper Vanina Correa is a huge reason for the team’s surprising success thus far in the tournament.

When Argentina shut out Japan, Correa showed her quality by making countless safe catches to stop dangerous crosses in their tracks. It’s so easy to make a mistake when facing a high volume of aerial passes into the box, but Correa took a “safety first” approach, getting to the ground as quickly as possible to thwart any possible rebounds. Correa made a few nifty saves, too, and earned her clean sheet.

She was even better against England. Sure, England managed to get into the score sheet, but no keeper in history could have stopped Beth Mead’s inch-perfect cross from the left nestling perfectly onto striker Jodie Taylor’s feet in front of the goal.

However, Correa made a number of critical saves, including a jaw-dropping penalty save to deny England’s star right winger Nikita Parris. The penalty was well-struck and well-placed to Correa’s left, but the height of the shot gave Correa a chance. And with a wonderful, sprawling dive to the left, Correa blocked the shot with a strong left hand. It’s one of the greatest penalty saves seen in the World Cup.

This save with her legs was just as amazing.

She had an incredible reflex save in the second half, too, and, as in the first game, made several important catches and clearances to show complete command of her box.

For her efforts, Correa was given the “Player of the Match”, which is a high honor considering she shared the pitch with some of the world’s best. Clearly, it was a well-deserved honor.

Coming into both this game and the game against Japan, Correa was frequently highlighted by the FOX Sports commentary team as a weakness. Aly Wagner wondered if Correa could command her box and come out to stop crosses effectively, but the 35-year-old carried herself perfectly and has arguably been the best keeper in this tournament in the air thus far.

Correa’s work in between the sticks has given Argentina a real shot at sneaking into the knockout stages, because a win against Scotland, though difficult, would give them four points and a good shot at least making it in as one of the qualifying third-placed teams.

Estefania Banini’s world-class dribbling and ingenious passes as Argentina’s captain earned the most praised in the first group stage game, but she isn’t the only star player in Argentina. Correa put in a heroic performance against England in defeat, and her ability to keep Argentina’s goal differential to just -1 could prove to be critical next week, pending what takes place.

It’s incredible to think that Correa pulled out three world-class saves and is a talented keeper, yet came into this tournament as a completely unknown 35-year-old. She has to work another job in addition to playing soccer and must be away from her children, who are four-year old twins, in order to train for Argentina. Her story is inspiring, and perhaps her performances in this year’s World Cup will inspire girls in Argentina to play football to help grow the sport in the future so that soccer can be a full-time job for these talented, hard-working athletes.