Brazil's women's soccer team made their tournament debut on Monday (24) in pursuit of their coveted first Women's World Cup title. With a hat-trick from central midfielder Avery and the icing on the cake from Veles, the dynamic Samba side eased past Panama, who were making their debut in the final week of the World Cup, by a score of 3-0 in Group F.
Although Brazil were still without their female ace, Mada, the 37-year-old came on as a second-half substitute but failed to steal the thunder from 23-year-old midfield star Avery, who was making her World Cup finals week debut. Brazil had a clear advantage and it took only 19 minutes for Avery to open the scoring with a header. Then in the 40th minute, Avery's header was parried by the goalkeeper, but she quickly added a second to give Brazil a 2-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Avery continued to show her sharpness, scoring another goal for Brazil in the 49th minute through a wonderful long-distance shot. In the 70th minute, Avery scored a header from a teammate's cross, which not only helped Brazil seal the win, but also became the first player to complete a hat-trick in this tournament. In the end, Brazil beat Panama by a score of 4-0. It is worth mentioning that Panama's loss also marks the debut of the eight World Cup debut of the "new" all suffered a defeat in the first game.
