Norway Defeats France 2-0 In Opening Game Of The FIFA World Cup In Philadelphia

On a very sunny, hot day in Philadelphia, in front of a crowd of 24,347 (which really didn’t show up until the second game), Norway scored two second half goals to defeat France 2-0 in the opening round of Group B of the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003.

After a scoreless first half, in which both teams had chances to score, Norway took the lead on a header by Anita Rapp and then on a breakaway by Dagny Mellgren (Mellgran was named FIFA Player of the Game), both members of the now defunct WUSA. One other player in the game that has ties to the area was French star Marinette Pichon, who played for the Philadelphia Charge the last two years and was named MVP of the WUSA in 2002. Marinette Pichon had several opportunities to score, but was stopped by Bente Nordby, another former WUSA player.