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 coach, Milena Bertolini, said. “She’s a weapon for us. We had a lot of the ball but just couldn’t get it into the net.”

Italy’s Arianna Caruso and Valentina Giacinti had goals ruled offside in a competitive first half after Argentina nearly made a sensational start when Mariana Larroquette’s bicycle kick went narrowly wide in the second minute.

After a slow start to the second half, Italy settled into their rhythm and looked more likely to score. Manuela Giuliano’s free-kick drifted over the bar before Giada Greggi drew a smart stop from Correa in the 82nd minute.

Cristiana Girelli

Italy’s goalkeeper, Francesca Durante, pushed away the midfielder Florencia Bonsegundo’s attempt from a free-kick in stoppage time, ensuring a winning start for the 2019 quarter-finalists. Argentina caused plenty of problems for Durante but could not manage a shot on target until Bonsegundo’s free-kick.

Bertolini was vindicated after putting her faith in Dragoni as the Barcelona player impressed on her debut before making way for Girelli, the oldest member of Italy’s squad, who scored her 54th international goal on her 104th appearance.

“Giulia is a talent,” Bertolini said. “She was ready both technically and tactically. I think that she did very well considering her age and also playing in such a big stadium in such a big event.”

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Italy play Sweden in Wellington on Saturday. The two teams are level on points but Sweden hold a slender advantage in Group G, topping the group on number of goals scored thanks to their 2-1 win over South Africa on Sunday. Argentina next face South Africa on Friday in Dunedin.

“It was a very even match,” Argentina’s coach, Germán Portanova, said. “At times we controlled it and they did not have many opportunities. The result was somewhat unfair. A draw would have been the right score.”