June 2019
Belting goal from Lucy Bronze tops all-action England win against Norway as Lionesses progress to World Cup semi-finals
England’s Lionesses cruised into the semi-final of a World Cup for a second tournament in succession thanks to a relatively comfortable 3-0 victory against Norway.
While they were tested at times by their opponents, clinical finishing from Jill Scott and Ellen White and a second-half screamer from Lucy Bronze means England will be in France until the final weekend.
Despite almost constant rotation during the tournament so far, Phil Neville surprisingly made just one change from the win against Cameroon as Manchester City’s Demi Stokes replaced Manchester United’s Alex Greenwood.
England continued their tendency to start quick, on this occasion scoring their fastest ever Women’s World Cup goal inside two minutes through their most experienced player Bronze wasted no time in turning on the after-burners, beating Kristine Minde for pace before picking out Scott – via an Ellen White air shot – with the midfielder slotting home off the post to hand Neville the dream start.
While neither goalkeeper had a huge amount to do in the opening half an hour, it wasn’t a game short of chances.
Norway contained
White came close to doubling England’s advantage as she slammed a volley against the post shortly after Nikita Parris had cut inside and sliced a left-footed effort high and wide of the far corner.
Norway’s attacks were frequent without being overly threatening. Guro Reiten’s poor touch wasted a good opportunity after Parris failed to track the winger’s run, before the same player had a shot blocked from the edge of the box after some nifty footwork deceived England’s defence.
Neville’s side were doing a good job of handling the threat of Norway’s Caroline Graham Hansen, the new Barcelona signing who has been one of the stars of the tournament.
Conversely, Norway simply weren’t living with England’s incisive attacking play down the right side, with Parris and Bronze able to link up with ease, and it was no surprise when England doubled their lead shortly before the break. Bronze slipped in Parris and the winger once again had all the space in the world to pick out White, who had the task of tapping home from less than six yards.
Norway had to come out fighting and they spurned a big chance to reduce the deficit just minutes into the second half.
Minde’s cross was well cushioned by Isabell Herlovsen but Steph Houghton got back just in time to clear the danger and deny Graham Hansen a certain goal. Reiten went close once again but just couldn’t stretch enough to get on the end of Vilde Boe Risa’s knockdown before Karen Bardsley intervened.
Screamer from Bronze
If things looked to be getting a little nervous for England, Lyon’s Bronze put any doubts to bed to ensure she’ll be representing her country in her current home on Tuesday.
Four years on from her wonder strike against the same opponents, Bronze hit an eerily similar effort from Beth Mead’s free-kick to slam Neville’s side emphatically into the final four of the World Cup. England, though, continued to look uncertain at the back and Norway must have felt there was a curse on the Lionesses goal as they looked for a route back into the game.
Substitute Lisa-Marie Utland had an effort cleared off the line by the brilliant Houghton, before Bardsley came up big again on two successive occasions to preserve England’s clean sheet.
Read more: Millie Bright and Steph Houghton don’t need Phil Neville’s mind games to impress against Norway
England were gifted the chance to add a fourth when referee Lucila Venegas adjudged Houghton to have been pushed in the box, but for a second time in a row Parris missed a penalty, her effort brilliantly saved by Ingrid Hjelmseth.
It mattered little as England were well in control. Parris’s miss was but a blip on a very good performance. Hosts France or holders USA now await them in the semi-final.
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Aaron Wan-Bissaka: All the key details as Manchester United close in on transfer
Manchester United have finally made a breakthrough with Crystal Palace and agreed a fee for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
United are willing to pay £45m up front with a further £5m due in performance-related bonuses to make the right-back their second signing of the summer.
Winger Daniel James, 21, joined earlier this month for a fee of £15m from Swansea as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer injects young British talent — Wan-Bissaka is also 21 years old — into his squad.
Read more: The rise of Aaron Wan-Bissaka: Crystal Palace’s brilliant (and accidental) ‘robot’ right-back
Solskjaer is hoping to make a number of signings, with key players including Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku potentially set to leave, to transform a United side who finished sixth in the Premier League last season.
Why deal has taken so long
Palace had initially considered United’s early offers beneath their valuation of the upfront fee they expected and did not want so many add-ons relating to success on the pitch, especially given United’s recent decline.
The south London club also wanted to remove a 25 per cent sell-on clause in Wilfried Zaha’s contract, but though United refused that aspect of any deal the two clubs reached an agreement in further talks this week.
After passing a medical, Wan-Bissaka is expected to earn around £80,000 per week on a long-term contract.
Wan-Bissaka distracted by negotiations
United’s pursuit of Wan-Bissaka was threatening to drag on into the summer and England Under 21 manager Aidy Boothroyd admitted that the player had been affected by the ongoing negotiations during their poor showing in the European Championships.
Wan-Bissaka scored an own goal in stoppage time in the opening game defeat to France and was then dropped for the proceeding two games, losing to Romania and drawing against Croatia.
“When that speculation is flying around it is bound to turn your head,” Boothroyd said at the time. “For a young player who all he knows is Crystal Palace academy, Crystal Palace first team it would be daft not to say that in some way he must think about it.
“I would not be truthful if I told you anything other than that. I think when you are nearly going to move and all the things that would go through an older person’s head, who is more experienced in life, it would be difficult for them to cope with.”
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Lionesses shredding labels and winning friends at France 2019
Here we are worried about the fitness of Steph Houghton and Millie Bright. Our concern has pushed other matters out of the headlines. Not only do we know their names, we know their positions, their importance to the team. We are approaching full engagement, the point were labels like ‘Women’s’ World Cup and England ‘Women’ are becoming unnecessary clutter. Get rid of them. They are the Lionesses, no introductions required. They draw the greater share of audience figures on the BBC. Almost seven million watched the victory over Cameroon.
There are still some reluctant time warpers out there who insist on raising petty structural issues; the overreach of FIFA marketeers, the stadiums are not full, the goals are too big, the goalkeeping is sub-standard, the referees are not up to scratch, that sort of stuff. Let them wallow in their own negativity. There are enough takers for whom the experience is a joy, and in some respects a revelation. The Cameroon aberration aside, the honesty of the players and the spirit in which matches are contested enhances the enterprise and the integrity of the game.
What a pleasure it is to see players stay on their feet in the tackle instead of simulating GBH, to watch referees go about their business free of baying abuse. If there are a few empty seats in the gaff, who cares? They will fill in their own time. As the game grows the audience will increase commensurately. No need for alarm.
Fire and ice
And so to the quarter-final against Norway. Coach Phil Neville has done a fine job in bonding his team and weaning them off the long ball default of his predecessor Mark Sampson. His brand of fire and ice seems to be appreciated by the players. They respond to the detail of his technical instruction and to the considerate touches like respecting the gender difference in the changing room by keeping his half time observations short and leaving them to themselves.
Though his wife Julie is a bag of nerves back home, Neville will not allow this advanced stage of the World Cup to be about pressure and burden. He wants the squad to embrace it. “My wife worries like mad. She’s from an Irish family, she prays, lights candles, she’s really struggling and finding it difficult. She’s maybe best going to sleep for 90 minutes. But, for me, it’s business as usual.” The positive messaging is reinforced by his attitude to injury. The doubts over Houghton and Bright mean opportunity for Leah Williamson and Abbie McManus not cause for hand wringing.
“If Steph and Millie are out we bring someone else in, no problem. It will be a seamless transition. Everyone knows the system, the way we play. I’ve utter belief in all my players. I said six months ago I didn’t want to get to the quarter finals of the World Cup and throw someone in we haven’t tried or tested. There’s been a plan and it’s for moments like this.” Neville floats alarming close to parody with his nerdy intensity and Alan Partridge flourishes, yet none can doubt his attachment to this project. “My girls don’t have any fear of failure. We were crying out for this. We’re not going to say it’s nerve wracking or our bellies are twitching a little here. We will embrace it. The bigger the occasion, the greater the pressure, the more my players embrace it. They’re not going to back off.”
Energy
Norway present a stiff challenge. England have yet to produce the complete performance, losing shape alarmingly in the second half of the group matches against Scotland, Argentina and Japan. As fatigue set in England collapsed, losing the legs to compete and the energy to concentrate. Clumsy passing combined with confused thinking, handing the initiative to the opposition. Just as it has been with the English male of the species this was most keenly felt in midfield, where England appeared overrun.
Read more: Ellen White: England’s modest goal machine whose rise to stardom has been years in the making
Neville’s commitment to his players and to the pass-and-move template introduced is clear. The final step in their development is game intelligence, how to control a match when they don’t have the ball, how to be smarter when opposition tails are up, as they are entitled to be at this, the business end of the tournament.
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Fifa’s Google Translate gaffe leaves Women’s World Cup fans mystified
Fifa’s disastrous handling of ticketing for the Women’s World Cup has been further revealed after i was told they responded to an enquiry by copying and pasting a stock French answer into Google Translate to produce a barely legible reply.
Fifa has already faced complaints about their inability to sit supporters who bought tickets in groups next to each other and the refusal to allow people to turn up and buy tickets at stadiums with empty seats.
The PR campaign that suggested only few tickets were still available in the weeks before the tournament kicked off also backfired when masses of empty seats greeted the first games. Fifa eventually announced that only 14 of the 52 matches were sold out.
‘Such a weird system’
One supporter, Ruth Evans, contacted i to share details of Fifa’s obstructive approach to ticket sales. Evans wrote to Fifa via the Women’s World Cup website in January asking if she could buy tickets for individual stadiums rather than the three-match packages that were the only available option at the time.
Evans was planning on holidaying in the north of France and taking in a couple of games with her partner, but did not want to purchase so many tickets. She has previously bought tickets for the men’s France 1998 and Germany 2006 World Cups and Euro 2016, also in France.
“We have never experienced such a weird system of buying tickets,” Evans told i on Monday. “We had been planning to spend a few days in the north of France going to one or two matches at particular stadiums rather than watching particular teams, but abandoned the idea because the tickets were on sale so late. We had no problems at all with the ticketing process [for the men’s tournaments]. For all these matches, our interest was in buying tickets for a particular day and venue rather than supporting a particular team, which was what this year’s ticketing process [for the Women’s World Cup] seemed to be based on.
‘Crazy’
“[It] does not do the image of women’s football any good. I just about figured out from their email that individual match tickets wouldn’t go on sale again until March this year. The ‘package’ idea was crazy in the first place if they wanted women’s football to reach as wide an audience as possible.”
Fifa’s response to the query, forwarded to i, included confusing sentences such as: “The ticket office is totally dematerialized, orders are made exclusively on the website ticketing section (creating personal space). The categories and availabilities are current ones in just-in-time.”
Another passage read: “The express mode: allows the acquisition seats by default via the network (contiguous, centered seats and centered and closed to the field according of order validations and depending on availability and categories).”
Evans forwarded Fifa’s response to the Football Association, which told her: “From looking at the email sent from Fifa and from speaking to Fifa representatives, the email you received was a stock response translated directly from French to English.”
Fifa declined to comment.
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Phil Neville was vindicated as England kept their heads and Cameroon lost theirs
In the pressure moments a cool head is as important as a first touch. The mercury may have been approaching 30 degrees in Valenciennes yesterday but England’s Lionesses had ice in their veins.
Faced with opponents prepared to elbow, spit and threaten to strike they stayed calm. Offered an unexpected route to a breakthrough first goal they had a plan. When Cameroon went into meltdown they maintained their composure.
That need to cope with whatever their opponents and the officials threw at them influenced Phil Neville’s choice of team. When the England coach’s selection carousel stopped Toni Duggan had kept her place and Fran Kirby regained hers. Neither had hitherto impressed in the tournament, Duggan because of a niggling thigh injury that delayed her involvement until the third match, Kirby due to an injury-hit season that has left her seeking sharpness.
Many suggested Neville instead go with the young guns, Beth Mead and Georgia Stanway, who have shone on Duggan’s left flank and in Kirby’s No 10 role respectively. Neville went for experience.
Why choices paid off
Duggan has become a leading player for Barcelona, playing in this year’s Champions League final. She has moved overseas and flourished, learning about herself and developing her game. Kirby, after coming to prominence at the 2015 World Cup, has been central to Chelsea’s successes, including two Champions League semi-finals appearances. Their form may be questionable, but not their talent or temperament.
Neville’s choice paid off, up to a point. Neither played well in the opening period, Duggan putting a corner into touch, Kirby opting for the safe ball too often, but both were involved in the opening goal. Kirby fed Ellen White before she delivered the cross which preceded the back-pass, Duggan supplied the pass from which Steph Houghton scored. More significant was the way Duggan stayed cool when she was spat on by Augustine Ejangue.
In the second period their experience was needed as England wobbled, unsettled by the Cameroonian insurrection. Then Duggan won a corner and sweetly picked out Alex Greenwood. England were through. Norway, though, will provide a different test, more difficult in many ways, but less an examination of composure.
Neville was correct in believing his big players would carry England through, but they were White and Houghton, Lucy Bronze and Jill Scott, rather than Kirby and Duggan. Both showed flashes in the closing stages that they were shaking off the shackles, using the ball better, creating chances for Jodie Taylor. But is their best returning quickly enough? While it is true that form is temporary, and class permanent, in a World Cup there is only so long a manager can wait for form to reassert itself.
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Watching the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Here are five women’s sport podcasts you should be listening to…
With the group stage of FIFA Women’s World Cup over, i shares some top sport podcasts for the summer.
Two Girls World Cup
An alternative take on the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
With two new podcasts a week throughout the eight-week tournament, this is a great way to stay on top of the latest news.
Football fans Helen and Tamsin host, with debates, commentary and highlights. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/two-girls-world-cup/id1464227404
Black Girls Talk Sports
Hosted by author Rekaya Gibson and life coach Angela Spears, this is a podcast where women of colour discuss all things sport, including football, basketball and baseball.
Recent episodes have included a chat with the first woman to officiate a college American football game, and a discussion on siblings who play the same sport.
blackgirlstalksports.com
NetBallers
A weekly dose of netball chat hosted by England netballers Sasha and Kadeen Corbin and BBC Sport journalist Betty Glover.
Perfect fare ahead of the Netball World Cup, which starts on 12 July.
This new podcast sheds light on the game many of us played at school, dispelling myths as it goes.
For starters, there’s no such thing as being too short to shoot. bbc.co.uk/sport/av/48590158
The Offside Rule
This all-female football podcast was born out of frustration at the lack of female representation in the industry.
Hosted by football reporter Lynsey Hooper, sports broadcaster Kait Borsay and Sky Sports News’ Hayley McQueen, this follows a round-table format. Offsiderulepodcast.com
Netball Nation
This podcast, hosted by presenter Emma Jones, Loughborough Lightning director of netball Sara Bayman and netball coach Maggie Birkinshaw, is welcoming to people who might not know much about the sport.
Recent guests include netball umpire Louise Travis and rugby player Anna Carter. mynetballnation.com
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