SYDNEY — Sarina Wiegman has called Australia a “home away from home” and with good reason.
It was anticipated there would be more touring England fans at the World Cup than from any other nation, in spite of the epic 10,000 mile trip, nine-hour time difference across hemispheres and thousands of pounds in travel costs.
Aside from ex-pats already living here, an additional 4,000 have come especially from the UK and as the Lionesses kicked off their tournament in Brisbane, Mary Earps immediately ran over to applaud a sea of red and white St George’s flags.
Over 1.3 million tickets have been sold for the World Cup overall – more than any other Women’s World Cup in history – and as England head to Adelaide for their final Group D match against China, i caught up with some of the supporters who have completed the marathon journey Down Under.
Charlie and Ella from Leeds are completing the entire tournament in a camper van. “It’s a bit of a monstrosity to be honest,” says Charlie.
“It looks a bit like the Mystery Machine [from Scooby Doo]. It’s green and purple, we tried to England it up with car flags but then we lost a flag on the motorway.
“It sounds cool but we just couldn’t afford to fly around Australia – and it covers the accommodation sleeping in the van.”
The Haiti match was “stressful towards the end” says Ella, and “a bit flat”.
“I was more defensively concerned but ‘in Wiegman we trust.” Charlie taps his head: “She’s got it up here.”
Are England winning it? “I’m going to go quarter-finals – I’m a pessimist” says Charlie.
“Of course we are [winning it],” says Ella. “We didn’t come all this way in a camper van for a quarter-final.”
Leanne, who has travelled from Manchester and has followed women’s football all her life, is another in the “of course” category.
“Bit of a slow start, but that happened at the Euros,” she says.
“A couple of changes were needed but we’ve got the three points [in both games].
“When Ellen White retired we lost a lot of height. [Alessia] Russo’s great but the height isn’t there but then you’ve got [Rachel] Daly, we know she can score.”
There are a mass of England fans down by the Opera House, overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge and playing “Football’s Coming Home” out of a speaker. They are part of the Football Supporters’ Association’s Free Lionesses group and are travelling up and down Australia for the duration of the tournament.
Outside the Sydney Football Stadium, Flick and Vick have come from Caerphilly in Wales – one of them on crutches. “Some of these pavements are a nightmare,” she laughs. As Chelsea fans, they have spent the season watching Lauren James force her way into Wiegman’s thinking.
“She holds the ball really well, but she’s too excited about the game to start in a World Cup,” Flick says – though that was before her sixth-minute winning goal against Denmark.
“She does the same for Chelsea, when she starts she goes a bit too fast so I like her as a sub. I also like Russo but she’s an impact sub.”
So far, whatever the starting XI it has been a case of job done, albeit a little uninspiringly – and crucially, England fans can at least breathe a sigh of relief that Keira Walsh’s injury is not as bad as first feared.
A win against China after consecutive 1-0 victories over Haiti and Denmark will mean they top the group – and that’s when England fans will really dare to start believing.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/ZUJps8S
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