Women's World Cup Soccer!

[Blackleaf]

England join 1966 & 1990 club by reaching semis - Sampson

BBC News
28 June 2015

Semi-Finals

United States vs Germany (Tuesday 30 June. Olympic Stadium, Montreal
Japan vs England (Thursday, 2 July in UK. Kick-off: 00:00 BST. Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Sport website from 23:40 BST on 1 July. Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton)

England were the first team to score more than one goal against Canada in 15 matches

England's women have matched their male counterparts from 1966 and 1990 by reaching the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup, says manager Mark Sampson.

Sampson's side beat hosts Canada 2-1 to progress to the last four of the tournament for the first time.

The men's team of 1966 won the World Cup, while the 1990 side were beaten at the semi-final stage.

"They are history-makers again, the third ever England team to get to a semi-final," said Sampson.

Jodie Taylor took advantage of a silly mistake at the back by Canadian defender

Lauren Sesselmann to put England 1-0 up
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England right-back Lucy Bronze, who scored a stunning winner against Norway in the previous round, peels away after doubling England's lead just three minutes later

"We now join the 1966 and the 1990 club, and I'm very proud of the whole group."

'We have reached new levels'

Sampson described the atmosphere as like a "cauldron" against host nation Canada at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.

His side took the lead through a Jodie Taylor shot and Lucy Bronze header as they scored two goals in three minutes.

England will now play holders Japan in the semi-final in a game that will be live on BBC One from 23:40 BST on Wednesday, 1 July.

"We got ourselves through and I could not be prouder," said Sampson. "Every player ran through brick walls for this team. I don't know where this team found their energy.

"It was a do-or-die game. Canada gave everything, England gave everything and we came out on top."

Japan are the reigning champions, beating the USA in the final in 2011, although England did beat them in a group game in that tournament in Germany.

"Bring them on," said Sampson.

BBC Sport - England join 1966 & 1990 club by reaching semis - Sampson

 

[Kreskin]

It was a good game. England capitalized on the few chances it had. Canada missed the abundance of opportunities it had. The only thing that matters in the end is the score so congrats to England.

 

[Blackleaf]

It was a good game. England capitalized on the few chances it had. Canada missed the abundance of opportunities it had. The only thing that matters in the end is the score so congrats to England.

I think England had just 33.7% of the possession, but the only stat that truly matters is the final score.

I think they had just two shots on goal - and both produced goals.

The two teams played each other twice before that this year - Canada losing in the Cyprus Cup Final in March and then winning just before the World Cup started (although, apparently, the England players were suffering jet lag in that game) - and Canada had plenty of chances to do their homework and learn how England play, yet they didn't seem to have done that. Canada's defending was amateurish, whereas England defended resolutely to keep Canada out when they were chucking the kitchen sink at England in the final minutes. It was like Rorke's Drift. A lot of England fans would have been suffering from Sir Alex Ferguson's legendary "squeaky bum time" in the last ten minutes, desperately hoping Canada didn't get a late equaliser which, thankfully, was not forthcoming.

 

[gopher]

So glad our Yankee gals will be the in finale.

Didn't get a chance to watch the full game as I was at our neighborhood youth softball double header but I did see the highlights. Will try to catch the replay somewhere online.

Looking forward to the championship match.

 

[Blackleaf]

England vs Japan in the other Semi-Final tonight.

I'm not too bothered now whether England win or lose because, whatever happens tonight, it's been a successful tournament for them and they've done England proud. They'll still get a heroes' welcome back even if they get beat 4-0 tonight.

 

[gopher]

Evidently, Japan won on an OT own goal by England:


Women's World Cup 2015 semi-final: Japan beat England 2-1 – as it happened | Football | The Guardian



sounds like a heck of a match



Japan vs USA for the Gold!

 

[Kreskin]

England was badly outplaying Japan in the last part of the game. Hit a couple of posts. Goalie making tough saves. Then disaster. I felt bad for the English girl who caused the goal.

 

[EagleSmack]

Well well well

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

England was badly outplaying Japan in the last part of the game. Hit a couple of posts. Goalie making tough saves. Then disaster. I felt bad for the English girl who caused the goal.

Probably Blackleaf in drag.

 

[Blackleaf]

The better team lost. England lost in the dying seconds by a freak of an own goal.

I was watching it in my next door neighbour Ted's flat with his Polish bird and another neighbour called Wayne whilst a violent thunderstorm raged outside in the night. We weren't really taking much notice of the match because we were busy talking and drinking copious amounts of cider and Wayne kept turning the light off so he could watch the violent thunderstorm properly. It was like having a chat and a laugh and sort of watching the match whilst we were also in a scene of a Hammer Horror.

 

[EagleSmack]

LMAO


Own Goal.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

The better team lost. England lost in the dying seconds by a freak of an own goal.

I was watching it in my next door neighbour Ted's flat with his Polish bird and another neighbour called Wayne whilst a violent thunderstorm raged outside in the night. We weren't really taking much notice of the match because we were busy talking and drinking copious amounts of cider and Wayne kept turning the light off so he could watch the violent thunderstorm properly. It was like having a chat and a laugh and sort of watching the match whilst we were also in a scene of a Hammer Horror.

So, is it fair to say that Engerland really won, except for some unfair and discriminatory rules that are designed to cloud the glory of Engerland?

 

[Blackleaf]

So, is it fair to say that Engerland really won, except for some unfair and discriminatory rules that are designed to cloud the glory of Engerland?

Yeah. They should get rid of the own goal rule.

#proudofbassett: Thousands of fans tweet their support for devastated England star Laura Bassett as she is trolled after her freak own goal sent England crashing out of the World Cup



Laura Bassett was left devastated after she tried to clear a cross in the last minute of England's semi-final with Japan, only to see the ball fly off of her foot and into her own net (top right), making the score 2-1. She was later sent expletive-filled messages on Twitter, with trolls branding her 'useless' and one claiming she had 'let her country down' (bottom left). Team bosses allowed her older brother Daniel (left), who had been in the stands watching the game, to speak to her after she was seen in floods of tears as she exited the pitch. As supportive messages flooded in, including one from Gary Lineker (bottom left), her brother, 36, later tweeted: 'Have always been immensely proud of my sister. What I saw today only increases that. Love you our kid #ProudOfBassett' England manager Mark Sampson (bottom right) said: 'She didn't deserve that but she'll be looked upon as a hero, an absolute hero'.



Laura Bassett comforted by brother after England lionesses lose World Cup match to Japan | Daily Mail Online

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Such a shame the whole world conspires to deprive Engerland of its rightful place as Best of Everything Every Time.

 

[Blackleaf]

Lionesses: Our sympathy towards Laura Bassett is sexist

Women's World Cup 2015: The outpouring of support after Laura Bassett's own goal is only right, says Claire Cohen. But can you imagine the men's team getting anywhere near the same level of commiseration?

Heartbreak: Laura Bassett (right) is consoled by team-mate Jo Potter Photo: GETTY IMAGES


By Claire Cohen
02 Jul 2015
The Telegraph

75 Comments


There can’t be a single English viewer of the Women’s World Cup semi-final last night, who didn’t feel a twinge of sympathy for Laura Bassett.

The England player, who normally plays for Notts County, scored a horrible own goal in stoppage time, handing Japan a 2-1 victory. She was in floods of tears after the final whistle and had to be comforted by manager Mark Sampson as she walked off the field.

Predictably, the social media trolls came out to post messages calling her 'useless'.

But they were quickly shot-down. Indeed, in the hours following the match, Bassett, 31, received an outpouring of support.

Twitter was alight with encouraging messages, heart emoji and *hugs*. There are even hashtag #IWillStandWithBass and #ProudofBassett.

Rather than anger or recrimination, tributes flooded in for the Lionesses and Bassett in particular from former players, celebrities and supporters.

Sampson said: "When she goes home she will be a hero".

"The way Laura Bassett has played in this tournament, she has epitomised all the values that England football fans want to see in that white jersey," added Sampson.

"She is hurting now but she will wake up, she will have 22 team-mates, a group of staff who will give her a hug, tell her how proud we are of her and we will do the same to the whole group."

It’s absolutely the right sentiment.

Yes, Bassett’s own goal was a careless mistake and a deeply unfair ending to England women’s campaign to reach the World Cup final. It belies the passion and talent we’ve seen them display over the past weeks. But it was also heartbreaking.

Yet - I can’t help thinking that a man wouldn’t have had the same reaction.

Think about it. When Gareth Southgate missed a penalty during England’s semi-final match against Germany in Euro 96 he was vilified. There were practically calls for him to be put in the stocks and publicly pelted with rotten tomatoes. The entire failure of England’s bid for glory was placed at his unfortunate feet.

There was even an unflattering song written about it.

The England defender only managed to partially redeem himself after later appearing in a Pizza Hut advert to mock his own misfortune. But he will always be a failure to many England supporters.

Many England football fans will remember Gareth Southgate's 1996 Pizza Hut advert after THAT penalty miss against Germany in the semi-final of Euro96

And who can forget David Beckham’s red card during England’s second-round World Cup match against Argentina in 1998?

National hero he was not.

Even raking over these national-scale disappointments has left me feeling pretty cross, more than a decade later.

Male players do cry on the pitch, of course – Gazza sobbed his way into our hearts after being shown a yellow card during Italia 90.

But generally-speaking our reaction to their perceived on-pitch failures is so much harsher.

Paul Gascoigne famously cried during the Semi-Final of the 1990 World Cup against West Germany (Alamy)

Elsewhere, reactions can be even more extreme. Colombia captain Andrés Escobar scored an own goal in the 1994 World Cup and saw his side eliminated in a match against the USA.

A month later, while the World Cup was still being played, he was shot six times in the back and died in an attack that was widely accepted as revenge.

It’s a universal truth that we tend to only remember the bad times – the sporting misses and injustices. We can’t go about changing our cultural identity now.

But if we really want men and women’s football to be on a level playing field – as has been the rallying cry throughout the Women’s World Cup - then we need to treat all players in the same way.

Anything else is sexism.

It's the same deeply ingrained attitude to gender that makes us instinctively want to encourage young women who run away to be Jihadi brides to come home - but dismiss the men who leave Britain to join Isil.

Personally, I agree with the empathy shown to Bassett and would like to see it injected into the men’s game.

I’d also argue that the Lionesses should be given an open bus parade on their return home to celebrate their best result in a World Cup (England men had one after reaching the last four in 1990 - their second best result).

Thousands of people lined the streets to cheer their success. If anything is going to console Laura Bassett, surely it would be that.

Lionesses: Our sympathy towards Laura Bassett is sexist - Telegraph

 

[EagleSmack]

It was a great shot too. Bar down and everything. The Auglish goalie never had a chance.

 

[Blackleaf]

It was a great shot too. Bar down and everything. The Auglish goalie never had a chance.

A silly error that only a female footballer could make.

 

[coldstream]

It was a cruel loss for England on an Own Goal. They can still take the Bronze, but only if they take out a powerhouse German team, upset by the Americans. I'll pull for them, but its a long shot.

 

[EagleSmack]

A silly error that only a female footballer could make.

Now you're being silly.

 

[Blackleaf]

PLATELL'S PEOPLE: Lionesses who put the divas of tennis to shame

By Amanda Platell for the Daily Mail
4 July 2015
Daily Mail

On Wednesday, I did something I almost never do. I stayed up late to watch a football match. Around 2.4 million Brits did the same, as it happens, cheering on the England Women’s World Cup team in their semi-final with Japan.

It wasn’t patriotism in my case, but curiosity. The ‘Lionesses’, as they’ve been dubbed, were said to be changing the face of football in this country with their recent run of form — so I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.

Like many, I was cynical. How could a bunch of girls, most of whom have day jobs and are semi-professional, play with speed and finesse? How could they ever compare with the men’s game?

I was heartbroken when Laura Bassett, pictured, scored an own goal with just seconds of the game remaining

Like millions of sceptics, I was proved wrong. The Lionesses lived up to their name. It was a nail-biting game, and they were courageous and fearless — and dignified (if a little emotional) in defeat.

I was heartbroken when defender Laura Bassett scored an own goal in the final minutes.

Of course, she and her team-mates were in tears. David Beckham and Paul Gascoigne also blubbed after World Cup defeats.

The highest paid woman in the team earns £65,000 a year — around a fifth of what England captain Wayne Rooney gets in one WEEK.

Yet the girls insist on an equal playing field with the men: literally. The same size pitch, the same 90 minutes, the same rules.

Which is a welcome change from the prima donnas at Wimbledon this week.

Unlike the Lionesses, the women get the same prize money as the men, even though they play only the best of three sets to the men’s five.

Reigning champion Petra Kvitova’s first-round match lasted just 36 minutes, while the men’s games lasted two hours or more.

Unfair: Reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova's 6-1 6-0 First Round win against Kiki Bertens (above) lasted just 36 minutes, yet the female players get paid the same as the male players

And in the heat, the girls are allowed to take a break during their matches, but the men aren’t. I had a hot flush of anger just hearing that.

The Lionesess have a long way to go to reach parity with the men.

But they’re doing it the right way, taking them on at their own game, not a footie-light version of the sport.

And the fact is they’re more likely to bring home a World Cup any time soon than our preening national men’s team.

Read more: Lionesses who put the divas of tennis to shame*in PLATELL'S PEOPLE | Daily Mail Online
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