The Spaniard taking the penalty was never going to score. She looked scared.
Keepers are allowed, and to some extent expected, to be different.
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2023 Women's World Cup
- Thread starter Ian4
- Start date
Congratulations Spain, deserving winners. Credit to England for contributing to an absorbing contest & a great game worthy of a final.
Sorry but thats a rubbish view. It wasn't brain vs brawn like England have no skill and are just thugs. In fact I thought Spain were much harder and tougher in the tackle on the day so no idea where that even came from.
Disappointed at the outcome but it was the right result, Spain were outstanding especially through the midfield. They midfield trio of Bonmati, Abelliera and Hermoso controlled the game. Their slick ball control and passing was hard for us to stop though when we did win the ball back I thought our movement was a bit stagnant and not quick enough.
Standing as they built the platform for the presentation, I was watching the celebrations and whilst disappointed it was a terrific advert for Womens football and showed how the game has changed. Gone are the days where we had unskilled players playing that didn't really know how to play the game, the game has changed and the European nations in particular have finally woken up to womens football and I think the landscape has changed forever. The first mover advantage the US in particular capitalised on has gone and a changing of the guard has hit us. How womens football goes forward and keeps getting better will be intriguing. They are competing for the same eyeballs as the men, so they need to ensure that they play at a different time so both sports can capture those eyeballs and keep growing the game. Its tough when the mens domestic seasons go for 10 months of the year, maybe its time of the day, but it feels like womens football has now arrived for so many people that didn't think it was any good.
I was standing there disappointed but proud of where these countries have taken womens football during the last 4 weeks.
Very happy to see such an unlikeable team lose. Spain the better side on the day and deserved winners.
Hopefully we get to see more Aust V England games in the future, it's a great rivalry in all sports, bit of a shame it's unlikely we will meet very often.
Hopefully we get to see more Aust V England games in the future, it's a great rivalry in all sports, bit of a shame it's unlikely we will meet very often.
Beautiful one touch football from both sides. Spain obviously the better side, but England can hold their heads high. Both sides clearly a head better than the Matildas, who did OK to get to 4th place.
The Spanish team hate their coach - they had separate celebrations on the pitch ... and left about 15 quality players at home who refused to play again with him. Be hard to sack him now I guess.
Yes, I think we both spoke earlier in the tournament of the first mover advantage.
In really international sports, I spoke previously how, although I like seeing Australian teams do well, it's not the main reason I watch it (to barrack in partisan fashion for Australian teams). It's the fascinating dynamics and match ups of so many different nations, teams and cultures that I watch it for. Analysing how all the dynamics feed into the contest.
This is where the women's game is so fascinating at the moment. The men's game was probably already at it's mature phase by the time any of us were born, with it's established order already in place. Sure, there has been some movement, with France's rise from the late 1990s (although it's not like they came from absolutely no where) and Spain living up to their potential. But largely the established big hitters and the dynamics around that had already been shaped. Contrast this with how we are able to actually witness the women's game establish it's order through it's growth phase.
As you suggest, the US essentially just had first mover advantage (as did Norway). To a degree, Australia and Canada also benefitted. Affluent anglosphere nations hitting well above where they do in the sport as a whole over the past couple of decades, because they were among those early movers. Even NZ, ranking in the mid to low 20s is well above where you would expect them in the sport as a whole.
The field only gets deeper from here. Spain went from not even qualifying, to world champions in around a decade (or less). Italy, Argentina, Brazil, the Balkans haven't even scratched the surface regarding their potential in the women's game. The Africans have immense potential. Once these traditional powers in the game start putting in the focus and resources that Spain has, their trajectory will be similar. Perhaps the women's rankings start to correlate relatively closely with the men? There will perhaps be some differences. For example I can't imagine the likes of Iran and Saudi Arabia featuring in women's. And Canada, Australia the US, may slightly outperform their men, given the domestic sporting dynamics in those countries But as the traditional powers continue to mobilise, the field gets deeper. Not great from the selfish point of view of Australia. But great for the sport as a whole.
Sorry to trigger you ....
i thought England were overly aggressive (see foul count) against the Matildas, but then again so were Sweden on Saturday night.. I never mentioned the word ‘thugs’ but Lauren James stomp on the Nigerian player springs to mind…
Last night? Meh.. if the Lionesses were beaten at their own game, as well as technically, then Karma is practical ..
Viva Espana
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It's great that the country united behind the Mathildas in a way that no one thought possible. But I do wonder if we had beaten France 1-0 in regular time whether there would have been the same support. I think the thrill, tension and eventual explosion of celebration that was the shootout was a major factor in getting the nation behind them.
Also wonder if we’d beaten France 1-0 in regular time we might’ve beaten England too. Think the extra 30min play plus shootout took it out of us mentally and physically.
No doubt Piers Morgan has congratulated the lionesses on their World Cup win.
Espana could only score one goal. That’s right only one goal and everyone knows that’s not a winning score.
So the Pommesses win. Just like they won the men’s cricket, the women’s cricket, netball etc. Moral victors, so they won the clean sweep.
Maybe they should have changed the ball Piers…then again it never touched Spains net
Cheating Poms, keeper off the line early. Stomping on opponents. Deliberate targeting players.
Anyway Piers gagf, you *smile*. He who laughs last….*smile* punce
Espana could only score one goal. That’s right only one goal and everyone knows that’s not a winning score.
So the Pommesses win. Just like they won the men’s cricket, the women’s cricket, netball etc. Moral victors, so they won the clean sweep.
Maybe they should have changed the ball Piers…then again it never touched Spains net
Cheating Poms, keeper off the line early. Stomping on opponents. Deliberate targeting players.
Anyway Piers gagf, you *smile*. He who laughs last….*smile* punce
They didn't actually leave 15 at home. They left 4. 11 of them changed their minds, 3 were picked by Vilda in the squad (Batle, Bonmati and Caldentey).
Its hard to sack Vilda at all when his dad is president of womens football in Spain!
Sorry to trigger you ....
i thought England were overly aggressive (see foul count) against the Matildas, but then again so were Sweden on Saturday night.. I never mentioned the word ‘thugs’ but Lauren James stomp on the Nigerian player springs to mind…
Last night? Meh.. if the Lionesses were beaten at their own game, as well as technically, then Karma is practical ..
Viva Espana
If you think that was aggressive I assume you never watched football in the 80's or 90's.
Yes the line was pushed, James made a poor choice but this has happened many times in football over the years by some of the best. I'm not going to hang her for that decision, much like England supporters treated David Beckham appalingly after the world cup in 1998.
Yeah I think it will be interesting to see where it goes, but I think that needs to start at club level. How can they ensure that more eyes get onto womens football at club level. Whilst I felt watching last night like I was watching a game of football (it could have been men or women out there, the skill level was very good from both teams) its what happens now and how more people can watch the game. We are see the ridiculous sums of money being paid for mens footballs, meanwhile the world record transfer fee in the womens game is about US$600k (Keira Walsh to Barcelona last year), which I think is an indication of where the game is at financially.
If for example, you were an Arsenal / Man Utd / Man City fan, how do they get to a position where the same people watch both the men and the women? Double headers? Maybe that would work.
A remarkable stat on Spain is before this tournament, they had won 1 WC game from 7. Then they go on and win it, which is a huge jump forward. I don't see the Balkan states really pushing womens sport IMO, so I suspect we will see growth in western europe far more, and probably in South America. I think you could be right on Africa too. Physically they are perfect for the sport IMO, maybe we see the first WC winner from Africa coming in the womens game, which would be enormous for their continent IMO.
