LIONESSES 2019 – A MINOR SETBACK BUT A GOOD RESPONSE
As the World Cup looms ever closer for the Lionesses, their preparations for the tournament are moving along a pace. Buoyed by their recent She Believes Cup success they have since played two friendlies against Canada and Spain, with one win and one defeat being the result.
THERE TO BE SHOT AT NOW
The defeat to the Canadians in Manchester was a strange one. England never really settled into the game and to be fair, the North Americans played the match perfectly with a robust performance preying a little bit on the fact that England are now real contenders for the title of world champions and they cannot hide that fact anymore by claiming an underdog tag. It was a bit of a smash a grab really with a late Christine Sinclair (and what a player she has been and still is for her country) winner, but the visitors deserved a least a draw anyway and credit has to be given to the away team for taking their opportunity. A lesson learned for England.
BOUNCE BACK
Onto Swindon next to face a Spain side that has been improving over the years with a huge boom in woman’s football. A world record crowd for a top flight domestic match in Europe of over 60,000 recently watched a club match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. They also won all 8 matches in their World Cup qualifying group so they would be no pushovers. Phil Neville made 9 changes to the side defeated by Canada, which included Steph Houghton, who was injured and his team responded with a 2-1 victory. They were in control at 2-0 up, but when the opposition pulled a goal back, things can always get a little nervy in that situation, but they saw it out to complete an important victory, especially after the set back a few days earlier.
WHAT NEXT
In my opinion, the defeat to Canada may well be one of the best things to happen to England in their run up to the World Cup. Winning the She Believes Cup was a huge breakthrough, but being brought down to earth, with a small bump is not necessarily such a bad thing, so soon after and will most definitely ward off any complacency within the squad. Consequently the win over Spain helps with confidence and shows they can respond if needed. Team members can now concentrate on the end of the club season before friendlies with Denmark and New Zealand complete preparations for France 2019. I’m sure Phil Neville will have his fingers crossed for his players well being before the serious stuff begins, but to be fair the extended squad is deep and whoever is available will not let the Lionesses down. Not long to go now.
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