England beating Norway 8-0 led to criticism of the women’s game but why treat it differently to Germany 7-1 Brazil?
England were fantastic at Brighton on Monday but I was still shocked by Norway’s capitulation. It’s rare for teams at that level to lose 8-0 – and going into Euro 2022 Martin Sjögren side’s were ranked 11th in the world, only three places behind the Lionesses – but, crucially, it’s far from unprecedented. And, no, that record scoreline hasn’t damaged the tournament, let alone its credibility.
Remember that during the 2014 men’s World Cup something similar happened to Brazil when they were thrashed 7-1 by Germany. As recently as 2020 Aston Villa beat Liverpool 7-2 in a Premier League match, while Southampton, widely regarded as a decent mid-table top-tier side, lost 9-0 at home to Leicester in 2019 and were subsequently sunk by the same scoreline at Manchester United last year.
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