Steph Houghton’s missed spot kick ensured Phil Neville’s side were beaten 2-1 by USA in the Women’s World Cup semi-final on a night when they came agonisingly close to making historyEngland’s dizzying progress at this Women’s World Cup came to a painful – if familiar – end in the semi-finals last night as their captain Steph Houghton missed a late penalty as they were beaten 2-1 by the United States.It was an instant classic, although that will come as cold comfort to England’s players, who went out despite throwing everything at their opponents in a desperately exciting final 30 minutes. Related: Alex Morgan fires USA past England into Women’s World Cup final Related: England 1-2 USA: Women's World Cup 2019...
England dismantled Norway with a high-calibre display but it is too early to be getting carried away given the quality of semi-final opposition that awaitsWhat an exceptional performance England produced in their quarter-final victory over Norway. It might have come as a surprise to anyone who saw the last-16 games, in which the English beat Cameroon despite quite a sloppy defensive display while Norway were superb as a unit against Australia, with a string of outstanding individuals such as Caroline Graham Hansen, Guro Reiten and Isabell Herlovsen. England were incredible on Thursday, producing the best display I have seen from them in a long time to make Norway appear feeble.There has been incremental growth under Phil Neville. England won the...
Football might not be coming home just yet and neither are England’s supporters as they got caught up in Le Havre’s cultureThey came over land and by sea, the committed and the curious, all willing England towards unfamiliar glories. And halfway through the first half – with Phil Neville’s side a goal to the good – some felt so emboldened that a time-worn shanty began to waft across the Stade Océane for the first time at this World Cup. “It’s coming home, it’s coming home,” they sang, albeit tentatively, as if shouting too loudly might awaken an old curse.But by the hour mark, with England three up and rampant, there was no holding back. The same words were chanted, only...
It was an achievement for the Indomitable Lionesses to reach the last 16, but they let themselves down against EnglandSpitting, elbows in the face and temper tantrums. England had arrived in quaint yet sophisticated Valenciennes on Friday likely not expecting that by Sunday evening they would be in a nursery. Yet that is what the Stade du Hainaut became as the Cameroon national team fell to pieces and threw their toys out of the pram in style. Related: England beat Cameroon to reach quarter-finals amid VAR drama Related: England 3-0 Cameroon: Women’s World Cup player ratings | Amy Lawrence Continue reading...
Gareth Southgate has led a revolution that has produced better results and entertainment while England’s cricketers have also benefited from a more aggressive attitudeAmong the myriad skills that are employed in different sports one that is shared by all is risk assessment. Though it sounds like some dark art practised by insurance agents, it is the basic cost-benefit analysis that most competitors make intuitively and upon which all coaches are fixated. Namely, does a given action increase the likelihood of gaining an advantage more than it increases the likelihood of suffering a setback? That is the question a full-back has to ask each time he sprints down the wing. Or a tennis player when she rushes the net.And overall it...