With history to be made a group of young players showed nerves of steel in the shootout to clinch a spot in the semi-finalPenalty shootouts are fastidiously prepared long before they arrive. Every player picks their target, hammering in practice shots again and again until the precise movement is etched into their muscle fibres. But with her name 10th on the list of 11 Matildas penalty-takers, Cortnee Vine did not really think she would have to step up.Yet after 19 penalty kicks and the shootout score at 6-6, Australia’s eyes turned to the 25-year-old as she dutifully made her way to the spot. Brow furrowed in focus, Vine’s calm belied the fact this was her first World Cup and first...
The Lionesses have been made to fight before. But scarcely in a game of this magnitude and intensityFull-time, and the England substitutes in their tracksuits bound on to the pitch in blissful release. Lotte Wubben-Moy jumps for joy. Niamh Charles has a smile the width of Sydney Harbour. Jordan Nobbs wheels her arms around like a DJ. But the faces of their teammates bear subtly different expressions. The injured Rachel Daly lies on the turf, breathing deeply. Millie Bright solemnly applauds the crowd, spent and expressionless. Jess Carter blinks back tears of relief. Perhaps, in order to have truly enjoyed this World Cup quarter-final, it helps not have played in it.For this was a nasty, brutish thing: 114 minutes of...
Quarter-final win over France was an occasion of soaring spectacle for Australia, and the stakes could not have been higher
Australia 0-0 France (7-6 on pens) | Player ratings | Reaction
“We’ve made history.” These are big words. But Matildas winger Hayley Raso is entitled to make them. She played 104 minutes in a titanic World Cup quarter-final struggle against a mighty French side. Then, after being substituted, had the best seat in the house for what those in Brisbane will surely describe as the greatest penalty shootout ever.“You saw the emotion and the scenes afterwards,” she said. “The feelings all around are just so high.” Continue reading...
Sarina Wiegman has to make biggest fix yet as England go into Women’s World Cup quarter-final without Lauren James Having taken the long flight from London to Sydney, I’m here to catch the World Cup from the quarter-finals. And when I looked at the final eight, I’d say the four teams with greatest clarity were on the same side of the draw: Sweden, Japan, Spain and the Netherlands. You don’t need to second-guess them, they’re confident and know their roles so well. On the opposite side, each team have improvements to make, including England, where Sarina Wiegman is still searching for the tactics to bring the best from her players.Availability is so important. England are without the suspended Lauren James...
Manager faces a tactical and personnel conundrum going into quarter-final with Colombia – but she is nothing if not prepared Michelle Alozie’s butt is fine. We can probably stop talking about Michelle Alozie’s butt now. As the Nigeria defender put it herself, the time has probably come to draw a line under the warm potage of takes and judgments that followed her fleeting brush with notoriety during Monday’s game against England. You might think that a woman with a degree in molecular biology, a job as a researcher into childhood leukaemia and four appearances at the World Cup would be remembered for something other than being Lauren James’s temporary carpet. But that is not yet the world we live in.Nevertheless,...