England captain Fay White struck the crossbar with England's final penalty condemning the team to a 4-3 penalty defeat to France in the quarter finals of the women's World Cup after a 1-1 draw. England had been three minutes away from victory in normal time before France grasped a deserved late equaliser. Yet, the game will be remembered for some surprising tactical changes and substitutions by England manager Hope Powell. England started the quarter final in the best way possible with Kelly Smith almost putting England in the lead after 30 seconds, when a delightful pass by Karen Carney bisected the French defence and the England striker took it around the keeper but was forced wide and could not get her shot away. France went on to dominate the rest of the first half with the England midfield becoming too tight and congested allowing the superior French passing to maintain a stranglehold on the game. France were without their two most experienced goalkeepers through injury and suspension, but the English attack failed to test the rookie goalkeeper greatly. Ellen White, after her impressive performance against Japan was left isolated upfront as England were forced to pump the ball long, a mirror image of the England men's side. France were getting in down England's left side and the pace of Abily was causing all sorts of problem, however France only managed to test England number one, Karen Bardsley, from range and England would have been content to get in at half time with the score at 0-0. At the beginning of the second half England started purposefully oncemore and began to play the ball around the pitch with more confidence and assertion. The game began to open up and a neat England break found stalwart Kelly Smith on the left touchline who managed to lay the ball off for Karen Carney who in turn found Jill Scott who lobbed the goalkeeper from 25 yards and put England in the driving seat. The goal was somewhat fortunate as replays showed that in the build up the ball appeared to hit Kelly Smith on the hand. The goal boosted the England team who were now passing with some swagger and were beginning to dominate the game. However, with 15 minutes left a number of the England players began to tire, especially Fay White, Fara Williams and Kelly Smith who had all been injury doubts coming into the game. The game swung towards the French side once again and their pace and fitness began to tell, nevertheless Englands defence stood firm. France were managing to create width and causing England problems out wide and with just over ten minutes left Hope Powell made the surprising decision to replace experienced full backs Alex Scott and Rachel Unitt with youngster Houghton and Rafferty who had little experience at this level and were yet to play at the World Cup. This left England with no outlets and the lack of pace upfront and in the midfield was noticeable as the pre-match doubtful players tired and could not be replaced after Powell replaced Yankey with Asante to try and close out the game. After a few let offs France scored a deserved equaliser in the 87th minute with a neatly placed finish from French midfielder Bussaglia. The match finished with France pressing for a second, yet there was little doubt that England were exhausted and for the extra time the brave England ladies chased the ball around the pitch with Kelly Smith barely able to walk and a whole host of other players limping heavily. To their credit the England lionesses took the game to penalties as France failed to create a cutting edge in extra time. The penalty miss by captain White, who had also suffered a severe knock was unfortunate, however Hope Powell's decision to replace Scott who had played well and left back Unitt in normal time whilst leaving unfit players on the pitch caused England dearly and in effect the game.
France were the better side, but England put in so much effort and literally put everything in. Towards the end so many of our players were carrying injuries. It's always horrible to lose on penalties but the players can hold their heads high, they gave it their all which is all you can really ask for. The men's team could learn a lot from them about playing with passion and giving it their all.
England managed to snatch defeat from a certain victory. The team must be so frustrated. The substitutions by England before France scored were the dumbest I have ever seen. Not surprising England Manager Hope Powell is considering her future.
Thanks for the comments guys, it seems that noone talks about womens football on here, perhaps because it is not macho! It has been so frustrating watching the womens team as there are clearly some talented players: Carney, Smith, Alex Scott (whos lovely!), White and Williams who would have the vision to make it in the best of teams and is something the mens team does not have. You see some of the moves the produce and then you see some of the sloppy play and it is like watching England men: unable to string passes together, getting clustered together in the middle of the pitch and leaving the front man/woman isolated. We could learn a lot from France, Japan etc and learn the technicalities and possession game that would compliment the strength, pace and determination. As for the substitutions they were folly and we capitulated as a result. Letting Rafferty take the pen was also a mistake, you could see she was going to miss. Another sad ending, especially for Fay White who deserves better.
I watched the game this afternoon and the French team were defently better and deserved it, both goals were cracking tho! Womans team played with more spirit than I have ever seen them play with, the Mens team could learn a thing of 2 from them!
i read somewhere the other day that female footballers get up from injury inducing tackles 30% quicker than male footballers. Says it all really.
Yeah I was amazed at some of the challenges going in, a few were quite dangerous but no one seemed to care too much. Obviously they wanted to win but you did feel there was more of a feeling of camaraderie between all the players on all teams. The game is a bit slower, and I wonder if I slightly smaller pitch would help, but at least the game is refreshingly genuine compared with mens international football.
