Women's Football: England In World Cup Quarter-Finals
After putting on a halfway decent show against Japan, Argentina handed the game to England in ten minutes. First with an own goal and then with an easy goal from midfielder Jill Scott. England kept up the attack but worryingly didn't score again until early in the second half and that from a penalty, well taken though it was.
Oh goodie, a dubious free kick given against England just outside the box, again. Which makes it 3-1. The unexpected goal wakes up Argentina. For all of three minutes. Kelly Smith strikes to make it 4-1. A couple of the Argentinian players make good but sporadic efforts, including own goal scorer Gonzales, but there is little evidence of team play. England continued to dominate and the match ends at 6-1. England is through to the quarter-finals with their opponent to be decided tomorrow. They'll need to better capitalise on their chances at goal if they're to win on Saturday though.
The match commentary hasn't always been the best, but I would like to praise the commentators for not mentioning the war during England vs Germany. It made a nice change. The commentators didn't say anything untoward about Argentina either. They were a little unkind about the own goal but, to be fair, FIFA came in for some snark about that too (FIFA awarded the Argentinian goalkeeper's own goals to two German players during their first game).
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On Saturday, I tuned into the online coverage just in time to see Denmark score from a set piece free kick against New Zealand. It was the second goal and it stayed 2-0 'til the whistle which means the Kiwis will be going home after their last group game, alas.
Oh goodie, a dubious free kick given against England just outside the box, again. Which makes it 3-1. The unexpected goal wakes up Argentina. For all of three minutes. Kelly Smith strikes to make it 4-1. A couple of the Argentinian players make good but sporadic efforts, including own goal scorer Gonzales, but there is little evidence of team play. England continued to dominate and the match ends at 6-1. England is through to the quarter-finals with their opponent to be decided tomorrow. They'll need to better capitalise on their chances at goal if they're to win on Saturday though.
The match commentary hasn't always been the best, but I would like to praise the commentators for not mentioning the war during England vs Germany. It made a nice change. The commentators didn't say anything untoward about Argentina either. They were a little unkind about the own goal but, to be fair, FIFA came in for some snark about that too (FIFA awarded the Argentinian goalkeeper's own goals to two German players during their first game).
* * *
On Saturday, I tuned into the online coverage just in time to see Denmark score from a set piece free kick against New Zealand. It was the second goal and it stayed 2-0 'til the whistle which means the Kiwis will be going home after their last group game, alas.