England miss chance to be crowd pleasers
77,000 at Wembley, but still the Germans triumph
A RECORD crowd for an England women’s game of more than 77,000 turned up in the pouring rain at Wembley yesterday but even though some things are changing in football, some are not. Germany have a habit of spoiling some of our biggest football occasions and this was no different.
So even though the attendance was something to celebrate, even though it confirms a trend where the women’s game is winning new respect and new fans week by week, it could not protect the England team from the heartbreak of losing to a 90th-minute winner from Klara Buhl.
Nor could it protect England boss Phil Neville from some awkward questions. After reaching the semifinals of the World Cup last summer, his England team have not progressed. In fact, they appear to have gone backwards. This defeat to a Germany side that was knocked out in the quarter-finals in France means England have now won only once in their last seven games.
The crowd statistics make easier reading. The attendance of 77,768 is the fourth-highest for a women’s match in history after USA v China in Pasadena, 1999 (90,185), USA v Japan at Wembley, 2012 (80,203) and USA v Denmark in East Rutherford, 1999 (78,972).
It also smashed the previous attendance record for an England home game of 45,619, against Germany at Wembley in 2014.
But interest feeds on success and England were unable to deliver the victory or the performance they so desperately wanted to make sure that some of the fans who were coming to their first game of football would hurry back.
Almost every week seems to bring new attendance records in some area of the sport and breakthroughs in the respect that it is shown by national associations, which are beginning to realise women’s football is becoming a powerful force.
The process was accelerated by the Women’s World Cup last summer when 11.7m viewers watched England’s semi- f i nal defeat to the USA, a new high for women’s football in this country.
Just last week, it was announced that the Matildas, the Australian women’s team, had agreed a new four-year deal that would see them paid the same as the Socceroos, the men’s team. The agreement comes after Norway and New Zealand secured similar deals.
Australia’s l eading women’s footballers will see their annual salaries increased from around £35,000 to £54,000, the same amount as the top Socceroos. The Matildas will also receive the same access to off-field benefits, such as businessclass flights, training facilities and specialist performance support staff as the Socceroos.
The signs of growth are everywhere. Earlier this season, Manchester City smashed the attendance record for a match in the FA Women’s Super League when 31,213 watched the first WSL derby between City and Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium.
Next weekend, more big crowds are expected when Spurs play Arsenal in the WSL at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Liverpool women play Everton at Anfield.
The challenge, though, is obvious. FA Women’s Super League attendances are rising but a fortnight ago, Everton v Brighton pulled in 331 supporters to Haig Avenue in Southport. After t hat bumper crowd at the Etihad, City could only attract 1,834 fans to the Etihad Campus for their match against Birmingham City. Those attendances need to start rising, which is part of the reason why so much importance is attached to occasions like last night.
Germany cared little for the statistics and the trends. They showed right from the start that they had not come to Wembley to act as the patsies for England’s big occasion. For most of the first half hour, the visitors were in a different league. Germany controlled midfield and played some lovely possession football. England were reduced to chasing shadows.
Germany nearly took the lead in the third minute when Alexandra Popp’s fierce, rising drive was tipped on to the bar superbly by Mary Earps. It was only a short reprieve. Dzsenifer Marozsan and Sara Dabritz had a stranglehold on midfield and soon they made their dominance pay. Marozsan was given too much time on the right and dinked in a clever pass to Buhl. She touched the ball back to Kathrin Hendrich whose cross evaded both Steph Houghton and Leah Williamson.
Popp headed powerfully towards goal but the ball was at a height that meant it should have been saved by Earps. The England keeper seemed to mistime her dive, though, and the ball evaded her flailing hand.
Germany dominated the game effortlessly for the next 20 minutes. The only discordant note was a terrible high and late tackle by Sara Doorsoun on Beth Mead. Doorsoun should have been given a straight red card. She escaped with a yellow.
Ten minutes before half- time Ellen White — who had been presented with the World Cup Bronze Boot before the match for her goalscoring feats in France — turned provider and fed a neat pass to Mead, who was brought down by Merle Frohms inside the box.
Nikita Parris, who missed two penalties for England at the World Cup, was given the responsibility again. She missed again. Her penalty was struck powerfully enough but it was too close to Frohms.
England were not discouraged, though and on the stroke of the interval they equalised. It was a fine move, too. Jill Scott played the ball to Lucy Bronze, who laid it off perfectly to Keira Walsh. Walsh swung in an inviting cross and White ghosted in to the box to prod her shot past Frohms.
Five minutes after half- time, Parris fed White down the inside right channel but her cross-shot was weak and off target. A minute later, Marozsan whistled a rising drive just over the bar. The game was opening up. A few minutes later, White surged through the middle but fell under the challenge.
The game appeared to be petering out into a draw when Buhl ran at Houghton in the last minute, jinked outside on to her left foot and sent an unstoppable shot arrowing across goal into the far corner. It was a brutal end to such an eagerly anticipated occasion.