Former captain Faye White says the lack of media attention after England’s run to the European Championship final in 2009 was “soul destroying”.
The 45-year-old, who skippered the Lionesses for their 6-2 defeat to Germany in the final in Helsinki, was present on Monday to unveil a message of support laid out beneath the flight path out of Heathrow Airport for Sarina Wiegman’s side before they fly to Australia for the Women’s World Cup on Wednesday.
The message, large enough to be visible to the England party as their plane ascends over west London, reads “Lionesses, you’re our pride,” and is tagged with thousands of smaller messages of support submitted by fans across the country.
The move, which has been organised by one of the Football Association’s commercial partners Kind Snacks, marks the strides made in terms of backing for the women’s game, following the lack of media presence at the airport for the team’s return from Finland 14 years ago despite them having become the first England side since 1966 to reach a major tournament final.
“We always knew there was a community out there that wanted to support women’s football,” White, who won 90 caps and played at five major tournaments for England, told the PA news agency.
“But it wasn’t in the mainstream. In 2009, we came back expecting that there might be a few press at the airport. There was no-one. It was soul destroying really.
“What more did we need to do? No other England team had got to a final for decades. We just had, but just because we’re women it didn’t seem to matter.
“But I always knew there was a community of people, and of young girls who wanted to play. That’s what drove us on to become better and to push for this. In our time, we were saying ‘this has to change’. Now we’re seeing it. There are millions of girls who want to play this sport and who love it.”
The Lionesses are looking to build on their triumphant Euro 2022 campaign last summer by becoming the first England team since 1966 to be crowned world champions, and they kick off their tournament against Haiti on July 22.
Wiegman’ side completed their preparations on home soil with a goalless draw against Portugal in Milton Keynes on Saturday, a result the manager described as “disappointing” before insisting the European champions are on track to be ready for their World Cup opener in Brisbane.
They are among the favourites to win a first Women’s World Cup title, a tag which would have seemed unlikely during White’s 15-year international career.
Prior to reaching the semi-final in 2015, losing agonisingly to a stoppage-time own goal from defender Laura Bassett against Japan, the Lionesses had never made the last four of a World Cup.
They repeated the feat four years later, losing out to eventual winners the United States but cementing the team’s reputation as a rising power in the international game.
“From my experience, we always overachieved,” said White of her generation. “How we were supported and funded compared to other nations we were competing against; Germany, America, Sweden – their federations had always had a bigger budget, bigger support.
“In the last few years, getting to a World Cup semi-final was an achievement, but again an over-achievement. In my time, we always got to the latter stages when we weren’t even expected to get out of the group.
“As the game’s grown we’re getting further and further. It just shows what happens when you back it, when you support it – and that’s not just federations but companies, partners like Kind who have put this message on and shown what the England team means to the country and to so many people.
“There are thousands of messages on there that show how much other people, normal people with children who love the game, are supporting.
“I know what a message like this will mean to the players sitting on that plane. It’s an extra piece of the puzzle, that can bring more out of you, even when you’re trying 100 per cent. That extra bit of fight and resilience.”
::KIND Snacks have created a GIANT message of support for the Lionesses as they head off to Australia for the first game in the tournament. The 100m wide sign was made out of thousands of messages of support from the public, including ex-Lionesses Rachel Yankey and Faye White.
Scaloni 'not here to criticise' Argentina after shock Paraguay defeat
Lionel Scaloni says he is "not here to criticise his players" after they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Paraguay in World Cup qualifying.
Lautaro Martinez had given Argentina the lead in the 11th minute – his powerful shot past Roberto Fernandez was initially ruled out for offside before a VAR review overturned it.
However, Paraguay were soon back on level terms. Gustavo Gomez rattled the crossbar with a diving header from a corner, but they regathered possession and pulled level with a sublime overhead kick from Antonio Sanabria 19 minutes in.
Two minutes into the second half, the hosts completed the turnaround through Omar Alderete, who met Diego Gomez's precise free-kick to nod in from close range.
Rodrigo De Paul arguably should have equalised for Argentina with just over 20 minutes to go, but under pressure, sliced over from close range, with the visitors unable to salvage a point.
It was a third defeat in World Cup qualifying for the Albiceleste, who remain top of the standings with 22 points, and Scaloni chose to focus on the positives.
"I'm not here to criticise my players; I'm here to support them," Scaloni said. "We knew it was going to be a tough match. We're here to move forward.
"In the first half, we played a good game, but the first action at the start of the second half made everything more difficult. We have to congratulate the opponent, who defended very well.
"I don't know if they found the antidote [to beating Argentina]. We're hoping to get back on the positive path.
"The team always tries and stands tall. That's what's important: never giving up on the game and always having the desire to compete."
Paraguay are sixth in the table, having extended their unbeaten run to six matches, which also includes a win over Brazil.
They had to dig deep, having only 23.2% possession throughout the game, though they had eight shots to Argentina's nine and scored with both of their efforts on target.
Head coach Gustavo Alfaro is yet to lose a game since taking over Paraguay after the Copa America, and he hailed his team's resilience.
"With the rebelliousness of these players in the face of adversity, I have no doubt that we will get there. When the predisposition is so great, time is secondary," he said.
"They were fantastic points, very difficult. It is difficult to take a point from Argentina."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
