England Women Thrash China: Lionesses Roar With a Resounding Victory
England Women roar into the last 16 of the Women's World Cup with a dominant 6-1 victory over China Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses are on a mission to silence their critics Stay updated with the latest podcast and schedule of this thrilling tournament
There's something different in the air in the England camp.
At last year's Euros, England rode a wave of momentum, pride and hope. This time around, they powered by something different.
"We're blocking out the noise," Chloe Kelly told us after 6-1 over China.
That "noise" is criticism. England came into the World Cup lacking form and, worryingly, goals.
England started the tournament with a retaken penalty against Haiti and a brilliant performance from Lauren James led them to a victory over Denmark, with a defeat to Australia sandwiched in between and a goalless draw against Portugal.
The players were fully aware of the concerns, yet instead of feeling disappointed by the criticism, they embraced it as motivation to utterly outperform China.
"During every interview, we face identical questions," Kelly reproached.
"We have made a statement" she added.
That statement is simple, the European champions are a very good team and it's ok to win in a scrappy manner at times. This is tournament football.
The USA has drawn twice, while Germany and Spain have faced unexpected defeats. Olympic champions Canada have already been eliminated from the tournament. In contrast, England has emerged victorious in all three group games, triumphing with a five-goal lead against the Asian champions and only conceding a single goal.
Perhaps there will be a resurgence of optimism. If not, let the critics come. The Lionesses are confident enough to prove them wrong.
The Offside Rule podcast: The James effect, USA squeeze through, Dutch in seventh heaven
The Offside Rule daily podcast brings you the latest updates on the Women's World Cup as England confidently enters the knockout rounds.What is the Women's World Cup schedule?
The group stage spans for two weeks and concludes on August 3rd. The top two teams from each group advance to the round of 16, which is scheduled to be held from August 5th to August 8th.The quarter-finals are set to take place in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane, and Sydney on August 11 and 12. Following that, the first semi-final is scheduled for August 15 in Auckland, while the other semi-final will be held on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney. Finally, the final will also be hosted at the Accor Stadium on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
