{"id":324055,"date":"2023-08-16T21:20:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T21:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=324055"},"modified":"2023-08-16T22:59:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T22:59:48","slug":"england-coachs-bold-claim-after-beating-matildas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=324055","title":{"rendered":"England coach's bold claim after beating Matildas"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the eruption of excitement dissipated and the dancing died down, some England football fans watching the Women's World Cup<\/a> back home were already starting to prepare for the final.<\/p>\n

England advanced to the championship match<\/a> for the first time, one year after winning its first European title. The Lionesses will play Spain on Sunday at Stadium Australia in Sydney in the first all-European final since 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely be back on Sunday,\u201d said Dani Beazley, a 51-year-old England fan who watched the team\u2019s 3-1 win over Australia in the semi-final at a fan zone in south London. <\/p>\n

READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>'Absolute heartbreak': Matildas crushed by England<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Sam Kerr's World Cup wondergoal leaves Australia stunned\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

IN PICTURES:<\/strong> Images that defined the World Cup semi final<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m with my daughter and my sister. The reaction in the whole place is unbelievable. The place erupted. It was just brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revellers at the fan zone at Croydon Boxpark jumped on tables and started dancing after the final whistle.<\/p>\n

\"Carpenter<\/p>\n

Fans at the Big Penny Social venue in London cheered, hugged and danced after each of England\u2019s three goals. Strobe lights flashed as the game ended with England victorious.<\/p>\n

"We\u2019re going to the final!\u201d 29-year-old England fan Charlotte Dubec shouted after the match.<\/p>\n

Dave Adams, a 49-year-old England fan, said the achievements of the women's national team has been building.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess in the (European Championship last year) and then obviously the professionalisation of the league improved everything and it\u2019s a wonderful thing,\u201d Adams said. "Everything\u2019s on a very positive trajectory for the women\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n

An emotional Sarina Wiegman showed class after the match, consoling dejected Matildas players on the pitch before telling the BBC she felt she was in a "little fairytale" after reaching the Women's World Cup final.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Matildas<\/p>\n

Wiegman again showed why she's one of the best coaches in the women's game, having now reached the final of all four major tournaments she has coached in.<\/p>\n

"It feels like we won it, but we haven't won it. It's incredible. The stadium, an away game. The way we played… it was of course a hard game, but again we found a way to win.<\/p>\n

"We scored three goals. You've been talking about ruthlessness all the time. I think this team has ruthlessness.<\/p>\n

"Whether it's up front or defence, we've really wanted to keep the ball out of the net. We really want to win. We stick together and we stick to the plan and it worked again.<\/p>\n

"They've done an incredible job. They really grew into the tournament. They had to win the last game in the group stage and played better and better. Sam Kerr came back and we saw today why she's the star of the team. They're a really tough team but what a performance.<\/p>\n

"To make it to the final is really special. I never take anything for granted, but am I in a little fairytale or something?"<\/p>\n

\"Kerr<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters in her post-match press conference, Wiegman made an admission she was not willing to make ahead of the Matildas match, that the fourth-ranked England are favourites going into\ufeff the final against the sixth-ranked Spain, despite both teams playing in the final for the first time.<\/p>\n

"Going to the final feels really good," Wiegman added.<\/p>\n

"I know you don't take anything for granted and it's so hard to reach a final.<\/p>\n

"Even though you might be the favourite, we've seen a lot at this tournament where good teams have gone out in the group stage.<\/p>\n

"Every step has been really hard but we find a way, and the women's game has grown so much it's really hard to get through.<\/p>\n

"I know it's really special and that's how it feels too."<\/p>\n

Other fans watched Wednesday's match at Killamarsh Dynamos, the former club of England captain Millie Bright.<\/p>\n

Mischa McDonald, a 12-year-old girl who attends Bright's former school, was one of them.<\/p>\n

\"Matildas<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing, so nerve-wracking, but I\u2019d predicted 3-1 before the start,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cI know we\u2019ll do it and I think Millie will lift the cup like Leah Williamson did (at the European Championship).\u201d<\/p>\n

Former England striker Gary Lineker, the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, called it an "absolutely superb performance\u201d by the Lionesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cA World Cup final. A World Cup final at football. It\u2019s been a while. What a wonderful achievement,\u201d Lineker wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n

The last time an England team reached the World Cup final in soccer was at the men's tournament in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2 in extra time.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote: \u201cJust one more game to go… Bring on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone watching in the British capital was happy with the result, however.<\/p>\n

Jacob Rohr, a 25-year-old Australian who lives in London, said he was \u201cheartbroken\u201d but added that the Matildas had exceeded expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does make it worse," Rohr said, "being over here and the English beating us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the eruption of excitement dissipated and the dancing died down, some England football fans watching the Women's World Cup back home were already starting […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=324055"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324063,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324055\/revisions\/324063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/323997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=324055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=324055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=324055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}