Women's World Cup 2023 ⚽

[DuncinToffee]

FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand, 20 July - 20 August

Opening match New Zealand v Norway, 8am bst

Information on teams, schedules and more
https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66112902

TV schedule
https://www.live-footballontv.com/womens-world-cup-on-tv.html

Rats! Didn't know it was 2 in the morning ko!!

If it’s VC it will be a three game ban.

I thought France before this game, but this game which England have played could give them the confidence to win it all.

James could miss the next three? Wow! When will we know?

Meaning her time in the tournament is over.

I expect she will be feeling her actions very keenly

On the red card

https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1688483907577004032?s=20

Unlike in English football, a red card for violent conduct is not an automatic 3-match ban for Lauren James at the Women's World Cup.

Suspension are for 1 game, with a possible extension of that reviewed by FIFA.

Nigeria's Deborah Abiodun was given 3 games though.

I think as steep learning curves go, LJ is on one.

Does a red card/ban mean that they have to play with 10 players until the ban is over, or can she be replaced for the next match?

I always wonder how team spirit and morale work after someone has done something like this, how the others can't help but blame someone and how it doesn't just start in-fighting and resentment. I guess that's where good management comes in.

11 players for next match

Australia take the lead against Denmark

I'd strongly advise against that .......

Yeah, this annoys me slightly. "Nigeria deserved to win, England were lucky." But Nigeria couldn't score... Doesn't matter if you have 90% possession and a thousand shots on goal if you can't convert it into more goals than the other team get. That's what football results are made of.
I do think they stifled England really well, and it must be gutting to go out like that, but they didn't deserve to win.

I remember being told back in senior school, 'if you didn't win, you didn't deserve to win!' Our sports teachers were a bit brutal.

FT
Australia 2-0 Denmark

Tomorrow's matches

Tuesday 8 August - Colombia v Jamaica (09:00) - ITV

Tuesday 8 August - Morocco v France (12:00) - BBC

Oh god I had to follow the pens on my phone with no WiFi and intermittent signal. Bad enough at the best of times!

I think Sarina said something similar after a draw.

When asked if England did enough to win the game: "Well no, otherwise we would have won the game."

11:30 Saturday then. We go again...

"Deserving" to win is always a bugbear of mine. If you deserve to win, you win. Ie score more than the other team either by free play or penalties.

The only time when I think teams don't deserve to win is when bad VAR or referee decisions are made enabling them to win when they wouldn't otherwise.

Nigeria played better in general but they didn't score more, so they don't deserve to win.

Blooming James, though. I have a daughter the same age who plays a lot of football (nowhere near pro level though!) and I'm just imagining having to field the phone call home to help her process all the emotions she'll be going through. Wouldn't want to be in her parents' shoes! Let's hope she grows from it, like Beckham did from his world cup red card.

I imagine many players in the England team would have been feeling the same frustration LJ was feeling - the Nigerians were physically strong on the ball and played well all round - I think some might pass it off saying "there but for the grace of God go I" - whether one player i carried off on a stretcher or sent off - a top team has to know how to deal with it on the pitch; they did well to make it to penalties IMHO without running out of steam or losing hope. LJ is young - she's an asset - she'll be supported and - it won't be long before she's made it up to the team. NIgeria were a difficult team to beat. England didn't look as good but Nigeria are a big part of the reason for that - there were still immense performances from many of our players - the determination still shone through with players like Daly and Bright and many others. It would have been disappointed to go out either beaten in normal time after a sending off or on penalties after an apparently below par performance - I'm still impressed.

yep - my interest in football these days is pretty minimal.
but oddly late this morning I was reading a nice beeb piece about her proud dad who has kids in both male and female england squads - article naturally singing her praises. I got to the end of the piece, looked down the tab screen and there is the news that she has just been sent off.
For a stupid terrible act - it could have crippled the other player for life.
Definitely shades of the Beckham incident (though worse I think) and he was castigated/crucified for ages after that.
Be interesting to see how this plays/plays out.
If she had been a man I am pretty sure the twatterati would be filling the ether with tales/memes of toxic masculinity for several days.
A learning experience for sure.

I think where LJ stood on the other player’s lumbar (by the looks of it) and at one point had her whole weight on it (albeit for a second) will be deemed to be reckless. As @overdalexx says, could have potentially done some damage.

I think it is worse than reckless @AutumnCrow . For me, 'reckless' is where someone has misjudged their ability to be able to get the ball - say cut someone down because they were late to the challenge, but at least were trying to get the ball in a legitimate way. What she did was nothing like that. She deliberately chose to stand on an opponent's back. There was no 'heat of the moment' and no 'misjudging' involved. The Nigerians had marked her out the game (good tactics, and what happens to players who can change a game) so she decided to deliberately hurt another player. That is not acceptable in any sport.

It shouldn't be about whether the Nigerian player suffered any permanent damage or not, any punishment should always be about the intent. Like if you swing a punch and it misses, you intended to hurt them.

@UsingChangeofName I don't disagree with you there. I suppose I'm using 'reckless' in my head in some sort of (possibly faux) legalese way as meaning 'she was aware at the time of acting that a risk of serious injury existed'.

The more times I've now watched it (on the evening news) the worse it looks. I wondered if I were being biased though because I have a lumbar spine problem that has effectively disabled me, so am very 'anti' anyone pissing about with someone else's spine iyswim.

Very well put.
I don't think we do Lauren James any favours by minimising what she did. She will learn nothing that way (although at 21 years old and after several seasons of top-flight football she ought to know already not to stamp on an opponent's back.) I'm glad the TV commentators didn't pile in on her though, because that sets the tone and the reaction can then spiral out of control.

I've not seen all the post-match interviews but Rachel Daly's was honest and excellent on the performance of the Nigerian opposition. I feel a bit sorry for them because they played so well, should have had a penalty because of Lucy Bronze's stupid barge in the box, but if you have 18 shots at goal and only two on target, you really can't complain.
I can't decide whether this result and the manner of it means that England are now going to go on and win the damn thing or whether it's a sign that the next team they face will knock them out. We've had some luck, which you have to have to win a tournament, but will it last all the way to the final?

Australia v Denmark was like a warm bath in comparison to that nerve-shredder. Excellent team performance, Sam Kerr got a few minutes at the end. Lovely.

This WC has everything.