USA vs England- Sportsish Reports Live From Wembley!
Our beloved USWNT traveled across the pond to take on the England Lionesses at the iconic Wembley Stadium, and I went to watch in the press box. The end result was a stalemate, 0-0, despite a disallowed goal and a penalty that VAR overturned for the US.
England hosted Team USA at Wembley Stadium last Saturday (Getty Images)
It was a battle between the two best teams in the world: the USA is fresh off of their Olympic victory in the summer, and England is the reigning European champions. Emma Hayes, the former Chelsea manager, has recently become the USA coach, so fans were interested to see how she would fare at her ‘homecoming’ game and if the English pressure had an impact. A quick glance at the lineups showed standout players, so the matchups between stars like Naomi Girma and Alessia Russo were highly anticipated.
The 78,346 fans in attendance made Wembley a buzzing atmosphere on a wintry Saturday evening. After a vibrant light show and fireworks to maintain the already high spirits, the match did not quite live up to the hype regarding the result. It certainly was not an animated game that constantly kept you on the edge of your seat, but there was plenty to be excited about. Given that it was a friendly, it was a chance for both teams to try new tactics and give new players opportunities, such as England’s Jess Naz and USA’s Emma Sears, who both have fewer than five international appearances. Although the match remained goalless, the USA was in control, and they could not put the ball in the back of the net. England struggled to get past the solid American defensive line led by Naomi Girma, who showcased why she is arguably the best center-back at the moment. Hayes was disappointed that the Americans did not pull off the win, but she is proud of her team who she “really, really enjoys coaching”.
England manager Sarina Wiegman noted how ‘special’ the crowd was in the press conference following the match. “We’ll never take the crowd for granted…when I played football, there were maybe 10 people who came to watch.” The growth of international women’s soccer has been so inspiring, and the hope is that it will only continue so moments like these on the biggest stages will not be so rare.
However, the crowd roared with hostile boos in the 73rd minute when USA’s Korbin Albert was subbed on. She has publicly expressed homophobia on social media and was forced to apologize earlier this year in March. It was particularly prevalent as the England captain, Leah Williamson, wore a rainbow armband in support of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign (as did many male Premier League captains that week).
When asked about the booing from the crowd, Emma Hayes said, “Of course I understand it, and everyone is entitled to their opinions on it. My job is not to weigh in on the debate. My job is to produce a football team. I’ve sat down with her; I’ve had several conversations with her in and around these things to make sure that the self-development piece is there.”
The beginning of the match vs USA & England (Reshma Rao)
USA are finishing off their European tour against the Netherlands on Tuesday before returning home and preparing for the She Believes Cup next year. England is also playing their final match of the year against Switzerland, but there is still work to do if they aim to retain their Euros title ahead of the 2025 European Championships next summer.