The last eight has been decided and they do battle with each other this evening and tomorrow. Are they the best eight sides in the tournament? Are they on form? It’s irrelevant – it’s ALL about winning football matches.
Maybe that’s why we as a nation have always seemed to struggle at tournaments. We agonise over whether we’re entertaining, the men certainly battle with hyper-inflated expectation, and ultimately as England fans we’re always waiting for the valiant, or unjust, or agonising exit.
The merry band of written press (there are four of us) had a coffee with England coach Mark Sampson on Thursday morning, in between his BBC TV interview (repeatedly interrupted by the noise of seaplanes taking off and landing – this is Vancouver, baby!) and radio chats.
He alluded to the pressure that hosts and Saturday’s opponents Canada are under to not only win matches but do so in style – a combination they have so far failed to produce in the tournament:
“It’s a pressure I can relate to personally. This tournament’s about winning matches. You ask any team that’s gone home, would they want to be in our shoes, regardless of how they’ve played, and they’d say ‘absolutely.’ So it’s about getting through, it’s about sometimes grinding out results, and Canada has certainly done that. Every single game they’ve had to play right to the last minute, fighting in there until the last whistle. So we might have to grind out a result and if we do we’ll be fully up for that challenge.”
Click here to read the full blog.
Bluefin Sport have partnered with She Kicks to bring you a unique perspective on events happening at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada. For more information and other news from Canada visit www.bluefinsport.co.uk/womens-world-cup-2015 or follow them on twitter: @Bluefin_Ins
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
