The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Renard rescues France, Jamaica set up Brazil battle – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: July 29, 2023

Faye Carruthers is joined by Sophie Downey, Moyo Abiona and Tim Stillman to discuss the latest matches

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected, be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to The Guardian Women's Football Weekly. France-Brazil lived up to the hype with a late Wendy Rennard header kick-starting Les Bleus tournament. That leaves Group F wide open after Jamaica's win over Panama could mean a straight shootout with the Brazilians

for a place in the last 16. Elsewhere, Sweden are into the knockouts after sweeping aside Italy and some good news coming out of the England camp. Keira Walsh has channeled all our good vibes and confirmed she's not done her ACL. All that plus we'll take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Women's Football Weekly is supported by Google Pixel, the only phone engineered by Google

and proud partner of the England teams. Search Google Store to find out more. Well, what a panel. I hope you're more professional than me. I had to record the intro three times because I kept saying Le Blur's tournament. Tournament. Unbelievable embarrassment. Thanks for laughing at me, Moyo. How are you doing? No, I had to go on mute to be fair because I wasn't sure. I had faith for that third time. I'm doing really good. I'm doing good. I'm very glad to hear it.

Tim Stillman, are you jet-lagged, hot off the plane from the USA after following Arsenal on their pre-season tour? Yes, absolutely. I landed five hours ago and I haven't slept for about 26 hours now. So I might make some mistakes that require some editing as well just fyi oh right this is going to be fun isn't it uh for sure and uh sophie downey has just got fresh out of uh the is it the brisbane stadium that they were playing at france brazil what an absolute cracking match to watch it was it was absolutely rocking the brazilians absolutely

brought it i got stuck in a fan march beforehand. It was great fun. Stuck in one or attached yourself to one? Well, I have a habit of getting stuck in them, but maybe it's being attached to them. Either. Either works. You were attracted like honeys to a bee.

Right. Honeys to a bee. Oh, God, I've done it again, haven't I? Like bees to honey. Honey to the B. Oh God, now I sound like Billy Piper. Right, let's just get on with this, shall we? It's Saturday. We're starting there, Sophie. Group F, France 2, Brazil 1. The best place to start.

It was a hotly anticipated match in Group F, wasn't it? And it finished in favour of Le Bleu. Who else but Captain Wendy Renard, left completely unmarked. Why would you do that? To storm in at the back post and head her side ahead late on. She had been an injury doubt coming into this game, but stepped

up in the 83rd minute to guide Herve Renard's side to victory. Sophie, a brilliant contest between two giants of the women's game. You messaged me saying how much fun it was to watch. It was end-to-end in the second half in particular. Clearly lived up to the hype. It was. It was just a beautiful game of football

in terms of the excitement. I couldn't take my eyes off it. There was one stage in the second half where the ball literally went from left to right to left to right and I was like, how on earth do I tweet about this? What's going on? It was energetic, frenetic,

exciting. I think France started really well. They started and deserved their lead through Le Sommet. But then Brazil did claw themselves back into the game and they were playing some really, really delightful stuff, maybe just not quite getting the end product.

And there was a moment in the second half where they looked like they should have scored or put themselves ahead. And it was just like the wrong options sometimes, I think, that were being taken. But there were definitely chances at either end. So yes, a really exciting game. Tim, you're our resident Brazil expert.

What did you make of their performance? It felt a little bit as if France stifled some of their creativity for the first hour. But as Sophie said, maybe they didn't necessarily take the chances that they had. And it was a really composed finish from Dubinia to draw level. Yeah, absolutely. And in fact, that Dubinia finish was exactly what they were crying out for at that moment because this was such a transitional game and I think you could see that both teams are stacked with attacking talent and pace and skill in their

forward lines in particular but perhaps both of them little level below in midfield and both of the teams were turning the ball over quite a lot and Brazil were quite often getting in those really good positions and either a player was being a bit selfish or else the the final ball wasn't quite there so they really got themselves back into it Brazil after a not great first half but yeah I follow a lot of Brazilians and all of them devastated to lose a goal in the way they did because Wendy Renard is hard to stop from corners.

We all know that, but you should probably try. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Maybe position yourselves near to her in order to stop that happening. Marta introduced in a triple change in the 86th minute, but couldn't inspire her side to find the equaliser. But from some France love needed, I think, Moyo,

and certainly some going to Eugénie Le Sommer, who, of course, opened the scoring, as Sophie said, left out of the Euros, didn't feature in qualifiers under the previous regime. She really had a point to prove, it felt. And she did that. Her ninth major tournament for the French, quite incredible. And her 90th goal for the country. Crazy. Yeah.

Listen, all the accolades she's got are beyond crazy, especially at international level. But I feel like what you get with her is just someone that really understands a forward's positioning. And that goal came from the fact that she really understands where she's supposed to be in relation to the wingers and in relation to where the defensive line is um yeah I thought it was a great goal really well taken goal especially with the header back across goal and then she was just in a perfect position but France I feel like what they did really well today was that they we could really see the little partnerships they've got on the pitch so like we saw a really good partnership on the left both with um diani um and bashar and who was the fullback today kashawi yeah yeah yeah so it was really good combination

play uh on the left especially and we could see that they really understood where they were supposed to be in relation to each other um and that was something that for Brazil, I feel like wasn't really happening in the first half. It almost felt as though they were doing one thing too many. So like, I feel like doing dummies and step overs and certain stuff is really good when you're like, already got control of the game. But they didn't have any of the momentum in the first half. So when they were doing it, then I was just like, just hold on to the ball for a bit, just like, recycle the ball, keep the keep the the ball moving but keep possession of the ball um as Sophie said before the game was just really transitional so like it literally meant that once

Brazil equalized it felt as though it was end to end to end um and the game was almost crying out for someone to say listen we don't we don't need it to be like this let's let's let's calm it down but they both kind of seemed happy to go back to back basically um it was just a shame that that brazil conceded the way they did yes great for the neutral that i mean yeah go all in i love it wonderful um based on that i mean obviously they're going to have to be a little bit tighter than that and a little bit have better game management going into uh the latter stages of the tournament if in fact both these sides get to the latter stages of the tournament because we'll discuss Panama Jamaica in a second which means that we've got a really open group F now but do

you think if they did Sophie that either of these sides could go all the way based on what you've seen today um I think there are still questions over both of them. I think they both have those attacking players, but maybe defensively sometimes they look a little bit dodgy, for want of a better word. But, yeah, I'm just here for the pure vibes of it all, and I think the tournament would do great to have either or both of those sides

into the latter stages because, you know, it was just super exciting. There were 49,000 people in the crowd loving every single minute. Even when the Mexican wave went round several, several times, I think it was more of an engaged Mexican wave than a passive Mexican wave.

It was like part of the whole carnival that was happening on the pitch. So yeah, I think the longer they both stay in the tournament, the better. Yeah, the late kickoff today ended Panama nil, Jamaica one. Alison Swarby heading in the winning goal from a corner.

Unfortunately for Panama, that means they're out of their first ever Women's World Cup. But it was a tight game with some late penalty drama as well, wasn't it, Moyo? Yeah, it was a tight game. It was a lot tighter than I expected, to be honest. I think Panama held their own for large parts of the game. Whilst not necessarily threatening attacking-wise, they were sort of trying to contain Jamaica. I think they were doing a pretty good

job of it obviously until the goal um and then it felt as though after jamaica scored they should have probably scored at least two to three more there were a couple opportunities that have just if if whoever had the ball just looked around left and right like scanned a bit more and could see oncoming runners like they'd be able to make the right pass but it just felt as time like it felt as though when they were getting into the final third they were rushing a lot um the game could have been a lot a lot more comfortable uh for Jamaica um Drew Spence had a couple opportunities herself in the first half she was unlucky to be honest not to score um but yeah it always felt like Jamaica were gonna get a goal it was just about it was just about when yeah two clean sheets for Jamaica now though, Tim.

They're level on points with France at the top of the group. They've got a real chance of getting into the next round. Their next game is against Brazil. I love how tight this group has become. Yeah, and it really shows you the value of just getting that one result like they got against France, just getting a point, picking up a point you're not expected to get, particularly in this kind of expanded tournament.

I was slightly disappointed with Jamaica in this game. I know they were without Bunny Shaw, but this game really felt to, I think it's quite significant that all three games today were decided by set pieces. And I don't think any of the teams that won were particularly brilliant. And I think set pieces kind of bailed them all out a little bit. And this game, it just felt to me like for Jamaica, it was going to be either a set piece or Drew Spence doing something on her own. And for Panama, it felt like it was going to have to be Marta Cox doing something on her own.

And that's kind of what the game felt like to me. You could tell that these teams didn't quite have that quality in the final third. But Jamaica have certainly got it at the back. And Alison Swarby, who scored the goal, is clearly one of their star players. If I were Brazil, I would be nervous about that game. Because particularly, Jamaica should get Bunny back. Particularly on the counter-attack, I think that's going to be a really, really interesting game.

And particularly, like I said, I think you can get through that Brazil midfield in transition. So I think Jamaica could have some fun there. Yeah, Bunny Shaw is due back from suspension, Sophie, for that match, which could be absolutely vital. It looks as if France are going to go through because they have Panama next and you would expect them, although we don't know, you would expect them to win that game. So it feels like it is just going to be a shootout between Jamaica and Brazil.

What's the difference between these two sides and who's going to be able to win it? Who's the stronger? I mean, I think looking at it you'd have to say brazil just going on form and you know experience in world cups and and all of that kind of thing but this tournament has had a habit of throwing up the unexpected in round two so who know what knows what round three um the group stage is going to bring. But I think you'd have to say Brazil, but I think Tim is perfectly right

in how we saw they were undone on the transition today with France and especially with someone like Bunny Shaw coming back in. And we all know how good she is. We've seen it week in, week out in the WSL in England. So that's going to be a massive um I guess worry for for the Brazilian defense um but I mean on paper I think they should they should do it I mean Jamaica have not had the best build-up to this tournament the fact that they got that draw against France um they were probably expected to win against Panama, but their draw against France was a huge deal.

But the build-up hasn't been good. And, you know, they've had all the problems with the federation and that kind of stuff. So it's not been ideal. So you would have to say that Brazil are better placed. We've actually had a question on Twitter from Joel Emmonson. Why haven't we seen a direct free-kick goal? Who wants to take that?

Yeah, I'll take that. So essentially, I think it's probably random and it's just a bit of variance. Because if you remember, we didn't have a header from a set piece for, I think, the first three or four days of the tournament. And now those seem to be the only goals that are scored. And then we had that amazing run of the first eight games all having a penalty. And that seems to have calmed down as well. So I think it's probably just a bit of variance. And if we revisit that question again in a week, we'll probably have had four or five.

There you go, John. That'll be my guess. Ask it again. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll round up a big win for Sweden and give you some more big injury news going into the final round of group games you welcome back to part two of the guardian women's football weekly well welcome to the party sweden hi there a hugely impressive five nil victory to blow blow Italy out of the water and secure their place in the last 16 with a game to spare. They were semi-finalists, you'll remember, back in 2019

and showed exactly why they're still heavyweights of the women's game. Amanda Ilstead, Fridolina Rolfo, Stina Blackstenius scoring in the space of seven minutes at the end of the first half after Italy had managed to contain them well in the opening stages of the game. But they flexed their muscles, Moyo, didn't they? Yeah, it literally felt as though once they got the first goal that it felt as though they were going to get a lot more. I feel like every time a set piece came in as well, it just seemed as though Sweden was so much bigger then. It's like I almost didn't realise how much bigger they were than the italian side until set pieces started coming about it it genuinely felt as though like we were talking

about france before and we were saying oh wendy reynard but it felt as though there were about five players in this sweden side that would be a threat aerially and they essentially just continue to punish them um through set pieces and through crosses sweden are a side though in general that have been played like a lot of the people that were playing today have been playing in the sweden side for a while um and you can tell because one thing i've found like in this world cup especially chemistry has been a huge thing in terms of do people know where they're supposed to be in relation to other players um and i think that's why we've seen a lot of the players for sweden continue their club form for country just because they are used to also playing international football with this same team it was nice to see

Blackstinia score also because we saw her end last season quite well so I wanted to see if she was going to continue that going into this tournament and she looked good to be honest I feel like she was a threat even without her goal. She was doing a lot of additional stuff, whether that be link up or like running the channels as well. But yeah, I was impressed with Speeding because I don't think in the first game I was that impressed. I think this was like a statement performance for them to be like, don't count us out.

Well, they scraped through, didn't they? Their opening game with a late winner. I tell you what, Tim, it really looks like your beloved Arsenal have got a player on their hands in Amanda Illested. If I'm pronouncing her name right, my Swedish is as bad as my French, to be honest. Obviously, Jonas Leideval, Arsenal manager, knows her obviously very, very well,

but you must be rubbing your hands together with glee. Yeah, absolutely. And you can see with Sweden, as well as having all of those players, that Moyo talked about who can attack corners, in Jonna Andersson and Kosovo Aslani, they've got two brilliant players, left foot and right foot delivery. They put them right on top of the goalkeeper, lots of in-swingers, very, very difficult to defend.

I thought Sweden were poor at the start of this game. I thought Italy had their number quite a bit, but I can't remember how it happened, but the ball went out of play or someone was getting treatment on about 20 minutes and the Swedish players had a bit of a huddle and they clearly changed something. I don't know whether they changed something in the way they pressed or or something like that and after that they got better and then yeah clearly the floodgates opened largely from set pieces but Sweden are a team that kind of fascinate me because I've tipped them for the last couple of tournaments but this time around I felt like the team has aged out a little bit however all of the favourites have a flaw somewhere and

one of them is going to win it so somewhat somewhat there is going to be a team that wins this world cup that certainly I think is slightly flawed and it could be Sweden who knows I kind of don't think it will be but yeah this really felt like the start of the tournament proper for them yeah I know I know exactly what you mean. But I also feel as if because they've disappointed of late, they know that this is their time with the players that they've got. And we've mentioned set pieces a lot in today's pod, actually. And it feels as if people are going to be watching that

and need to learn how to properly defend them. I remember seeing, although obviously they didn't score against England, they were still a threat in the semi-finals of the Euros. But I do think that I remember looking at them, I was sat pitch side behind the goal and thinking, God, they're huge, which, you know, is going to cause problems because I don't feel as if England necessarily capitalised on their set pieces in their match against Denmark the other day. So certainly something to watch. And it means that this group's really open, Sophie. Italy will need a win against South Africa to get through,

but it feels mentally as if Italy have got something missing here. You know, they did so well in the opening stages. As Tim said, Sweden were on top and Sweden were on top but not impressive at the at the beginning and then they concede and they seem to kind of just flake a little bit Italy are a bit of a conundrum for me because they have there's no doubt they have good players and you know the domestic league is building over there massively we saw what AS Roma have done this year and what juventus have done in the past as well um yeah they're a conundrum but they kind of burst onto the world scene didn't they four years ago

and they did really well in 2019 in france and then completely flopped at last year's euros so i don't know whether it's a mental thing or whether it's a cohesion thing. They just, as you say, they can lose their sort of concentration sometimes, I think. And it all just falls apart. I thought that that win the other day against Argentina would be the start of the momentum. Yes, it was really hard-fought. It was a scrappy game by all accounts. And it relied on a Giarelli late header to get them through. But I thought the momentum would start and the confidence would start to build.

And they certainly started the game in a good vein of form. But yeah, then as soon as they lost their sort of concentration a bit, I think it just sort of faded away from them. And we saw them lose 5-0 in the Euros last summer against France I think it just sort of faded away from them. what on earth are you thinking? Why did you think that that was a good idea kind of thing? So, yeah, yeah, it's, you know, I was surprised that Bertolini held on to her job after the Euros last summer. If things, if they don't get through this group, I don't think she will again.

I mean, Bertolini is a pretty adaptable manager. Like, she's happy to change things. She doesn't, like, just stick to the same formula. But sometimes it's absolutely wild, the stuff she changes, which is probably not erring on the bad side of being adaptable, I guess. So, yeah, it's an interesting thing, I think. But she dresses so well. She always looks so great.

The one thing that always stands out to me, sad as that is, just a quick one left on Sweden, Mojo, because they have qualified for every single World Cup, only going to face the runner-up from group d which could be the usa or the netherlands you know it's not not an easy last 16 game for them yeah i think it's tricky because like you said sweden are consistent in terms of preliminary rounds so like they're consistent in terms of the opposition you think they're going to beat they they normally do there's very few times that i feel like they're going to win and they don't um I feel like the problem for them comes when they're meeting so like the two nations you just mentioned now USA and the Netherlands I would not back Sweden against any of those teams and I feel like that's where the disconnect is happening I feel like I may have backed them against the Netherlands last year or the year before but the Netherlands just seem to understand

go time a bit more than them and my worry with Sweden is when they go behind in games they don't necessarily have a switch to turn it off and be like let's just forget that goal and let's just move on to the next they always seem to dwell on the goal that they've just conceded and my worry with those like the two new teams you just mentioned, is that they will both probably score. And so what will Sweden's response be then? Which I'm not sure about. Yeah, I wouldn't back them against either of those two teams,

but you never know with Sweden. They've got the players to do it. It's just about the application. Well, their last Group G match will be against Argentina on Wednesday the 2nd. That's also 11am UK time, along with South Africa against Italy. Right, to round off this week, we need to discuss some injury news. And I'm sorry, because we've got a lot of injury news to discuss. But there was a very positive announcement coming out of the England camp earlier on.

A statement from the FA dropped at around 1 o'clock this afternoon. Following a scan late on Saturday, Australia time, we can confirm Keira Walsh has not suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Walsh has been ruled out of Tuesday's final group dematch against China in Adelaide and will remain at England's Terrigal Base to continue her recovery. Her knee injury will continue to be assessed by England medical staff and no further update will be provided at this stage. But, I mean, Sophie, just first and foremost, a huge relief it's not as severe as it initially looked

because I think we all feared the worst, didn't we? Yes. I mean, just, yeah, all of the relief that it's not an ACL because I can tell you the whole press box went completely quiet when that happened um yesterday like we've all seen it so many times especially this season I think I've seen what six ACLs at this point um so it was always when they go down like that you always just feel feel the worst um and so yeah very very relieved that it it's not. I still don't get the feeling from having seen it that she will come back. But yeah, it's just a good relief that it's not the worst that could have happened because it was heartbreaking at the time and it it when she went off on the 35th minute we talked about it in yesterday's pod moyo but I think probably a big part going forward for England is that she is

likely to remain with the team even if she's not able to play which with a ligament damage you would expect her not to be available for the rest of the tournament because it takes a while to to come back from but just being within the camp you know she's one of the senior members of the team nowadays that could be quite helpful yeah no I completely agree I think last summer's tournament in the Euros we had a lot of experienced players basically so it wouldn't have been necessarily vital for Keira Walsh's stay around like if she needed medical care or assistance but I feel like now in this current squad so many of the players that are starting and playing and even the ones on the bench aren't really experienced when it comes to a World Cup so even just having her knowledge on the bench being able to speak to players and watch

the game from the sidelines and be able to say okay I've seen this I think we should adapt via XYZ because England are missing a lot of leaders right now like that's not even mentioning the players that didn't come from the beginning so that's like that Leah Williamson Beth Mead we like they're also missing the players that retired um so yeah I feel like having someone like Kira Walsh in camp in general will help um but yeah I am interested to see how how it plays out just because England have never really we've never really seen England without Kira Walsh like in recent time we haven't really seen them if anyone's getting rotated it's not Kira Walsh like it's been the number 10 um so yeah I'm interested to see who the next in command basically is going to be what do you think Sophie it'll be a straight swap or do you think Serena

Vigman will have to change formation and perhaps drop Georgia Stanway further deep? I think what she did yesterday was try and play Georgia Stanway in Keira Walsh's role and the problem with that is well Georgia will do a good job like she's solid enough but then you lose Georgia Stanway as well she's also not Keira Walsh so is it about trying to find you know fit a square peg in a round hole or try and find a solution around that with the players you do have because um there is no natural replacement in the England squad for Keira Walsh um as it is if Leah Williamson had been fit that would have been a more natural I think um replacement in this situation um but as it was without like the likes of maybe Lucy Staniforth there that would

have been a superb option to have in that kind of deep line midfield role but we just don't have that in the England team at the moment so I think she's got a bit of a conundrum on her hands because Serena doesn't like to change her style of play all that much during tournaments but she might have had her hand forced in this situation yeah she has said previously that they always have a plan b a plan c a plan d but as we said yesterday ellen white said they didn't have a plan b if there was no kira welsh in the euros last year so it's going to be fascinating to see just a final one on on lauren james and looking ahead to england's match against against china r Rachel Daly gave a really glowing assessment

of Lauren James' match-winning performance. She's incredible. She brings a different presence to the team and a load of ability. I'm buzzing for her. She's so special and you can see what she does in tight spaces. And you sense she's going to be so big

for England going forward. We tipped her as the player to watch in our preview pod and surely she has staked her claim to start for Serena Wiegmann going forward we tipped her as the player to watch um in our preview pod and surely she has staked her claim to to start for Serena Wiegman going forward yeah absolutely um I you know that there's no reason to take her out and and I'd keep her um in that space as well and I think you could play her as a number 10 you could play her on the right you could play her on the left she'll do the same thing wherever she plays but without Ciara Walsh there i'd be hesitant about putting her in the number 10 spot because i think there is going to have to be a bit more solidity um in that

midfield and and i think that one of the fullbacks might have to invert a little bit and come in and help out in that area um as well but yeah look look, Lauren James is just a player you have to play. And I think Lauren Hemp hasn't been on it for club or country for a little while now. I have to say, even the Euros last year, I mean, she wasn't bad, but by her standards, it was a bit 6, 7 out of 10. And at the moment, as far as I'm concerned,

and I think as far as Serena's concerned, she's got the shirt and she'll have to do something specifically to lose it and I don't think she will I think she'll stay in and I think we'll be talking about her as England's best player at the tournament come what may

once the tournament ends for England hopefully on August the 20th with the trophy in their hands Yeah, oh my god that would be incredible wouldn't it it really would she's such a such a great player I'm glad she gets to actually dazzle on the world stage as we know she's been capable of big news coming out of the Australia camp ahead of their make or break meeting with Canada on Monday talking about players who can make an influence the Matilda's talismanic striker and captain Sam Kerr has declared herself fit to play

after picking up that calf injury, which kept her out of the first two group games. She spoke at today's press conference in Brisbane, says, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be ready. The plan has always been the same. Miss the first two games and then reassess. I'm feeling good. I was out on the pitch today as good as I can be. And that is absolutely going to be huge because this is a massive game now in I mean a quite bonkers group B which we thought would be an easy you know Canada and Australia get through to the last 16 and certainly not with a Nigerian side performing as they are. With Sam Kerr, Australia are a different prospect, Sophie. They are, but with half fit Sam Kerr, I think Sam Kerr was always going to

play this game because of the stakes involved. I think she would have probably played it on one leg if she had to. We don't know her kind of her fitness or how long she's going to play or how she's going to be used. Will she start and get half an hour and just try and get that goal? Or will she finish it off and if they're needing a goal in the last 20 minutes, throw her on and see what she can do? I think it's still going to be an issue, that calf muscle, because Kyra Cooney-Cross came out in a press conference last week

and said she'd torn her calf. So that's a pretty miraculous recovery from a torn calf. So, yeah, I don't know how they've stitched it back together or something. But Sam Kerr was always going to play in this tournament if she absolutely had to. And it's getting to that stage for Australia where she absolutely has to because the idea of them going out at the group stage in their home tournament had to um and it's getting to that stage for Australia where she absolutely has to because the idea of them going out at the group stage in their home tournament is kind of um unfathomable

that word I'm struggling with it but um yeah you know it it would definitely dampen the emotions over here in terms of the the kind of um potential that the tournament had in in terms of the crowds it was getting as well. So I think they have to go out for that. Yeah, well, we'll see what Sam Kerr we get. That sounds rude. What Sam Kerr are we going to get? But you know what I mean, don't you, in that match?

Not such good news for Norway's Ada Hegerberg. Coach Hege Riese confirmed she's not going to be fit in time to play in their must-win game against the Philippines tomorrow. She picked up a groin injury prior to kick-off in their goalless draw with Switzerland. There were so many question marks over that. Someone else said she was ill. And yeah, we're all shaking our heads because it was just bizarre. You don't walk away from a team huddle and then suspiciously not feature at all.

Very, very weird. I mean, it's a shame another one of the world's best players isn't able to be out there doing her thing, Tim. But equally, I think there might be more to it. You know, I don't know, by the way. I feel like this is a very leading question. I don't know, but it just doesn't quite feel right. And nothing about this Norway side has felt quite right in this tournament. No, not at all.

Yeah. So to take the first point yeah it's it's a mini try i mean it's mini tragedy about sam kerr because i just even if she plays we're not going to see her fit in this tournament i don't think we'll see a half fit perhaps and kind of the same with hegerberg particularly after the last few years she's had particularly she didn't go to the last World Cup as the Ballon d'Or holder because she was basically on strike from the national team. So I was desperate for her to kind of remind people of, you know, perhaps she can't get to that level again that she was at a few years ago, but I really would have loved for her to have a big World Cup.

And I'm with you, nothing about this smells right. Even the way she walked off, nobody seemed to really know why. And I think after the first game as well, I saw her kind of walk away from the huddle and she was throwing her arms up. And I think the other thing that tells you this is not a happy camp is how much is getting leaked. We know the lineups before

now now we're being told that Caroline Graham Hansen's going to start the next game I mean that shouldn't be news in itself really but the fact that it's all getting leaked I mean usually that happens for one reason and one reason only and this does not look like a happy camp at all no it really doesn't um it's going to be fascinating to see, but I can't. I mean, this is where I feel that the Philippines can actually massively take advantage. Four games tomorrow. That's one of them. Norway, Philippines, Switzerland, New Zealand, South Korea, Morocco and Germany against Colombia.

Which one tickles your fancy the most, Moyo? You know what? I'm excited to see columbia they impressed me in their second game um obviously i'm not sure about what the health condition is of linda caicedo so that's gonna kind of change whether i'm excited to see the game or not um but yeah i'm excited to see them because they played a good brand of football um in my eyes and and i want to see that i want to see if that was just when I watched them they were good or I want to see if this is how they play

on a day to day basis so I'm excited to see Columbia. Yeah I am as well I'm covering that game and I'm looking forward to that I'm also looking forward to Switzerland against New Zealand because I want to see New Zealand progress to the last 16 we need the co-hosts as we said also

apologies to all of our listeners in New Zealand, and actually, particularly those of you in Palmerston North, to be precise, because Spain think you're boring. I mean, maybe not, but the Spanish women's national team have left their training base early, but have denied allegations that players and their families reportedly suffered from boredom. Sources told ESPN that La Roja headed into Wellington today, two days before

they faced Japan for their third match that will determine who wins Group C. The teams denied allegations in the report though that they left Parmi, as it's called, early because of a lack of things to do, a spanish team contact confirming to aap that they had moved but not because of dissatisfaction i love it when stories like that come out like the people of palmerston north tell us what you think is your place boring is that where they've gone what's happened anyway it's time i'm going to use this with you moyo because you said this earlier it's go time it's go time it's go time I'm going to use this with you, Moyo, because you said this earlier. It's go time.

It's go time. It's go time, Moyo. I'll see you soon. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Get to bedtime for Sophie. Absolutely. I'm knackered.

Thanks for having me. And good luck for the jet lag from America, Tim Stillman. Yeah, thank you. I'm desperately fighting for it not to be bedtime for me because it's only 20 past four and it feels like it. Oh no, you've just, you've just outed what time we've recorded the pod, but you know,

we'll forgive you for that. We'll be back on Monday as groups A, B and C reach their climax with some eye catching ties, including Canada, Australia and Japan against Spain. Women's Football Weekly is produced by Josh and Chana and Lucy Oliver. Music composition was by Laura Iredale and our executive producer is Max Sanderson.

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