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England’s swift return to the WWC Quarterfinals

By on June 23, 2015

This week, Taylor Swift was a modern day Sir Isaac Newton as she brought Apple back down to earth with the gravity of her influence in the music business. Meanwhile, the England Women’s National Team diminished the hoodoo of having not previously won a Women’s World Cup knockout-stage match by overcoming rivals Norway in the Round of 16. Mark Sampson’s squad of ladies made a swift, if you will, return to the Quarterfinals of the competition, where they had twice fallen before (this is the first edition with a Round of 16 stage).

History Girls!

England have already met Canada twice this year, as The Three Lionesses beat Canada 1-0 in March in the Cyprus Cup final. Less than a month ago the two sides faced off in a final pre-World Cup friendly at the end of May, with Canada winning 1-0. England are the slight underdogs going into their next encounter, despite the Lionesses being ranked two places higher than their upcoming opponents in FIFA’s rankings and the hosts seeming rather underwhelming at the tournament so far. Narrow 2-1 victories have gotten England thus far. As good teams do, they’ve been able to win even when they’re not playing well.

Indeed, a Round of 16 win looked in doubt, until two reliable English defenders popped up with the goods in sweltering conditions. England captain Steph Houghton proved her weight in gold with an equalizer against Norway, and another defender proved her weight in Bronze! Lucy Bronze followed up Houghton’s equalizer with a fantastic match-winning strike from outside of the area with seventy-six minutes on the clock.

Now, England aim to follow the winning streak of Taylor Swift by taking their underdog tag, shaking it off to fill that blank space on the semi-finals wall-chart!

Girls Aloud!

Norway, despite their recent exit to England, brought about one of the most memorable off the field moments of the competition with a spoof documentary about the stereotypes of the women’s game. Norway poked fun at themselves and the perceptions of outside onlookers in a humorous, viral recording. It seems like Beyoncé was right, as girls will rule the world on Sunday, 5th July 2015. This comes after the role women played building the Waterloo Bridge in London during World War Two over the River Thames was finally recognized. It was a Crouch, but not Peter, who helped the history of the Waterloo Bridge come to light, as heritage minster Tracey Crouch pushed for women recognition at the Bridge (not Stamford).

There still isn’t equality between England men’s and women’s teams, however, the ladies have already one-upped England’s group star exit of World Cup 2014.

Brilliant Bronze!

Oh, the puns. Lucy Bronze showed that the copper color can sometimes shine as bright as the golden stuff and belongs on the podium. The defender from the North East of England scored one of the goals of the tournament to keep England in with a chance of picking up silverware this summer. This is parody and tribute version of British band Spandau Ballet’s 1980s hit song called ‘Gold’, with “gold has been replaced with Bronze in light of England’s golden girl and her winning strike against Norway.

Bronze:

Thank you for coming home
I’m sorry that the players are all worn
I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days
Slowly being eaten away
Just another play for today
Oh but I’m proud of you, but I’m proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small
Luck has left me standing so tall

Bronze
Always believe in your soul
You’ve got the power to know
You’re indestructible
Always believe in, because you are
Bronze
Glad that you’re bound to return
There’s something I could have learned
You’re indestructible, always believing

Homepage photo credit: James Boyes on Flickr

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.