En-ger-lund

AN ARTICLE BY SUPERSUB

Chattin to Red earlier, about how different football is today, compared to what it was like in the 70’s & 80’s.  Two completely different sports in a way & yet the same in other ways.  Just….Different.   For better or for worse.

Following a comment by Ata on here tonight, I decided to watch the women’s international, England vs Sweden. I haven’t got round to watching any yet & had forgotten all about it tbh, but I don’t normally bother with internationals anyway, so….. But what a great decision it was to watch this one.  Cheers Ata lad.

Everything about it was enjoyable.  The players themselves, on both sides, were really goin for it & giving their all. And they ALL looked like they were enjoying their football. There was no diving, no surrounding the referee, or even arguing with her.  Some decisions were met with a bit of a eye roll & shrug of the shoulders, as if to say, “Ya what…?”, but that was about it.  There was no animosity between the players either and, at no stage, did anyone try to persuade the ref to start waving their cards around.    

Even with this tackle here.  She caught her & it was a clear foul & she did (rightly) receive a yellow card for it, but there was no rolling around from the Swedish player, no yellow shirts surrounding the referee & demanding whatever colour card they felt was needed.  Nothing.  She just got up & Sweden took the free kick & the game went on.

Those in the men’s professional game, could learn a lot from these women imo.

There was some decent skills out there too.  England’s 3rd goal was one of the cheekiest back heels I’ve ever seen.   Skims past the defender & nutmegs the keeper. Bobby would’ve been proud of that one.  And the 4^th was a cheeky chip from the edge of the area, tho the GK was a bit suspect tbh.

I was particularly impressed by England’s number 11. Lauren Hemp.  She was a proper handful for the Swedish defenders, as she ran rampant down the left wing. She immediately made me think of her as England’s Luis Diaz.  Busy, busy, busy & some neat skills too.  She was continually getting past the defenders & made several dangerous crosses.  She was a great player to watch.

And they played for the full 90 minutes, near enough full throttle. Even after their 4^th goal in the 76^th minute, England spent most of the rest of the game trying to add to that.  It was strange watching an England game & not rooting for them to lose (that old chestnut), but I started out as a neutral & ended up cheering on the English team, primarily because I was impressed with the way that they approached the game & they were very much out there to entertain.

This two screenshots are from the 89^th & 90th minutes & are two separate attacks.  Both started after winning the ball back, deep in their own half & no thoughts whatsoever, about passing the ball along the back line, just letting the clock tick down. So different from what you usually see, given the context of the game at that point.

Fifteen seconds of regular time left, 4-0 up & there’s 7 England players joining in the attack there, trying to score as many goals as they can. In the time allowed.  I could watch more international football matches like this & will probably be glued to the rest of this tournament (better late than never, I guess).  The whole experience felt more ‘genuine’ than watching a men’s international & I can’t coherently explain why really, just the feel of it.  There was a purity to it, in a way.

It was as if the prime motivation, from those on the pitch, was to entertain the crowd for the full 90 minutes.  And they fully succeeded in doing that.   I saw hardly anyone leaving before the final whistle.  Everyone there got their money’s worth there & both teams deserve all the credit they get, for putting on some right good entertainment for an appreciative crowd. 

And the crowd (which was near on capacity, if not) really did seem to appreciate it.  Obviously the score helped, but the atmosphere was one of a joyous occasion.  Some refereeing decisions were met with a collective groan, but there was a ‘good natured’ feel to things.  This was an English international football team playing, but there was no (I don’t know what to call it), no ‘bad vibes’ from the crowd.  Players were roundly applauded at throw ins, corners etc.   Skills shown by the Swedish side, were applauded by way more than the small Swedish contingent in the corner & there was no sense of toxicity whatsoever.  It made a pleasant change tbh.

You could see families in the crowd, kids & parents all laughing, cheering & just having a great time at a football match, with no indication of any trouble whatsoever. 

Chattin to Red earlier, about how different football is today, compared to what it was like in the 70’s & 80’s.  Two completely different sports in a way & yet the same in other ways.

The same could be said of this women’s international & the men’s game.  It’s the same sport, but the differences are there too and, in this case, there was no ‘for better or for worse’ in my mind, it was better, very much so in many ways. Worth checking out.

Link to England vs Sweden;    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cISDG7Vualc

Can’t wait for our lads to get started tho.  Nearly there…!!!