Women's Finalissima: England v Brazil

[shahanshahan]

European champions England face off against South American champions Brazil tonight at Wembley in the first ever Women's Finalissima. Kick off at 7:45pm - live on ITV from 7:30, build up on ITV4 from 7pm.

Writing this as I am on my way, and have my Bristol City/England flag with me...

[shahanshahan]

Match Stats

● England and Brazil will go head-to-head for a fourth time, with the Lionesses winning the first two encounters (1-0 in October 2018 and 2-1 in February 2019), before losing the most recent meeting in October 2019 (1-2).

● This will be the third meeting between England and Brazil on English soil, with all three encounters coming at a different stadium (a 1-0 win for the Lionesses at Meadow Lane in 2018, a 2-1 win for Brazil at the Riverside Stadium in 2019 and Thursday’s game being played at Wembley).

● The Lionesses have won five of their six games against South American opposition (L1), although they did lose their most recent such encounter, against Brazil in October 2019.

● Brazil will become the 19th different nation England have faced under Sarina Wiegman, with the Lionesses beating all but two of the 18 sides they have faced under her management (Canada and Czech Republic the only exceptions – a draw a piece). England remain unbeaten under the Dutchwomen (P29 W25 D4), scoring 137 goals and conceding just nine.

● Following a run of ten successive wins between July – October 2022, in which they conceded just a single goal, Brazil have since lost three of their five games (W2), including each of their last two. They last endured a longer losing run between August 2018 – April 2019 (9 in a row).

● England haven’t conceded more than a single goal in a game since Hege Riise’s final match in charge against Canada in April 2021 (0-2), keeping 20 clean sheets in their 29 games under Sarina Wiegman. Across these 29 games, the Lionesses have had 547 more shots than their opponents (710F & 163A) and 240 more attempts on target (293F & 53A).

● Ten of Bethany England’s eleven goals for England have come in the second half of games, including eight as a substitute. Her very first goal for the Lionesses came against Brazil, netting a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat back in October 2019.

● Rachel Daly, who scored both of England’s goals in their 2-1 win over Italy in February, has been involved in seven goals in her last eight international appearances (five goals, two assists), as many as in her previous 45 games for the Lionesses (six goals, one assist).

● Brazil’s Debinha has scored eleven goals in her last 15 international appearances for Brazil, although she’s failed to net in her last two.

Head to head

The Lionesses have met Brazil on three previous occasions, with England enjoying two wins and Brazil picking up one victory. 

Their first game came back in October 2018, when it ended in a 1-0 win at Meadow Lane, home of Notts County FC.

England 1-2 Brazil, 5 October 2019, Middlesbrough FC 

The Lionesses welcomed Brazil to the Riverside Stadium as they began their build-up campaign for EURO 2020, but despite a first international goal for Bethany England, Phil Neville's team suffered defeat after Debinha's brace.

Brazil 1-2 England, 27 February 2019, Chester, PA, USA

The nations met in the SheBelieves Cup back in 2019, when second-half goals from Ellen White and Beth Mead secured a memorable win for the Lionesses in Pennsylvania after they initially trailed to a penalty from Andressa Silva. 

England 1-0 Brazil, 6 October 2018, Notts County FC

Their first ever game against the South Americans came in Nottingham almost five years ago, when England made it a day to remember courtesy of Fran Kirby's winner.

Source: https://www.englandfootball.com/england/womens-senior-team/fixtures-results/2023/england-women-brazil-uefa-finalissima-thursday-6-april-2023

Edited April 6 by shahanshahan

[phantom]

33 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

European champions England face off against South American champions Brazil tonight at Wembley in the first ever Women's Finalissima. Kick off at 7:45pm - live on ITV from 7:30, build up on ITV4 from 7pm.

Writing this as I am on my way, and have my Bristol City/England flag with me...

Will keep my eyes peeled

Sadly couldn't make tonight but will be supporting from the sofa

[shahanshahan]

Squad for tonight

[shahanshahan]

Flag is here & up!

 

 

[Loosey Boy]

32 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

Flag is here & up!

 

 

@shahanshahan - just seen it as England took their corner

[SecretSam]

I'm curious. How much do women players get paid? I know in cycling, which is also on a development path for women (possibly ahead?), it's a huge gap

[SecretSam]

Lovely, well-worked goal

[1960maaan]

Brilliant goal , great passing , great movement and great finish. 

Very dominant so far.

Nearly 2

Bloody hell , this VAR is quick 

Edited April 6 by 1960maaan

[phantom]

53 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

Flag is here & up!

 

Almost the identical spot where I bumped into you before the European final 

[1960maaan]

Bit sloppy 2nd half , gave the ball away cheaply too often and could have conceded much earlier than they did. That said, some very good Pens and a great save when it counted. 
Great win and 30 unbeaten 

[MelksRed]

Congratulations The Lionesses

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

England have a new goalkeeping hero in Mary Earps, especially since the England Women's Field Hockey star Maddie Hinch retired. 

A good test from Brazil, something the Lionesses needed in the lead up to the World Cup. 

[phantom]

Very entertaining game to watch and clear to see the quality is improving all the time 

[Kid in the Riot]

7 minutes ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

England have a new goalkeeping hero in Mary Earps, especially since the England Women's Field Hockey star Maddie Hinch retired. 

A good test from Brazil, something the Lionesses needed in the lead up to the World Cup. 

Yep, Mary Earps is great. 

[Robbored]

I forgot it was on……… but luckily found the penalty shoot out as I was switching channels. Cracking save from Earps to deny Brazil after which they hit the bar and Chloe Kelly then scored the winning penalty.

[Midlands Robin]

Cracking match. Really enjoyed it.

Fantastic goal for England and the shot for the disallowed second was a peach.

It's just a shame that the world cup is on the other side of the world this time because the match times won't be great.

In our house, we enjoy watching the England ladies more than the England men.

[ChippenhamRed]

Well what a great time we had at Wembley last night - here’s my son after Chloe Kelly’s winning penalty!

Kids are growing up to love the Lionesses just like they do the men’s team, and I don’t think that can be a bad thing.

Edited April 7 by ChippenhamRed

[Trueredsupporter]

Anyone going to say that second half was rubbish. Englands standard collapsed when nice Brazil stopped being nice to nice England giving them space to play nice football. As for the commentators nice and what language are they speaking? Transitional transitions???

[Red DNA]

43 minutes ago, Trueredsupporter said:

As for the commentators nice and what language are they speaking? Transitional transitions???

Agreed. 
‘Transitions and turnovers’ - why do they have to create new words for parts of a game which has been played for ages, is it just to make them feel superior? 

Personally I prefer an apple turnover. 

Edited April 7 by Red DNA

[Rocking Red Cyril]

1 hour ago, Trueredsupporter said:

Anyone going to say that second half was rubbish. Englands standard collapsed when nice Brazil stopped being nice to nice England giving them space to play nice football. As for the commentators nice and what language are they speaking? Transitional transitions???

Nice 

[redkev]

1 hour ago, Percy Pig said:

This a billion times. I used to nibble at the crusty old bigots who used women's football as a ruse to vocalise their hatred for women, now I can't help but find it funny that the next generation of kids and young adults absolutely love the women's team and game thus making them even more irrelevant with every passing day.

The future is bright with the kids of today. When they take control of this country watch it flourish. 

I love your optimism of the kids today , but they must be different to the kids that are stabbing each other to death in London and other large cities and the 12 year old who mowed down and killed a 60 year old woman up north this week .

And the kids who constantly film any assaults on other kids at schools around the country .

Good morning up the city 

[Roger Red Hat]

15 minutes ago, redkev said:

I love your optimism of the kids today , but they must be different to the kids that are stabbing each other to death in London and other large cities and the 12 year old who mowed down and killed a 60 year old woman up north this week .

And the kids who constantly film any assaults on other kids at schools around the country .

Good morning up the city 

Yes they're all at it, there won't be any kids left to be adults soon..........

[Leveller]

2 hours ago, Percy Pig said:

This a billion times. I used to nibble at the crusty old bigots who used women's football as a ruse to vocalise their hatred for women, now I can't help but find it funny that the next generation of kids and young adults absolutely love the women's team and game thus making them even more irrelevant with every passing day.

The future is bright with the kids of today. When they take control of this country watch it flourish. 

I think “hatred of women” is a bit misguided. Sticking to “traditional” gender roles was more of a factor. That and the point that women’s football used to be rather poor. The advances in the last decade are amazing - it’s really good now.

[E.G.Red]

30 minutes ago, Leveller said:

I think “hatred of women” is a bit misguided. Sticking to “traditional” gender roles was more of a factor. That and the point that women’s football used to be rather poor. The advances in the last decade are amazing - it’s really good now.

Is it a traditional gender role? Only by circumstance . Don't forget women were playing  football back in the 1920s with crowds of 50,000 until the FA banned it from being played at Mens professional grounds until 1971

[ChippenhamRed]

6 hours ago, Percy Pig said:

This a billion times. I used to nibble at the crusty old bigots who used women's football as a ruse to vocalise their hatred for women, now I can't help but find it funny that the next generation of kids and young adults absolutely love the women's team and game thus making them even more irrelevant with every passing day.

The future is bright with the kids of today. When they take control of this country watch it flourish. 

My son educates me on the women’s team. He knows all the players, he could accurately predict the starting team based on who was available, and despite being in the top tier he could correctly identify individual players. He’s old enough to recognise that the pace and standard of the game isn’t quite what the men’s is, but it doesn’t make any difference to his enjoyment of the match and he considers Earps, Williamson and Russo to be heroes in just the same way he thinks about Kane, Foden and Saka. I think that’s brilliant.

[phantom]

6 hours ago, redkev said:

I love your optimism of the kids today , but they must be different to the kids that are stabbing each other to death in London and other large cities and the 12 year old who mowed down and killed a 60 year old woman up north this week .

And the kids who constantly film any assaults on other kids at schools around the country .

Good morning up the city 

You are referring to literally less than 1% of children 

[ChippenhamRed]

7 hours ago, redkev said:

I love your optimism of the kids today , but they must be different to the kids that are stabbing each other to death in London and other large cities and the 12 year old who mowed down and killed a 60 year old woman up north this week .

And the kids who constantly film any assaults on other kids at schools around the country .

Good morning up the city 

Got to say this annoyed me. You’re talking about a tiny minority of kids that don’t represent most children in the UK - far from it. It’s weird that you’d mention it in the context of this conversation. The Daily Mail might have you believe otherwise, but most kids are fundamentally good. If you look at the socially conscious, educated, decent and articulate crop of young players representing England these days - a far cry from the young players of days gone by - I believe you’ll get a much more accurate picture of what most young people are like these days.

[shahanshahan]

On 06/04/2023 at 22:06, Kid in the Riot said:

Yep, Mary Earps is great. 

And used to play down at SGS/Ashton Gate!

 

[shahanshahan]

Photo & video content from Thursday. Brazil deserved a goal in the second half - just not at the very end! All the goals & penalty shootout were at my end