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What CAN AWFC learn from the World Cup?
Ok I can officially say I’m leaving the world cup posts behind and it’s time to look ahead at the upcoming season. But not so fast… we have to look back a little bit to go forward in this case and I thought discussing a couple of things and/or summarize some things that stand out to me and that I feel are worth bringing up, and you’re not gonna love all of them, maybe. This was click batey.
Overall to have had so many players in the tournament can only help as far as the morale goes. It’s easy for me to assume but I would guess that even through heartbreak, having had the experience of playing in the best World Cup to date can only boost all positive qualities and perspectives. Take the Australians for example… to basically cement their names into folklore forever, yes FOREVER, can only be a good thing. They aren’t coming back to north London with pressure because they simply aren’t in Australia. It’s a different thing. Foord had a incredible tournament and so did Steph. Both made history.
Katie McCabe’s goal and performances seem like they happened 3 years ago but we are talking about it being actually just a few weeks ago. What she did, how she did it and when is nothing short of outstanding. She will come back to training more focused than ever and holy sh*t the last player I’d ever want to play against is her. Imagine her hunger and determination to get better and better and build on what she has done already and take the girls in green to the Euros.
Noelle was unreal in defense and Lia was her usual reliable self. Hard to do much with the shortcomings of that team, having had to face Spain too… brutal and unlucky but I think they will also have much closer and are aware that they have shared a unique experience.
Normally players don’t celebrate winning 3rd place, but I LOVED seeing Sweden being so happy. If you wondered where the swedes were mentally for not winning the world cup, well… they showed it. They all seemed so freaking stoked and together and you could see it in their eyes. I truly believe this togetherness will be very important.
I would assume that Hurtig is moving on. I would think that getting some minutes has made her want to play more than ever and she would want to start for Sweden and being a 3rd or 4th option at Arsenal isn’t it. I haven’t heard rumors or anything like that but I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear something within days.
I don’t have a clue where LWM is mentally. My guess is that she will continue to be the strong, determined person she is and will use the fantastic World Cup run to empower her and feel more confident. This notion that players that don’t play aren’t important or don’t learn is rubbish. She is there for a reason, Sarina rates her enough to have had taken her. If it was any other player I’d question if they would deal with that well, but LWM has come back from adversity in the past and I can only hope that if she does get a run in the team, she performs well. With the terrible news that Teyah did her other ACL, a player who I was hoping would shine this season, Lotte will have a bigger part to play but I am hopeful we will sign another defender soon, with the rumors of Laia getting hotter and hotter.
I don’t think I learned anything new about Pelova other than what I already know and her performances simply reinforced my thoughts and opinions.
Overall this tournament has had to be an edification process and I cannot wait to see how it has shaped these players. I have a very, very good feeling about this season and at the risk of sounding like a total piece of poop… I’m hoping that Chelsea and Man City players are affected mentally and don’t play well all season long.
I’ve told you I’m petty!!!
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This is exhausting
I wanted to start this week and effectively shift from the World Cup to Arsenal Women. I really wanted to do so but I owe to you and to the universe of women’s football to mention a few things which I feel, rightly or wrongly, are my responsibility since I have a blog and claim to be an ally and active supporter of women and football. Three things stood out for me: the sexual assault at the podium, the resistance towards a woman managing a men’s squad, and Mason Greenwood. Not at all related to AWFC but the last point might be.
Literally a few minutes after the best World Cup we have ever seen… after an incredible spectacle filled with blood, sweat and tears and minutes before the lifting of the trophy, we are all reminded of just how much more we have to fight for women’s football. And apparently it wasn’t just the single incident but a collection of them… a pattern which is the MO of abusers. What incident? if you haven’t seen it, the president of the Spanish football federation was congratulating Jenni Hermoso and decided to kiss her on the lips. Now, I really cannot help you if you think that is even remotely ok. Later we came to find that the same person was seen grabbing his crotch in celebration when the final whistle went. It’s just all disgusting and wrong.
It doesn’t taint anything for me as far as what the women accomplished, but it just distracts way too much. Sadly, and I don’t want to be too clumsy when explaining myself here but this is a symptom of a massive problem and ideally we use this disgusting moment to shine a bright light into how toxic masculinity cannot be a part of the DNA of women’s football. This is not what we mean with equality… we don’t want the same things that happen in men’s football also rear their ugly heads in women’s football. We don’t. It’s the last thing any of us want and certainly not something the players deserve.
And this is one of those moments when life sucks. When evil is rewarded… the coach and federation who are hated by the players and most fans. These assholes get validation… they can continue to behave how they behave, to do what they do, to believe what they believe, and to treat women how they treat women. It’s not fair. It’s not something we just have to live with. It happens and has happened and we have to keep fighting and use these moments to change for the best. The world has seen it and now our world has to do something.
When I say our world is because I keep thinking that the more contained our ecosystem is, the better, and I get that it comes with limitations in money, exposure, marketing, representation and more. I’m not smart enough to tackle these. And by the way… the President of the federation apologized, but the damage is done.
Now, moving on to the next topic and that is the amount of negativity surrounding the news that the FA would consider Sarina to take over Southgate as manager of the men’s squad. I must say there was some support and great takes, but overall the quantity of hate, criticism and misogyny was off the charts. My take on it is not a short take, it would take a whole separate blog but the short of it is that not only is she qualified, but she’s more qualified than Gareth Southgate. Way more. She has won trophies, he hasn’t.
This idea that women have to prove themselves in the men’s game is kind of silly… I keep hearing how the men’s game is so much faster and athletic… well if Sarina can do what she does with “slow players” and “less athletic players” then imagine what she could do with the opposite? That alone should be a reason to consider her no? Also, its pretty damn simple: WE WON’T KNOW UNTIL WE TRY. Give her or Emma Hayes a chance, and see what happens and if they fail its not because they have a uterus.
Lastly… Manchester United have parted ways with Mason Greenwood, who although claims to be cleared of all charges HE WASN’T. The charges were dropped which is not the same thing. Also, the club has been very weak in their statements terrible I know, but I do applaud them for going this way. I think its a win for women supporters and women footballers as a whole. Where I mean that it might relate to arsenal women is the whole Thomas Partey thing and the things that continue to be said about him. I wonder if some players and supporters feel he needs to also leave our club. I certainly do and have for a while.
Anyways, days like today can be exhausting for us women football fans but we have to keep going. We need to keep fighting because it helps more than chanting a player’s name in the football ground.
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Post Final Random Thoughts
World Cups can teach us a lot of things about teams, countries, cultures, footballing systems, strategies and more. Furthermore, if we really pay attention it can teach us about ourselves and it can also challenge us directly, well beyond the surface level thoughts and feelings… This is my lame attempt at sounding deep.. what I truly mean is that sometimes World Cups can reveal how big a douchebag I am, but you knew that.
This tournament was magical. Full of everything we could’ve ever hoped for. As usual, I think it’s natural to interject ourselves in these type of sporting occasions and I am no different. We wrongly assume that our feelings matter, or that the vibes we get from a team or match are accurate or should have any credible foundations behind it. Deep down inside we know that isn’t the case… just like wearing your lucky shirt has literally no effect whatsoever. You can’t possibly believe that, can you?
Since the day that our girls got injured and were ruled out of the tournament, I had a series of conflicting feelings about their respective countries doing well. And actually, it was specific to England, since I have no stock in them. The Netherlands is another story… I wanted them to win with or without Viv, but England? Maybe, kinda, sorta?
I would’ve loved to see England win and I could sit here and criticize the best women’s coach in history but I won’t. But I was actively rooting for them when Russo was on the pitch, but after there were no arsenal players on the pitch aka her, I kinda checked out. I wasn’t as invested and I was actually bitter that Russo wasn’t on the pitch, not that I wanted them to lose, but I was expecting it so that I could be proven right somehow. It’s absurd, I know, but I also didn’t want Beth and Leah to miss out on winning this. It just didn’t feel fair for me and if it means new signing Russo and former player Nobbs not winning then I’ll take that.
I understand this rallying behind “our girls” but at the same time they aren’t for me. Russo isn’t yet the same way that Amanda isn’t or Cloe… ok maybe Amanda is already. But no, I do not think that every arsenal player weighs the same. I will not lose sleep over LWM not winning the world cup yet I’m extremely dissapointed that she didn’t get a single minute out on that pitch. It’s very lame, specially after clearly being good enough to make the squad AND there being matches where the goals came by the half dozen.
LWM has done so damn much for the community, for kids and for the equality of women in sport. Don’t you think that merits at the very least coming on with 2 minutes to go?? What about Jordan? An absolute legend and she also didn’t get a single minute. This is what is tragic for me and feels like the footballing karma came back to bite England in the ass.
What about the whole mess with no members of the Royal Family making the trip? Wow, was that an insult to these trailblazing women.
Anyway, I have no idea what I’m saying. I’m delirious. I’m writing this at 6am and I’ve been up since 2am.
Need more sleep and you deserve better.
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Wiegman for England
Insane day for me today but wanted to share a video since I don’t have time to write today, maybe later I will but for now watch this:
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Lift Players Up
If one thing is predictable is the vitriol, criticism and hate that footballers will get on social media anytime they make a mistake. The higher the stakes, the higher the amount of insults and abuse athletes receive. It’s easy for us to say: “ignore them” but the reality is that once you’ve read the comments, once you’ve heard the insults, that’s already in your brain, heart and soul. None of this is ok, none of this is excusable and social media has empowered so many people to just be the worst version of themselves. But you know this… this isn’t something recent… and it is not getting any better and won’t get any better any time soon. You won’t find answers here but I will try to put things in perspective as to why those comments are not only ignorant but they are fundamentally wrong. Be aware that this isn’t too AWFC centric today.
The same people that cling onto a player’s single mistake don’t seem to understand that football is a team sport and 11 players on the pitch have a job to do, a job that is very fluid and reactive. They can be 5 inches off position and its enough to make a difference, for good or for bad. Aside from the collective, macro vision that all players must posses, there is also the reality that a million things happen but they are magnified when those things are mistakes made by players in defense or a goalkeeper. You will always remember more a defensive mistake that “costs” the match, than a forward missing a one on one chance in the 90th minute.
The most recent example of this was Ellie Carpenter vs England. To even reduce her career, tournament and match into a single “mistake” is insulting, ignorant and pretty f*cking stupid. We’re talking about a multiple Champions League winner, multiple French league winner etc etc etc. She recovered from an ACL injury and was a star player for a historic squad during a historic tournament. Ellie quite visually, careers her emotions with every ounce of her, and it’s palpable, its inspiring and its infectious. She never stops running, she’s always on it. You can see the concentration in her eyes, her drive, her energy. These things are not even remotely questionable. Yeah you need this to be an elite athlete but she’s on another level, otherwise she wouldn’t be where/who she is.
She has had an absolutely magical tournament and let’s not forget about THAT penalty she took! Are you kidding me? The power, precision and confidence in that was absolutely insane!!! Did you see her celebrate? Do you actually think she feels this any less than any man that as ever played in any World Cup ever? I know this last questions isn’t too relevant but just wanted to throw it out there.
You don’t need a reminder because you get it, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, but she’s a human being, with emotions, with feelings, with friends and family who are also affected by the hate she gets. People always assume its the player who is affected only but if you have ever been in sort of the public eye, you sometimes read things about you or something you’re involved with and the first thing you say is: “I don’t give a f*ck but I know my parents will!!!!” It’s a very weird feeling and it’s not a feeling that people should experience just because it happens in the men’s game.
So, during the game vs England she mistimed a jump and her momentum carried her too much and Lauren Hemp took advantage of that and scored. I’m sure she’d be the first one to own up to it but what about all the chances her teammates missed?! OBVIOUSLY I’m not here to say that Sam Kerr is the one that should be on the receiving end of abuse, not at all. The point that I’m trying to bring up is that it’s a collective thing and she’s not to blame. Other people had other jobs to do and they didn’t do them as well as we would’ve hoped at the time we would’ve liked. This is life. It’s not like Ellie was caught totally distracted looking at the stands… there were plenty of chances on the other end.
Look, I’ve definitely been one to blame a defender. Lotte Wubben Moy’s mistake vs Wolfsburg sticks out in my memory but she wasn’t the actual reason we lost! She just happened to be the last link in a chain of events and as much as she has worked hard and deserves to be in that chain, she didn’t choose to be that specific link. It’s a collection of things. I also remember Nouwen making a mistake vs Spain but she’s not the reason we lost.
And I think this is one of the many ways football can teach not about who we are, but about who we chose to be. We choose what we do with those feelings and emotions. If someone chooses to send out abuse, criticism and insults they are unwanted in this sport. We don’t need them and they sure as hell are NOT fans. They are a shell of a person who needs their misogynist tendencies validated somehow. Most of these people are men, that’s a reality but its not excusable coming from anyone at any age, from any race/background.
We can sit here and say she’ll come back stronger, and LWM will come back even better and more experienced and they probably will, but we don’t see the actual mental, emotional work that it might take to get there. Ideally they wouldn’t have to but the hate is there. We need to continue to overwhelm the players with support and love and drown out the negativity.
Have you done that today?
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Mixed Feelings
I expected this World Cup to be an exercise for me as it relates to managing my emotions. I knew that, aside from wanting the dutch to win, I would be very invested from an emotional point of view because of all the Arsenal players involved. My emotions are also put to the test in the sense that there are players that normally terrorize arsenal and I usually want them to lose but because they play with some of our players for their countries, I now want them to succeed? it’s so strange.
Take Chelsea’s Sam Kerr for example. She absolutely destroys Arsenal… I’ve seen in person. It hurts. She’s so good but I also want her to lose as often as possible which will benefit Arsenal directly. But when she plays for Australia, alongside our girls Foord and Catley, I want her to do well because it means our girls do well. But I’m so programmed to not want her to succeed that it’s just a mindf*ck (BTW Part of me was bitter and might still be bitter that Steph carried this damn team and then Kerr recovers and gets the captain’s armband… She doesn’t strike me as the leader as far as being vocal and from what I’ve heard in interviews, but that’s irrelevant when you play like Sam plays… that’s just me being super subjective).
Clearly I want all women to succeed. I don’t actually want any player, from any club ever, to suffer, or to go through the heartbreak of missing a penalty or anything like that. With the men’s sport I totally do though. This World Cup has so many of these situations when you want a country to win or lose and it will affect your club team loyalty directly.
England is a perfect example. I don’t want England to win without Beth or Leah. They should be there and there’s no way in hell they wouldn’t have contributed to this team and have had them play even better. There’s no question on my mind. I actually think the Euros were much tougher than this World Cup but that’s another conversation. The fact is that yeah Its lovely that England win overall. and I want them too, but it’s bittersweet. I’m very happy for our new girl Russo and Jordan Nobbs of course. I also love Alex Greenwood.. hate how good Millie Bright is for Chelsea, but have always thought she is outstanding. Do I feel Leah should be there? yes but she’s not. That’s life. These things happen and people have to deal with those feelings.
Now, take the Dutch for a sec. Did I want them to win the whole thing? Yes and there’s also the caveat that I don’t think it would’ve been the same (or possible) without Viv there. Like I need her to win. I need her to lift a trophy and it wouldn’t be the same without her. Would’ve been amazing had they won it yet I would’ve also been super bummed. It’s obvious that I would’ve LOVED to deal with those conflicting feelings because it would’ve meant we’d be world champions but that wasn’t to be.
With Spain I have zero emotional attachment or investment really. I don’t particularly mind if they win or lose. They have players I love like Hermoso, Aitana, Ona and Alexia but it’s not like I would be sad if they lose. There are no Arsenal players in that squad so it’s very easy to root for England in the final. Plus the whole situation with their coach and federation is very strange and I don’t even know how to unpack that.
All I keep thinking about is the collective wins this World Cup has brought. I know there’s a lot of resistance still… I know not a lot of people are watching in England, or as much as you’d expect, but it’s been magical and the Aussies have written their names in history and folklore FOREVER. More on this tomorrow…
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And another one… (about empathy)
II have learned an infinity of lessons from women. From my mom, my sister, my wife, friends, previous partners, teachers, musicians, students, tour managers, and more. I have learned different things from them at different times that have had lots of impact in different areas, with various levels of depth and relevance. If I had to summarize it all and choose just one lesson or one thing I’ve learned the first thing that comes to mind is empathy.
England just beat Australia to reach the World Cup Finals but that’s not what I felt like talking about today. A few Arsenal and arsenal adjacent players will play said final, but that is not why I wanted to talk about today. The one thing that came to mind and I wanted to at least mention is how, again, women will always show us the right way.
Arsenal Football Club has been dealing with ACL injuries in the recent past. 4 to our girls and now now to our new signing Jurrien Timber. He’s basically out for the season. Instantly Vivianne Miedema posted a message of support, or some emojis that implied that. Now, I’m not saying that no men’s player has ever shown support for any of our women when they have publicized their terrible setback, but sadly its absolutely safe to assume that they haven’t, and that they won’t unprompted. Like, if they don’t post when these trailblazers are happy, winning, making history, do we expect them to support them at their lowest and when they might need them the most??
The answer might be in the question… they don’t need them. My guess is that, and I’ve written about this so much, they don’t expect a single message or anything like that. I hope I’m wrong. And that reminds me of an incident recently when a friend accused me of having a really poor vision of men to which I said: of course. But that’s a very nuanced thing.
This is not about criticizing men, its about how natural, easy, LOGICAL it is to show support for a fellow player at your club, a coworker and in this case a fellow dutch person. It’s as simple as a direct message, an emoji, a text.
Anyway, I have to drive 2 hours to a recording session and can’t expand on this as much as I would like, but I feel this could be a good podcast topic.
Also, sad to see Steph and Caitlin lose. Excited for Russo, LWM and more importantly Jordan!!!
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Elite Emotions
I’m not really someone who enjoys going to a coffee shop to work. The way that I work is that I need the least amount of distractions and even though I get the whole “leaving the house” to get work done, I don’t necessarily enjoy it. It might depend on what it is that I really need to do, of course, but I need peace and quiet. Today though is a day where I needed to do some stuff away from home and I didn’t have time to write a post until now, and I promise you I tried really hard sitting at a Starbucks but I gave up. Nothing came to mind, there was a very annoying person a couple of tables over talking on the phone, and that little detail of the smell of coffee which I don’t like, so I’m not typing this on my laptop in a random parking lot. This uncomfortable situation makes me laugh because of how minuscule the stakes are. I’m just writing a blog… I’m not even a paid journalist or writer, yet I feel all this pressure, albeit self imposed, to come up with something interesting regarding Arsenal Women and the World Cup, yet with the very first, tiny piece of resistance I froze and came up with excuses as to why I am not writing anything.
Then Caitlin Foord came to mind. So did Steph Catley, Alana Kennedy, Ellie Carpenter and all the Aussies that are playing a semifinal against the eurocup champions. That’s pressure… Yet, I’m positive they embrace it, they cherish it and they feel empowered by that. This is the elite mentality that is needed to get to this point in all sports, let alone in women’s sports. This is precisely why I’m such a champion of women’s football… the amount of obstacles they have to go over only reveals more obstacles and so or and so forth. This is so impressive and never gets old to me.
I also think about Alex Greenwood when she was asked recently if she was intimidated by playing against the Australians with all their momentum and she, within milliseconds, said: NO. That was ice cold and I love her for that. That is the type of mentality that I can only hope I have when dealing with a big challenge. Like I’d like to think that I possess it but do I really?? It’s worth auditing ourselves and using these heroes of ours as inspiration.
Now, this is all about mentality but what about emotions? What about “elite emotions”? Because if there’s elite mentality there has to be an emotional answer to this, right? And the way I would define this is just by being absolutely open with emotions… the crying, the body language, the yelling, the screaming… the feeling of feelings. I LOVE THAT. We also see tears in the men’s game, we also see body language expressions but with the women’s game its like I’m transported to when they were kids and there was ZERO platforms for them. There was nothing. And here they are.
As a musician, I get asked very often about stage fright and how I deal with that. What I always say is that emotionally speaking “fear” is not the right descriptive. I needed to understand what it is that I felt to understand how to deal with it. My brain and soul cannot wrap around the amount of emotions that would go through these footballer’s hearts. In music even though stakes are high, there’s a job to do and you usually do the same thing, the same way, all the time. In football, every second of every minute of every match is unpredictable and a set of actions, reactions, acting to achieve a reaction and reactions to actions.
IThe reasons why I admire these women has no limit. I grow, I learn, I expand and I am so grateful to every single one of them.
d ❤
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Semis Preview
There are so many arsenal players in the last 4 teams remaining that it’s hard to keep count. This is such a great thing for us and to be honest it’s a great thing that is happening for many clubs like Barcelona and that horrible team also from London. It’s amazing to see so many familiar faces in the last 4, at least for me who just started watching the sport 4 years ago.
If I were to put my AWFC fan hat on you’d know that as far as Spain vs Sweden is concerned I am 100000% rooting for the swedes. Not only because they have 3 Arsenal players but because Spain beat The Netherlands so I absolutely hope they lose. This concept of wanting the team that beat yours to go on and win so you can say you were beaten by the eventual champions is non sense. I want Spain out. Yes, I’m that petty.
Do I think Spain are going to lose? No, but someone I also don’t think that Sweden will. It’s not that I think Sweden is better than the dutch, but I think the way they set up and their size is an advantage. They have a tall midfield and defense… and everyone really is tall as hell and I think this can be a good thing for them especially at set pieces and this is where I particularly think that they will succeed, since Amanda Goalistedt *insert trademark emoji has been on fire and Stina is due for a goal.
What the dutch didn’t have, since DVD was out, was that creative forward thinking midfielder to scare the Spanish and Asllani is that for me. What a player… I think she is going to have a stellar match, her attitude is incredible and she is a real winner. I know she’s at Milan at the moment but I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes the switch to the WSL soon, and the sooner the better and if it’s to Arsenal I would love that. Not that I think we need her but so that no other teams have her. Again, petty.
So I’m gonna go with my heart and not my brain and I’m going to say that Sweden win 2-1.
Now to the big one… Caitlin and Steph vs Russo and co. If there has ever been a match that I would think would be even as hell and in which I couldn’t pick a winner it’s this one. But something tells me that the Matildas can pull it off only because they’re at home and they have that magic. Not saying they will though. My point is that I could see it happening. England have been on the other side of that, playing at home as a host nation during the Euros. They know what that crowd can do, so it’ll be super interesting.
Footballing wise I would say that England have a better midfield than Australia. Foord vs Bronze is a tasty matchup. Not sure if Kerr will start but I think she’s the only one that can do something down the middle against Millie and Alex, because she’s used to playing with both of them, in different capacities. Russo should be a very tough player to play against for Alana Kennedy because of her speed and I think down the middle is where England will be more dangerous. But I have no idea… this is just something I feel. Also it feels like we haven’t seen many screamers from outside the box so as fate would have it I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one.
Not sure how many goals we will actually see but I’m just gonna throw out there that England win 3-1
d ❤
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THAT penalty shootout
I’m sure I’m not the only who can this this but holy sh*t is my sleep schedule messed up. Not only are we all getting up at insane hours throughout the world, but we are also inundated in so much adrenaline that makes it quite difficult, if not impossible, to try to “just go back to bed.” Normally during the WSL season and during the premier league season I’m absolutely used to waking up a couple of days at 4am but I usually can just go to sleep, but doing this several times a week is just not sustainable. No moment during this tournament encapsulated this situation more than the penalty shootout between Australia and France.
Of course we can talk about the whole game, stellar performances by players like Bacha and Gorry among many others but this is, after all, an Arsenal Women blog and the thing that was the most incredible for me was the fact that we got back to back arsenal women penalty takers. This was such a beautiful thing to witness and I was overwhelmed with pride.
That’s OUR Caitlin.
That’s OUR Steph.
And because of this feeling of pride and how I see some sort of sense of belonging in/with/around them and I for instance, it’s very difficult to not root for them, even against England. I will preview that match in a couple of days. Its near impossible to not root for Australia, their people, them as a host nation, their colors, their enthusiasm… everything about Australia and Australians just feel right. By the way, much love to New Zealand as well, which to a degree have been overlooked but good on them as well.
This shootout was honestly the most insane I have ever seen in my life. It was specially hard because I saw players like Renard, Bacha and Le Sommer (all teammates with DVD) and on the other side Ellie Carpenter and Alana Kennedy, both players I’d love at arsenal + our arsenal girls. It was just insane. And I couldn’t forget about two former arsenal keepers, on either side!! Lydia Williams for Australia and the nutter Peyraud-Magnin for the French.
I’m just glad this wasn’t the dutch because I can tell you now that my heart would’ve exploded and my brain would’ve melted and I wouldn’t be able to write this because I would be just a damn skull pretty much.
We have been rewarded with some tasty matches and I can also say that it sucks without the Dutch. I would be ok with the World Cup just being over now. haha
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 