88' 1-1 Going the other way, Mexico feeds #19 Monica Ocampo as she streaks north toward arc left foot -- sandwiched front and back, and sent sprawling. Yellow card on #6 Casey Stoney. 89' 1-1 Free kick from 20m arc left top. #19 Ocampo blazes it just over the crossbar.
90+2' (of 3') 1-1 Both teams exchange midfield build-ups, and intercept each others' lousy passes. Mexico has the better of it. Excellent work in the box left low wins a corner. 90+3' (of 3') 1-1 Mexico left corner, back to #21 Stephany Mayor at 15m right post. She shuffles feet, blasts hard -- #9 Ellen White sacrifices the face!! 90+4' (of 3') 1-1 Mexico right corner -- they take too long? England crowd it, ping into touch, and full time! Did Mexico play it short??
Ha, what a poooor England performance, but I guess whatever happened to England vs DPR Korea & Australia just showed itself again now. Aluko just put the worst 45 mins I have ever seen a individual WC player give. England were basically playing with 10 players for the whole half. England were playing a team that offered very little going forward, but they looked like they were going to lose it in the end.
Hope Powell lost the game for England. She should have subbed Aluko out after that 1st wide open miss when Carney headed a perfect ball across and there was an open goal. Not sure why Carney even got subbed out, she did more than Yankey.
Mexico were being sold as the total underdogs, so when they started shining, the crowd went with them. I don't think an essentially German crowd would care too much about England either way.
Could England blow their whole tournament before they even play Japan? New Zealand will get in behind their slow backline way more than Mexico, with the route one athletic football they play. Looking at both teams I wouldn't be surprised to see England vs New Zealand be the beginning of the end for English hopes in Germany. Hope Powell could even repeat the English men from South Africa at this rate. Horrible in group play, then blown away by Germany.
Maybe so but for some reason I see NZ as a better match up for England. Not if England play lethargically and miss open chances. But that NZ keeper is a bit, um, adventurous.
England looked nice until their usual GK blunder. One could see they were shocked and they didnt found back to their play. Poor display indeed. But I am absolutely not worried about England getting out of the group. They are better than the Allwhites and on a good day they beat Japan. They have to, cause they have to get as 1st out of the group stage. But at the moment I think they could somehow(win NZ/draw Japan) finish 2nd in the group. That would be England's 2nd Bloemfontein.
Batfink, Aluko was bad in the first half too. She played several passes with no pace that were intercepted. Early in the game, usually I think a player will have time to improve their form, but she never did. I agree, not subbing her likely cost England this game.
Aluko sucked all the way around, both first and second halves. I don't blame the reaction miss, but she fluffed too many good chances to merit much more in the way of playing time. Just plain weak. I'd really like to see if Ellen White can actually put a shot on goal. She was certainly more active in her 20 minute cameo than Aluko was all game. Also, Bardsley made hash of Ocampo's goal. It was a great shot, but a lame extension. I think she saw the goal post looming.
with all the offensive weapon she got i can't belive hope still play aluko.........same old england doing all wrong by her own......now a presumable easy group will be very tough for them......there is no hope only god can save the queens........
Agreed that Powell cost them the game. Jess Clarke for Aluko should have been the substitution. I think it would be a mistake to bench Aluko completely. I'm sure her confidence is shot right now and the last thing you want to do as a coach is remove a player because of one bad game in a knockout tournament. Aluko is still a world class player even if finishing isn't her strength. Either play her for a half and then sub her out, or start white/clarke and bring her on as a late sub. England will now have to beat both New Zealand and Japan (assuming Japan beats Mexico), or else their world cup is over... which would be a real shame for a team and country that deserves a moment like 1999. finishing second in the group isn't good enough with Germany waiting in the quarterfinal.
Don`t want to educate everybody here but have we forgotten how England likes to struggle during the group stage? They did the same at the Euros yet managed to get to the finals. I can clearly envision Powell`s team continue the fight with themselves and still come up top against a much more technically talented Japanese side which sadly lacks finishing skills (no sucker punch allowed in Japan, eh?). That game had written Ellen White right from the start. Aluko needs space - which Mexico never provided at any stage of the game. I am impressed with the overall performance of Mexico. These ladies got themselves a chance to play at the later stages of the tournament with this draw.
There is a very difference in the perception of women footie in England and Germany. It ain`t as shiny here as the media hype might suggest yet there is a staggering chasm between those countries when it comes to the (real) support of football played by females. Particularly concerning their respective federations.
I was only able to see the first half, will watch the rest tonight.. so my comments are about the first half only They shot from Ocampo was world class, had just enough bend and more than enough power on it. Bardsley could not have gotten it. (Just Like a Carli Loyd shot) Mexico crammed up england and England never solved that... Aluko needs space to work in, she did some nice things but England needs to work on bunker tactics. I thought Carney had a poor first half
Which is a scary thing for me (as fan). She seemed to be the most promising English talent who even provided the grit and heart which talented players often lack. At this point of time in her career though I`d expect more maturity ... effective play in her game. Simply put more productive play which results in goals. Her progression went stale. In my book book Ocampo would have scored on Solo/Angerer as well in 3/10 cases. People downplay the fact that women rarely offer such a surprising shot (it was hard and placed well in the top corner).
She was hurt and just starting getting back into the lineup as a sub back in the early Spring. She did get an assist though. And should have gotten two had Aluko not completely wiffed at the open goal.
Totally agree,do not understand Powell's persistence in playing Aluko.If a player is lacking in confidence the World Cup is not the place to sort out Aluko's problems.She has no passion,work ethic stinks, doesn't even try to backtrack and help out her team mates.Players also seemed to have problems with weighting passes, especially England, many falling short. Bardsley had no chance on Ocampo goal, have seen her power shots and they are as fast as Cannonballs. Should do better next 2 games as long as Powell keeps Aluko on the Bench ? did anyone notice Aluko holding hamstring in later stages of game?
Japan just played their hardest game in this group, as they regularly struggle with one dimensional athletic football being forced on them. New Zealand was one of the teams in the tournament that would cause them the most problems using that style. Unlike the Olympics, this time Japan came through it though. I expect Japan to play their best game against Mexico, and depending on how England cope with New Zealand, Japan should finish top of the group. An under par Japan showed enough quality for me to suggest that everybody else in group B is playing for second place. England came into this WWC with a up and down record, but you can't afford to be that way when the major comps come around. 2nd place in group B mean's likely death. Hope Powell's weak tactical display strapped them into the chair, now were all waiting to see who flips the switch .