- Oct 17, 2008
- 14,632
That match last night was absolutely terrible. Really desperate stuff.
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[Other Sport] EURO 2022 Official Thread
- Thread starter crodonilson
- Start date
- Jul 5, 2003
- 1,497
It was pretty poor, however I can think of plenty of games in the men's Euros and World Cups over the years that have been just as dire.
mikeyjh
Well-known member
Deleted member 37369
Well-known member
- Aug 21, 2018
- 1,994
So I've been to both England games at the Amex so far. Tickets for the Norway game were a Christmas present and I was quite meh about it until the day of the game. I'm writing this as somebody who's followed the Albion for over thirty years, but also as a woman who played the game for many years too. I don't mind admitting I've never found watching women's games particularly enjoyable.
The Norway game was far more fun than I'd expected, and not just because of the eight goals. Yes, the atmosphere was very different to a men's game. It's like the crowd desperately want to sing songs, but they lack the coordination and match experience to do so, which means the range of songs is quite limited, largely to Engerland, Engerland, Engerland; Football's Coming Home and the odd round of Beth Mead's On Fire from the more adventurous. On the plus side, there are no knobbers piping up with "Your Support Is ****ing Shit" or "We Pay Your Benefits", so, every cloud. I enjoyed the Norway game so much, I went after tickets for the Spain quarter final, and unexpectedly found myself bagging a pair.
The atmosphere for Spain was more ramped up, a slightly bigger crowd, with more adults and fewer school kids. When I noticed the bloody England band were present, my heart sank at first. I hate their droning dirges at England men's games: I think they actually detract from the atmosphere. But perhaps in the women's game as it currently is, they actually work much better. They lead the crowd, who follow on enthusiastically. The longer the game went on, the better the atmosphere got. There was no sense of fans getting on the players' backs even when they were losing, and you could sense the anticipation building as England managed to force the pressure back on to Spain as the second half went on. When England equalised, the whole place was on its feet. When they got the winner, it's the closest I've ever seen to limbs at a women's game: honestly it was absolutely bouncing.
It's great to see so many women and girls at the game, but you might be surprised to hear me say that the the best thing is actually how many men are starting to engage with this England team. That's far more impactive than perhaps you'll ever know. It's fantastic to see young girls looking up to Beth Mead, Alessia Russo and Lucy Bronze as role models, but it's even better for society if we see boys doing the same. For almost all of football's history, female football fans have idolised male players, so why shouldn't boys look up to Ella Toone? I absolutely love the fact that I've seen guys walking around in the England women's team replica shirts too. I've seen some men suggesting they like it but wouldn't buy it as 'It's a women's shirt". It comes in men's fit, just as the England men's team shirt comes in women's fit, so why not (apart from the £75 price, obviously)? The away shirt in particular is beautiful. It would be incredible to see men walking around with Russo 23 or Mead 7 on the backs of their shirts.
I really hope this team can really do something in this tournament. I played football for so many years, for Sussex and South East representative sides as well as my club teams, with no hope of ever making a career out of football, so it's still incredible to me to see these women making such an impact. I love the idea that kids now run up to Millie Bright and Ellen White asking for autographs. If you've never had to fight for recognition in life, then perhaps you won't understand just how much representation matters. Trust me: it really does, and I'm genuinely so thrilled to see some of these players becoming household names. I'd love to see England get to the final and win this thing, just to see how much it really draws the wider footballing public in.
Who knows: perhaps it might even inspire dull Gareth and his troops in Qatar? Go on, girls. Show us just how good you can be, and seize the opportunity to make a nation proud. Well, most of us, anyway
Great post
I went to all three games at The Amex. Obviously loved the two England games - but also enjoyed being at the Austria v Norway game as a neutral.
The atmosphere has been incredible - in a very positive way in my opinion.
I've said to friends that given the choice of going to a men's or women's England game, I'd choose the women's game as things stand. That decision isn't just about the team/players - but the atmosphere and overall experience, which can be pretty toxic at men's games when so many of the crowd are tanked up on something or other.
The game v Spain was incredible. The England ladies just didn't stop ... and when Georgia Stanway's screamer hit the back of the net ... WOW!!!
Totally agree. The whole experience at both matches was a lot of fun. At the second match, there was a guy somewhere behind us behaving as if he were at a men's game - booing, berating the ref, calling the Spaniards cheats, that sort of stuff - and he just stood out as an absolute bellend. It'll be interesting to see if the women's game can thrive and simultaneously maintain that very different atmosphere because it's a real selling point.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
That's true, but there seems to be currently somewhat of a reluctance by BBC commentators and pundits to criticize.
As an example, 'a magnificent match between 2 pedigree sides' was one comment yesterday.
It really wasn't - Belgium didn't have any shots on target!
Sweden had 33 shots, but 24 were off target. Thankfully they got the late winner and we were spared 30 minutes more.
Now they were either watching a different game to me, or perhaps there's a fear of being perceived to be unsupportive?
Fair analysis and punditry is both right and needed. A dire game of football is a dire game of football, regardless of gender.
I've enjoyed some great Euros games such as Portugal 2 Switzerland 2; Netherlands 3 Portugal 2; England 2 Spain 1.
Tonight looks very promising too - possibly the match of the tournament. But last night wasn't one of them.
Sorry BBC, sometimes you've just got to call it as it is, not what you'd like it to be!
It's a real shame that the Womens World Cup (next year I think) will be in Australia / New Zealand - which will limit the ability to watch it on TV.
Will be an interesting semi. The Swedish team really hasn't reached a good level so far, partly down to Covid and injuries but even despite that, it just hasn't been good enough, so England will be strong favorites. Our team got a lot more experience than yours however, and that is sometimes the key in games like this. Whatever the outcome, I expect a fairly stale and low-scoring game.
- Jul 5, 2003
- 1,497
Well done for taking those quotes out of context and failing to include what I was replying to.
- Oct 17, 2008
- 14,632
Well done for taking those quotes out of context and failing to include what I was replying to.
I don’t know why you needed to mention men’s football in the first place. I was correctly stating that it was a very poor game of football. Which it was.
- Oct 17, 2008
- 14,632
Couldn’t agree more. The commentary on the whole has been shockingly bad.
I really don’t need a narrative, just let the football happen and commentate on it honestly.
- Jul 5, 2003
- 1,497
Then I got the wrong end of the stick, sorry about that.
- Oct 17, 2008
- 14,632
Hopefully you’ll learn from this and take it into your real life too. Listening skills are so crucial to be successful in life.
This reluctance to call a shit game of football a shit game of football isn’t restricted to poor games in this tournament. I made the mistake of watching the FA Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea this season, that ended 0-0 AET and went to pens. Now I fully accept there have been some great 0-0s down the years but this certainly wasn’t one of them. It stunk out Wembley. But the commentators and pundits obviously had a narrative they were determined to push, rather than hold their hands up and admit that after all the hype we’d all just spent 2 hours enduing a real stinker.
Washie
Well-known member
It wasnt just the media, I said it was shit on here as it happened and people on her disagreed
- Nov 3, 2015
- 3,463
God, yes, that was a DREADFUL game, and I remember wondering why the pundits thought otherwise.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Fair comment, Bry. That was grim viewing, especially after the exciting 0-0 EFL Final and the 22 penalties.
Maybe it's just a particular BBC thing in trying to soften the blow of taking 2 hours of our lives we won't get back!
At least there's a decent match on tonight, though it's all France at the moment. So many chances.
They'd give Germany a good game in the SF.
Durlston
"You plonker, Rodney!"
What a great first half!
France should be two or three goals up, they've done everything except score - two goal line clearances, hitting the post, almost a bizarre own goal and a couple of great chances blazed wide. With France scoring all their goals in the first half at these Euros, the Dutch may control the second half. Is it a fitness thing for the French?
Looking forward to more of the same entertainment in the second half. Very good game.
France should be two or three goals up, they've done everything except score - two goal line clearances, hitting the post, almost a bizarre own goal and a couple of great chances blazed wide. With France scoring all their goals in the first half at these Euros, the Dutch may control the second half. Is it a fitness thing for the French?
Looking forward to more of the same entertainment in the second half. Very good game.
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
I’m going for extra time and penalties
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
Dutch 8/1…quite long odds for a nil nil score line…or am I missing something