A fantastic record crowd of 45,618 attended the England Women vs Germany Women's match at Wembley Stadium on Sunday the 23rd November 2014. Despite an excellent performance, England Women suffered defeat, on their historic debut at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 23rd November 2014. The two-time World Cup and reigning European Champions, Germany, won an enthralling game 3-0 against an enthusiastic England side.
Despite the defeat, the result was a marked improvement from the 6-2 European Championship Final defeat in 2009 and shows the scale of growth in the women's game in the past number of years. After the game, England manager Mark Sampson said: "I think we learned some very valuable lessons today in terms of the clinical German finishing and speed of the counter attack. "I have to applaud the team, the spirit and character they showed in the second half. You have to remember we have six months before the World Cup."
The England manager's comments summed the game up perfectly. After going into the interval at 3-0 down after a brace from Celia Sasic and an own goal by Alex Scott, England railed superby and failed to conceed a goal in the second half, demonstrating the spirit, character and teamwork that have propelled them to a record high world ranking of 7th in the world.
In addition to this excellent achievement, the creation of The Women's Super League and the awarding of professional central contracts to 27 England Women has contributed to this world ranking. The grassroots side of the game is also very promising with 3,756 young players involved in the England talent pathway.
Despite the result, buoyed on by their side's excellent second half performance, the crowd were in high spirits throughout the match and the party atmosphere continued until the final whistle with numerous mexican waves and good-hearted chanting occurring throughout the stadium.
Former England captain Casey Stoney had this to say after the game: “Coming through qualification with a 100 per cent record was an amazing achievement but there was a danger it could have given us a false sense of security and in the first half perhaps you could sense that. That won't be the case anymore.”
“Germany showed why they are European champions and will be one of the favourites for the World Cup. Now we have to try to match that.”
With six months until the World Cup, England Women will certainly be aiming to build on this solid performance and maintain this positive momentum before their next friendly against World Number One ranked team the United States before the World Cup commences on the 6th June- 5th July in Canada.
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