Went to the game yesterday - England were too hesitant in the first half and paid for it by conceding 3 soft goals. Much better in the second half, but I think it shows that England Ladies aren't ready to eat at the very top table yet.
Definitely making progress and far better than when Hope Powell was in charge but a long way to go yet.
On the plus side, 45,000 people (don't know what happened to the other 10,000 who bought tickets!) in Wembley to watch a Women's football match is a great achievement and it was a good day out
Maybe it was to rainy for those 10.000
or tickets that went as a gift to certain people, for advertising. But 10.000 less, is huge.
I saw it via lifestream (though I had to do stuff besides it) and found, too, England was much nicer to watch than before. (Haven't seen any of their qualification matches this year, though, which they closed clearly 1st rank, as I heard). Will be interesting in which group they get in 2015, with 16 starters for the first time, they won't be under the first that have to go, even if other teams have improved, too.
Talking about WC 2015, about (I think it was) 40 players have filed an official protest and a case for the court, because the WC will be played on artifical grass and they argue, that this was against FIFAs equaity rules. Apperently 2 Mexican and 2 French player has withdrawn from the list. TV rumored, that FIFA officials were involved.
Anyway...
I heard, that Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and ManCity have started to put more money into their women's division and further professionalising it, including regular blood tests etc. Also they said Liverpool now has "mixed gendered" breakfasts before some major matches and Steven Gerard even watched some of the Liverpool women games.
They do that "we are one big family" team building stuff at VfL Wolfsburg for two years now, too. Some men players visit the women CL matches and the men's management and coach visit CL and DFB-cup matches of the women's division - and vice versa. The women also got a new bigger stadium (together with the 2nd men's division) after winning CL and DFB cup twice. (At Bayern, e.g., only the women visit men's matches, they get free entrance, but women's family members still have to pay! But as a plus Bayern is building up their own bred youngsters more and more, just like they used to and still do with the men's A-team.)
A lot seems to happen.
