1 year ago
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8 min Son Hwa-yeon gets the first booking of the game after catching Williamson on the ankle with a high boot. The England captain dusts herself off, looking unruffled.
5 min Ella Toone lines one up from distance, but it sails well wide.
4 min The visitors come straight back at England via Choo Hyo-joo, their right wing-back. She makes inroads down the right flank before cutting inside and whipping a shot on target, but Mary Earps is equal to it.
2 min Lauren James gets the first chance of the match after a nice passing move, thrashing a shot just wide from the edge of the area.
Kick off!
England get things going, Alessia Russo doing the honours. The hosts get forwards immediately, pushing and probing South Korea’s back five.
The two sides are out on the pitch and the anthems are in progress. Let’s get started, shall we?
England players will also wear black armbands this evening, commemorating Beth Mead’s mum, June, who died last month, and the victims of the Turkey and Syria earthquakes.
Earlier this week, Williamson expressed her desire to wear the OneLove armband at this summer’s World Cup regardless of Fifa’s intervention against the gesture during the men’s tournament in Qatar. “We’re never shy in saying what we stand for, we’re a squad that promotes inclusivity and equality,” she said. “We obviously have a number of people that feel very strongly about it.” Here’s Suzanne Wrack with the full story.
Colin Bell, the Leicester-born South Korea manager, has also been speaking to ITV. “Obviously, very enjoyable,” he says, when asked how it feels to be back in England. “It’s the first time since 2019, so it’s four years. I’ve been able to catch up with my family, which is very nice, and a lot of my family are here this evening.” He, too, is asked what he’s hoping to take from this game. “It’s going to be tough, we’re playing against the best team in the world this evening in my opinion. Our players are all off-season so it’s going to be a big challenge, but I think we can learn from all three teams.”
South Korea team news
Starting line-up: Kim Jung-mi, Choo Hyo-joo, Hong Hye-ji, Lim Seon-joo, Son Hwa-yeon, Kim Yun-ji, Choe Yu-ri, Kang Chae-rim, Lee Geum-min, Jang Sel-gi, Kim Jung-mi, Kim Hye-ri.
Speaking to ITV before the match, Wiegman is asked what she hopes to learn from taking on South Korea. “A lot about our players and where they are at this moment,” she says. “We’ll try some combination of players in these three matches and then we get, hopefully, a lot of information about the team and about the individuals, and where we are now, to move forward and get ready for [the start of the Women’s World Cup in] July.”
Williamson, as a local legend, got the loudest reception as the Lionesses arrived at Stadium MK. She was given the freedom of Milton Keynes after winning Euro 2022 and, speaking to the BBC about returning to her hometown, she said: “Obviously my family will be there, it’s an important time to be with them as well. It’s a sort of full circle … it’s one of those moments where you just sort of think it’s probably a good time for reflection and to appreciate.”
England team news
Starting line-up: Earps, Bronze, Greenwood, Bright, Williamson, Kelly, Stanway, Russo, Toone, Carter, James.
While Beth Mead is a long-term absentee after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament and Fran Kirby has withdrawn from the England squad with a knee injury, Wiegman has Leah Williamson available once more after she was ruled out of October and November’s fixtures. Meanwhile Laura Coombs, the Manchester City midfielder, has received a call-up eight years after the second of her two caps in 2015 and is, understandably, delighted.
Preamble
A year after England won the inaugural tournament, confirming their status as champions with victory against Germany in a portent of their Euro 2022 triumph, the Arnold Clark Cup is back and Arnold Clarkier than ever. Where, last time round, Germany, Canada and Spain were the invited teams, this time the Lionesses will go up against three new participants in South Korea, Italy and Belgium. While the tournament is already under way – Le Azzurre lost 2-1 to Belgium’s Red Flames in the day’s early kick off at Stadium MK – South Korea are first up for Sarina Wiegman’s side. They are currently ranked 15th in the world, two places ahead of Italy and five ahead of Belgium, making this a challenging opening fixture for the hosts, who are nonetheless unbeaten in 26 games going back to April 2021.
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