England v USA: International Friendly – Live | Women’s football

On December 1, 2024By Littum

Key events

Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV. “This is the partnership I want to see tonight … some small tweaks … I want to see both goalkeepers, I don’t want to decide now … last time at Wembley, Hannah Hampton was in goal and now Mary gets Earps’ opportunity … Emma Hayes does a great job over there … you absolutely want to beat each other … she’s going to make adjustments so we have to be sharp.”

Hayes smiled broadly through every nanosecond of that interview. She’s clearly enjoying her new role immensely, which should come as no surprise given her current win ratio of 92 percent. In fact, the only time she wasn’t caught in a sunny grin was when ITV showed footage of her downing a pint in a Camden pub earlier this week for PR purposes, then grimacing as she took a sip of it . To be fair, she’s not a fan of beer and in any case the beer looked a bit flat.

Emma Hayes, relaxed and jovial, speaks to ITV. “It’s great to be back here … I feel a little bad always talking about how happy I am! … I needed to slow down … playing different opponents in different stadiums, it feels new and exciting … you feel like a grandparent! … they come to camp and are all happy to see you … you give them the best time ever … hopefully win a few medals … it’s a whole different way to train … life is so short , and I want that good … I want to be the best coach I can be … I’ve been put on this earth to do the best I can for the women’s game.”

England make four changes to their starting XI in the wake of the unconvincing 2-1 win over South Africa last month. Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Keira Walsh and Alessia Russo take the places of Esme Morgan, Grace Clinton and Chloe Kelly, who drop to the bench, and Maya Le Tissier, who is missing after suffering concussion while playing for Manchester United last term weekend.

Seven of today’s USWNT starters played when these teams last met at Wembley in 2022. Alyssa Naeher, Naomi Girma, Emily Fox, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle, Alyssa Thompson and captain Lindsey Horan were all on the wrong end of England’s 2-1 win that day. Naeher, Horan and Lavelle are the only players back from the USA’s 2-1 victory in the 2019 World Cup semifinals. The Triple Espresso front line of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson — their nickname coined by Rodman live on NBC days before they won Olympic gold – are all out injured.

The teams

England: Earps, Bronze, Carter, Williamson, Greenwood, Walsh, Naz, Park, Stanway, Mead, Russo.
Subs: Moorhouse, Hampton, Bright, Turner, George, Morgan, Kirby, Mace, Blindkilde, Clinton, Kelly, Beever-Jones.

USA: Naeher, Fox, Krueger, Sonnett, Girma, Coffey, Thompson, Lavelle, Horan, Williams, Sears.
Subs: Haught, Davidson, Gaetino, Malonson, Sams, Albert, Yohannes, Nighswonger, Ryan, Hershfelt, Shaw, Sentnor.

Preamble

It’s a clash of the titans as the Lionesses take on the USWNT at Wembley. England vs USA. World number two against world number one. The European champions against the Olympic gold winners. Sarina Wiegman vs. Emma Hayes. All perfect, then… except the USA have won their last nine and are unbeaten in 18, winning the Concacaf Gold Cup, the SheBelieves Cup and the Olympics along the way, while England’s last three games have been a nervous 0-0 draw in Sweden, a chaotic 3-4 home loss to Germany, and a extremely flattering 2-1 win over South Africa. That draw in Sweden, it must be said, secured Euro 2025 qualification for England, but to be fair one team is currently much closer to their best than the other. A big test for the lionesses, in other words against the very best. Kick-off is at 17.20 GMT. It’s on!