Manchester United Women’s elite were involved in the World Cup semi-finals last week as the record-breaking tournament reached its conclusion. Here I round-up all of the action from the last four and the final in Lyon.
After cruising through the group stages and two comfortable victories in the last 16 and quarterfinal, England were on the cusp of history heading into their semifinal against the USA.
The Lionesses had never reached the final of a World Cup prior to 2019 and United legend Phil Neville was hoping he could be the man to lead them there. However, the pre-tournament favourites, the USA, stood in their way.
The momentum swung back to the USA though, and Alex Morgan ensured they entered the half time interval ahead.
With just over 10 minutes to go, the game exploded back into life. It appeared as though White missed a simple tap-in after a low cross across the box, however, the VAR adjudged the City striker to have been fouled. A penalty was given and up stepped the skipper, Steph Houghton.
The Manchester City captain failed to convert the spot-kick and England were heading home. Although Neville and his ladies came up against an experienced American outfit, the Lionesses did have their chances to get back into the game.
Manchester United’s Alex Greenwood and Abbie McManus did not feature in the semifinal but were brought back into the team for the third-place playoff versus Sweden.
As England were playing Sweden that meant the Netherlands were victorious in the other semi. Jackie Groenen was the solo representation for United on the pitch and she did a good job of it too.
It was a game of very few clear-cut chances with the Swedes manufacturing a couple of their own, each from corner kicks either side of the 45-minute mark. The Netherlands were growing into the contest but the full-time whistle interrupted their rhythm with the game heading to extra time.
The Dutch continued their dominance after the short break, with Groenen grabbing the goal which sent her country into the World Cup Final. She picked up the ball 25 yards out after a neat passage of play. The pitch opened up for her, inviting the former Frankfurt midfielder to have a shot at goal, something she did to perfection.
Into the final two fixtures of the tournament and England took on Sweden for the bronze medal, whereas it was the World Champions versus the European Champions in the final.
As expected the USA had much of the ball in the final, with Holland parking the bus. Unfortunately for Jackie Groenen and her colleagues, the Americans were just too strong and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.
Disappointingly for England, they wouldn’t be leaving France with a medal losing 2-1 to a strong Sweden side. Both Greenwood and McManus were brought into the starting XI by Neville, and it was the United left-back who was at fault for the opening goal, failing to clear her lines leaving Kosovare Asllani a great chance to open the scoring. One that she took.
Overall, Manchester United Women’s stars can feel proud of their achievements throughout the competition, especially Jackie Groenen for scoring the goal which secured the Netherland’s spot in the final. They will all be desperate for their holidays before heading back to the club in order to get ready for the Women’s Super League.