Hot on the heels of a blockbuster Ashes sequence, England followers are in for an additional excessive stakes sporting conflict with Australia because the Lionesses tackle the Matildas within the Women’s World Cup semi-final.
The outdated rivalry has already been ignited within the construct as much as the match at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, with tickets allotted to England being snapped up by Aussie followers and a helicopter funded by the Australian Daily Telegraph spying on an England coaching session.
The newspaper’s stunt culminated in a bit with the title “11 Poms against a nation: Welcome to the Jungle, Lionesses”.
According to the article, supervisor Sarina Wiegman and co had been in for a “rude shock” in the event that they thought they may quietly put together for the sport.
England booked their place within the semi-finals alongside the host nation over the weekend following a 2-1 win in opposition to Colombia.
Australia, in the meantime, noticed off France in a penalty shootout after the match remained goalless after further time.
England coach Sarina Wiegman and the crew
Read extra: Five issues to know forward of England’s conflict with Australia
The Lionesses shall be with out Lauren James who’s finishing her two-match ban for stamping on Michelle Alozie throughout the spherical of 16 match in opposition to Nigeria.
But captain Millie Bright says her crew will “thrive” beneath the strain of taking part in in opposition to the hosts.
“That is what we expect now – for us to thrive in those moments,” she stated.
“It is a proud moment for the women’s game back home when they see what an atmosphere there is.
“It’s about turning up, exhibiting up, performing and having fun with the sport.
“It is important to adapt to the game whatever they give to us. We have faced many different challenges and we have adapted really well.”
England head coach Sarina Wiegman
Wiegman has additionally stated she expects the match to be “very tight and very competitive”.
However, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has stated that whereas England could also be favourites on paper, they do not have the “support” his gamers do.
He stated: “If you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game.
“But the one factor that we have now that they do not have is the help and perception from the followers.”
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Who are the Lionesses?
Read extra on Sky News:
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Rishi Sunak has despatched a great luck message to the crew forward of the tie – telling The Sun newspaper the “nation’s hopes of beating the Aussies now rest on our Lionesses”.
His feedback observe the Ashes sequence which resulted in a 2-2 draw after 5 matches replete with epic performances, controversial dismissals and quite a few rain delays.
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Can the Lionesses go all the best way?
As effectively because the phrases exchanged between supporters of either side, the FA stated it was “disappointed” to listen to stories of tickets particularly allotted to England followers being purchased by Australians.
The further 1,970 tickets had been launched on the weekend, and about 8,000 England followers had been anticipated to be in attendance on the Australia Stadium.
The FA stated it was working with FIFA to overview its ticketing processes going forwards.
A novel supporter code was reportedly leaked on social media – with plenty of Australian followers claiming to have bought tickets.
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Lionesses beat Colombia 2-1.
Back in England, followers have put out flags and bunting forward of the fixture and pubs and fan parks have ready to welcome supporters for the 11am UK kick-off time.
According to Sky Bet on the time of writing, England had been 5/4 to win in regular time, in comparison with 5/2 for Australia.
Content Source: information.sky.com