With several out and proud players, this feels like another win for queer women
BY FAY BARRETT, IMAGE VIA @LIONESSES ON INSTAGRAM
The Lionesses brought it home again on 7 October with a searing 2-1 win over the current world champions, the USA at Wembley.
With several out and proud players, this feels like another win for queer women. Not to mention the chance to see ourselves reflected on the pitch or lust after the players. The team have sent sapphic hearts a-flutter since the Euros in July, with more and more queer women flocking to games.
Friday’s match did not disappoint. The first goal was cheekily tucked away by Lauren Hemp, following a superb cross from lesbian icon Beth Mead.
However, the USA’s Sophia Smith had been hungry to score since minute one. She equalised, with a belter, 27 minutes in.
It was a cracking Georgia Stanway penalty that sealed the deal for England. They continued their unbeaten streak while ending that of the United States.
The Lionesses dominated the match with an impressive 11 shots taken on goal. Player of the match went to Lucy Bronze. Yellow cards were received by England’s Millie Bright and the USA’s Trinity Rodman.
Although the match was a friendly, England’s performance was anything but. In a report, the BBC quoted from an ITV interview with former England midfielder Karen Carney who said: “The USA will be looking at us and thinking, ‘Wow, that’s how you play in possession’. They came on our home soil and saw us play them off the park.”
Carney reflected that, during her career England were “always looking at the USA and were scared of them”.
Now, it seems the tables have turned.
England have an unbeaten 23 game track record under manager Sarina Wiegman. This tops the USA who had played 21 unbeaten matches before meeting our Lionesses on Friday.
Hot on the heels of their Euros victory, Friday’s win adds speculation that England could be world champions at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
However, manager Sarina Wiegman wasn’t taking anything for granted. The BBC reported her as saying they [England] “don’t win a World Cup now” just because of a win over the US.
She did however add: “We have proved to ourselves that we can do it. In the Euros we showed we could beat anyone. It’s a thin line between winning and losing but we could bring on something that could win against the best opponents and that’s what we showed again [against the USA].”
Friday’s performance must make them the team to watch and place them firmly as World Cup fan favourites. One thing’s for sure, the Lionesses are already firm favourites within the sapphic community. How will we possibly cope with a whole month of World Cup games?
DIVA magazine celebrates 28 years in print in 2022. If you like what we do, then get behind
LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
