England beats Brazil on penalties at crowded Wembley – 06/04/2023 – Sport

Near the end of the game, the Wembley stadium screen showed, to the delight of the public: 83,132 present. It came close to the more than 87,000 fans who saw England win the European Cup at the iconic stadium last year – a record attendance for both men’s and women’s competitions – and showed the strength of the sport in the country.

With tickets sold out since January, the first women’s edition of the Finalissima pitted Brazil and England, champions of the Copa América and Eurocopa, face to face. And those who were at Wembley were not disappointed: what was seen on Thursday night (6) was a match with all the elements of the highest level of world football.

The confrontation had the fifth largest audience in the history of the modality and the first in games for the Brazilian team. The record is held by Barcelona and Wolfsburg, for last year’s Champions League semi-final: 91,648 people attended.

Before the opening whistle, the hostesses showed their opponents a show of respect. The Brazilian Formiga took the trophy to the field, alongside the British Jill Scott. And after the national anthem – Richarlison, who plays for Tottenham, appeared on the screen wearing the selection’s shirt – a clip was shown with moments from Pelé’s career. For almost a minute, everyone applauded on their feet. At the end of the video, the message: “in honor of Pelé and the beautiful game.”

The Brazilian team had absences due to injury – among them, attackers Debinha (who was not even called up), Marta and Nycole and midfielder Duda Sampaio, cut from the list of coach Pia Sundhage.

England started by creating chances in attack and took advantage of possession, and the home crowd pressed on. The first dangerous move came in the 13th minute, when Lucy Bronze shot from outside the area and goalkeeper Letícia made a good save. Minutes later, Geyse received a cross, entered the area and dribbled past the markers, but defender Carter deflected the Brazilian’s kick.

In the 22nd minute, the European champions showed why they arrived at Wembley as favourites. Bronze entered the area and crossed for Ella Toone to make England 1-0. At 28, Lauren James scored, but French referee Stephanie Frappart annulled the goal for offside.

Sundhage made two changes at half-time, bringing on Andressa Alves and Adriana. The Brazilians were superior at the beginning of the 2nd half, putting pressure on their rivals. They almost tied with Geyse, who kicked hard from outside the area and forced goalkeeper Mary Earps to make a beautiful save.

It seemed that Brazil would not be able to turn the chances into a goal, until, in the added time, Adriana kicked, the English goalkeeper fumbled in defense and Andressa Alves took the spare, tying at 1 to 1 and taking the match to penalties.

Stanway and Adriana scored. Letícia saved Toone’s penalty, and then it was Earps’ turn to save Tamires’ penalty. Rachel Daly scored for England and captain Rafaelle hit the crossbar. Alex Greenwood and Kerolin converted and Kelly scored the title goal for the English Finalissima, with a 4-2 victory on penalties.

It was the fourth time that Brazil and England faced each other in the women’s category, and the history of clashes now has three English victories and one Brazilian. The hosts reach 30 unbeaten matches and have never lost under the command of Dutch Sarina Wiegman.

The Finalissima was also a duel between two of the best coaches on the planet today. In charge of the US national team, Sundhage won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 (the year she was chosen as the best female coach in the world by FIFA) and a world runner-up in 2011. Coaching Sweden, her home country, it was silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Sundhage also made history at Wembley: as a player, she was the first woman to score a goal at the stadium, in 1989, when Sweden beat England 2-0.

“Back then there were no stadium crowds, no press conferences, women’s football has had a fantastic journey,” said Sundhage on the eve of the Final. “When I was young, I didn’t even have players to look up to, the idols were Cruyff or Beckenbauer. Today, it is possible to mention great players who are inspiration, great coaches.”

Wiegman was Euro champion in 2017 and world runner-up in 2019 coaching the national team of her country. She took over England in 2021 and, last year, winning the Eurocup was the first trophy for an English team since the men’s World Cup title in 1966. Wiegman was twice elected the best women’s football coach in the world by Fifa.

For Brazil, it’s a testing moment against two of the best teams on the planet. England is in 4th place in the world ranking and Germany, European vice-champion and next opponent in a friendly on the 11th, in Nuremberg, occupies the 2nd position. Brazil travels to Germany this Friday (7).

The matches are part of the build-up to the Women’s World Cup, which kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand. Brazil is in the group of France, Jamaica and Panama and will debut on July 24 against the Panamanian team.