England wins the Finalissima over Brazil
England won the Finalissima after a penalty shootout against Brazil months before the Women’s World Cup starts.
Both Brazil and England are some of the favorite teams to win the 2023 Women’s World Cup and they have just given us a taste of what this world cup might bring with it. England entered this match with 29 games unbeaten under Sarina Wiegman. With this streak have come four trophies. As well, they have demonstrated their ability against other big countries like the United States and Germany.
Brazil who come as champions of Copa America have a lot to work on if they aim to win the World Cup.
Game Highlights
Brazil played a more defensive game than what we are used to seeing them. They let England have more the ball in the first half. the Lionesses took advantage of this and managed many shots putting a lot of pressure.
Thanks to a great pass from Lucy Bronze, Ella Toone scored the opener of the night (23′). Minutes after the English had a goal annulated due to offside (29′). They kept the pressure up but started losing control of the ball just as the first half was coming to an end.
In the restart, Brazil came more aggressive. They were putting more pressure on the English side and the match started to even out. The bad news was that no goals were arriving for either side.
When everyone thought the match was already over the Brazilian Andressa Alves scored after a rebound to tie the game (90′ + 3″). This sent the game into a penalty shootout.
The Penalty Shootout
Both teams managed to score their first shot but missed their second one. The Lionesses got ahead with their third shot they managed to score it but the same story didn’t play for the Brazilians. It all came down to the fifth attempt. England just had to score it to win the match and they did.
There are still things to fix by Wiegman before the World Cup, but they for sure look strong.
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