Euro Qualifiers Begin, Korbin Albert Gets A Talking To, Women's Fit Football Boots and Emma Hayes Talks Pelvic Floors.
• Five Top Goals
• USWNT: SheBelieves Cup
• Kit Drop: Acne Studios & Puma
• Emma Hayes Talks Pelvic Floors
• Rubiales In Trouble Again
• Frida Maanum Update
ROUND-UP
Our top five goals from the opening Euro Qualifier games:
Friday night was the opening Euro 2025 qualifiers night, and we’ve picked five of our favourite goals, in case you missed any of the 25 matches that were all going on pretty much at once!
It’s only fair to start with the defending Champions, England and a diving Russo header. Then we’re going with this long-ranger from Denmark's Amalie Vangsgaard (she was only 40 metres out!). Austria’s Eileen Campbell scored this header from a set piece before Germany mounted an impressive comeback. And if you didn’t catch the Wales highlights, please watch immediately. In the meantime, we’ve picked out the fourth goal of the night, courtesy of Angharad James.
And finally… Okay, so this one is less about the goal and way more about the commentator… oh, and watch out for the ball to Hermosa's face 😬 —sound on, please.
For all of the match results, head over to UEFA.
US WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM (USWNT)
Korbin Albert challenged by USWNT captains
USWNT captains Alex Morgan and Lindsey Horan responded to Korbin Albert's anti-LGTBQ social media activity in a press conference ahead of the SheBelieves Cup. (If you don't know what went down, check out last week's newsletter).
What did they say?
Horan: We've worked extremely hard to uphold the integrity of this national team through all of the generations, and we are extremely, extremely sad that this standard was not upheld.
Morgan: "We stand by maintaining a safe and respectful space, especially as allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
SheBelieve's Cup Final
The SheBelieves Cup final has been set up after the USWNT beat Japan 2-1 and Canada beat Brazil 4-2 on penalties after drawing 1-1 at full time. The third-place playoff is scheduled for Tuesday, 9 April at 21:00 GMT, with the final on Wednesday, 10 April at 00:00 GMT.
KIT DROP
Acne Studios
After revealing their pink and white satin football-inspired shirt last summer, Acne Studios has finally released it for sale. The detailing includes a lace-stitched Acne Studios Stockholm badge and a subtle flowery pattern. If you want one, you’d better be quick.
Puma Forever.Faster.
The Forever.Faster. pack of boots launched this week. The Future, Ultra and King boots all come in fresh, bold colourways featuring a lot of neon. Signalling what will hopefully become the norm, the boots all come in a women’s fit, which is slimmer and has been developed to enhance performance and specifically support the anatomy of women’s feet. You can buy the range here.
KNOWLEDGE
Real Talk Podcast: Emma Hayes on Pelvic Floor Health
Expert pelvic health physio Emma Brockwell gives a great overview of the pelvic floor and why it matters. Then, Emma Hayes explains, with some pretty personal insights, why she thinks it's crucial for female footballers, whether they've given birth or not, to get educated and start training their pelvic floor.
You can watch a segment of the podcast with Emma Hayes or listen to the whole Real Talk podcast episode
How the WSL loan system develops young England stars
It’s undeniable that Jess Park, Grace Clinton and Aggie Beever-Jones are some of the most exciting young English talents right now. But how much impact did the loan system have on the speed of their development? Have a read here
NEWS | HOME & AWAY
New deals for the WSL: Barclays is set to agree a new £9 million deal for the title sponsorship rights of the Women’s Super League (WSL) and Women’s Championship. It’s reportedly double the value of the current deal, which runs 2022-25.
Meanwhile, Sky and the BBC have agreed to extend their current broadcasting deals with the WSL for another year. The WSL took their Domestic Rights Partnership to market during the winter, and Sky, BBC, TNT Sports and DAZN were all reportedly interested, but as yet, no deal has been reached. The extension will act as a short-term solution and allow more time for a new deal to be agreed.
Frida Maanum: After last week's on-field collapse during the Conti Cup Final, Arsenal have given an update on Maanum. She’s been fitted with a heart monitoring device, and after a week of normal training and routine, the results will be analysed. At the moment, two leading cardiologists haven’t noticed anything abnormal about her heart, which can only be good news. Maanum will not join Norway for their Euro qualifier games while tests continue.
Luis Rubiales, remember him? Well, this week, he was arrested on corruption charges. He now faces trial and possible jail sentences for both last year’s World Cup sexual assault charge and the latest charge, which suspects him of receiving illegal commissions for relocating the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Ali Krieger is back people. Krieger has agreed to come out of retirement to compete as part of Heather O’Reilly’s team in the imaginatively named TST (The Soccer Tournament) 2024. The 7-v-7 competition started in 2023, and this year, eight women’s teams will compete for a $1 million prize pot for the first time. It's rumoured that other stars might come out of retirement for the tournament, so keep your eyes peeled.
Canadian women’s league: Canada (perhaps surprisingly) still doesn't have a professional domestic women’s football league, but Project 8 wants to change that. They’ve been working away with a clear mission: to launch a professional Canadian women’s football league in 2025. The eight-team league got a step closer as six clubs were confirmed to have submitted their applications to be part of things. Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto have already been named; the other three are set to be announced imminently.
WEEK AHEAD - WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
Tues 9 April | UEFA Women's European Qualifiers13:00 - Kosovo vs Wales15:30 - Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Northern Ireland19:30 - Rep. of Ireland vs England19:35 - Scotland vs SlovakiaView the full list of fixtures
Sun 14 AprilWSL18:45 - Arsenal vs Bristol City
Women's FA Cup Semi-Finals12:00 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Leicester City14:35 - Manchester United vs Chelsea
We’re a small start-up team that wants to grow women’s football. So please spread the word, forward this to someone who’d like it, and drop us an email. Tell us what you like, what sucks, or what we’re missing.
Jo
P.S. Thanks to everyone who completed our short survey - it’s not too late; the link is in the email above.
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