The moment Lionesses’ hearts broke: Emotional England Women collapse as they’re told they will NOT play at the Olympics in their post-match huddle, despite winning 6-0 against Scotland
- England thrashed Scotland but still saw their Olympic hopes come to an end
- Team GB’s hopes of earning a spot at Paris 2024 were ended by a late Dutch goal
- This HAS to be the time when players show respect and control. Only the captain should approach referees – Listen to It’s All Kicking Off
England star Lucy Bronze was seen collapsing to the pitch in disappointment after confirmation that Team GB will not feature in the women’s football tournament at next summer’s Olympic Games.
The Lionesses were tasked with securing a spot at Paris 2024 as the nominated nation in the Olympic qualifying cycle.
England needed to finish top of their UEFA Women’s Nations League group to remain in contention for qualification, with the two finalists in February joining hosts France at the Games.
Sarina Wiegman’s team needed to better the Netherlands’ result by three clear goals on Tuesday night to reach the Nations League finals.
England had appeared to have done enough by thrashing Scotland 6-0 at Hampden Park, only for the Netherlands to score a 95th minute goal to beat Belgium 4-0.
England were left heartbroken after a late Dutch goal ended Team GB’s Olympic hopes
Lucy Bronze scored England sixth goal against Scotland but the result was not enough
Your browser does not support iframes.
Footage has revealed the heartbreaking moment the England squad were informed in a team huddle of the late Dutch goal, which dashed Team GB’s Olympic hopes.
A member of the Lionesses’ staff, who was watching the closing stages of the Netherlands match on a mobile phone, was seen telling the squad ‘they’ve scored’.
Striker Lauren Hemp was seen turning away in disappointment, while Bronze collapsed down onto the pitch and placed her hands over her face.
Bronze had earlier looked to have been the player who had kept Team GB’s hopes alive.
The defender had scored in the third minute of stoppage time to put England back to the top of the standings, only for another late twist as the Dutch regained top spot.
England were left to rue an earlier loss to the Netherlands in the group, as well as a shock 3-2 defeat to Belgium in October.
Team GB would have qualified for the Olympics under the previous qualification format, which saw UEFA’s three places determined based on the performance of teams at the Women’s World Cup – where England finished as runners-up.
‘I’m very, very disappointed,’ Wiegman said post-match. ‘That’s the biggest emotion I have now. I think we delivered tonight. The team showed lots of character.
Damaris Egurrola scored the crucial late goal for the Netherlands to leapfrog England
The Dutch squad celebrated as their Olympics hopes remained alive at Team GB’s expense
‘When Lucy scored that goal I thought “we can get this”, but that’s football. The Netherlands scored a late goal and that’s how close it was. We were waiting, those were long minutes.
‘We really thought we got it. I actually didn’t know what to say [to the players] because I’m really proud of this performance, but we’re not through and I’m very disappointed.’
Team GB qualified for the first time for the women’s football tournament at Tokyo 2020 after an agreement between the four British football associations.
Their only other appearance came at London 2012, where Team GB were granted a place as the host nation.
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Source: Read Full Article