Rediscovering joy of the game holds key to England extending stay at party

Performances in Germany have been laboured but England must break shackles if they are to overcome Switzerland

A familiar figure stood by the side of the pitch in Blankenhain, watching the humiliation unfold. An impromptu 11-a-side match between an outclassed English media team and backroom staff from the Football Association was progressing in predictably grisly fashion earlier this week – full context: they had an extremely fit and motivated Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink up front – when I trundled up the right flank and realised that the man on the touchline was Kyle Walker, England’s vice-captain and one of the greatest right-backs of his generation.

“You know,” I said. “This is actually pretty intimidating.” Continue reading...

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Vivianne Miedema’s Manchester City WSL debut just had to be at Arsenal

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All eyes will be on the league’s record goalscorer as she returns to the club where she spent seven successful years When the fixture list landed for the Women’s Super League season and the standout “Arsenal versus Manchester City” glared conspicuously on the opening weekend page, one player’s name was on almost everybody’s lips: Vivianne Miedema. The WSL’s all-time leading goalscorer spent the past seven years of her career at Arsenal, so where else would her new team be travelling to for their first league game of the season other than the Emirates, to face a club whose fans have adored her since she arrived from Bayern Munich in 2017? Continue reading...
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Football Daily | Cup final day is no longer unmissable, but this one means all in Manchester

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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Saturday, Wembley Way. The tribes will gather, demarcated by red and blue – though Mancunian fashion by-laws dictate all adult males must wear white ankle socks below thigh-revealing shorts, should temperatures top 15 degrees. It’s likely to be bad-tempered; it always is between these two, but rail strikes and lengthy motorway delays from Congleton downwards are hardly likely to ease the mood. Continue reading...
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