Tim Grainey is on site at the Women's World Cup.
England defeated Germany 1-0 in overtime on Saturday, July 4 in Edmonton to capture Third Place in the 2015 Women's World Cup, their highest finish ever and the first tournament that they have ever won a game past the group stage.
In addition, this win, coming from Fara Williams' (Liverpool Ladies) penalty kick late in the second overtime period, marked the first time that England had ever defeated Germany (now 1-2-22).
In the 106th minute, Arsenal's Lianne Sanderson, who played sparingly during the month long event, was pulled down in the box. Though a questionable penalty award, Williams made no mistake, sending German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer (Portland Thorns) the wrong way.
After the game, English national team head coach Mark Sampson said about the turn of fortune for the Three Lionesses since Wednesday's last second heart-breaking loss to Japan: "Life's horrible, you get a kick in the teeth sometimes just when you think you have made it. We got a big kick in the teeth in that semifinal. But we wanted to show the world today that everybody has tough times, but you have to dust yourself down and pick yourself up and go again."
This tournament was a watershed mark for England and their FA. After finally brooming the contentious and underperforming (for over a decade) Hope Powell as head coach after the 2012 Olympics, Mark Sampson has galvanized his team and brought out a potential that everyone felt was there but which we rarely saw at major tournaments.
Sampson showed great class in dealing with the media after their crushing semifinal defeat to Japan on a last minute own goal by Laura Bassett (Notts County). Bassett started and played solidly against Germany. Three days ago, Toni Duggan (Manchester City) was the star performer in the semifinal but today it was team captain Steph Houghton (Manchester City), who was absolutely everywhere on the field, including massively essential play in the back in the last few minutes as Germany pressured for a tying goal.
The future is bright for English women's football; Mark Sampson has created a positive environment for the growth of the game. The FA WSL has two divisions and is building nicely in its fifth season with average attendances approaching 700 and could increase to over 1,000 within the next year, rivaling Germany's Frauen Bundesliga for the lead in Europe.
This performance should drive more funding, attendance at league and national team games, sponsorships for the women's game and more youth players adopting the game.
Dick Kerr's Ladies were pioneers in the growth of the women's game in the United Kingdom beginning in 1917 but then the FA banned women from playing on FA affiliated fields in 1921, for the next 50 years. The sport has struggled at times to be taken seriously in the U.K. but the legacy of this team should see substantial growth and acceptance of the game.
After the semifinal loss, Mark Sampson said that he wanted "no more excuses [about the lack of support for women's football]". He wants to see the game build in England to where they will have "the strongest women's program in the world".
Within the next 5-10 years, I hope we see it, along with an opportunity to host a Women's World Cup—a worthy goal for the historic home of football.
WWC Notes:
Overnight ratings from the semifinal match on BBC1 were a 3.0 rating and 32.7% market share, totaling over 1.7 million individuals.
England's Third Place WWC finish puts it in rare company along with the United States (3) Sweden (2) and Brazil (1), who have won bronze in the past at this tournament.
Defender Lucy Bronze (Manchester City) is one of 8 candidates for the Adidas Golden Ball award as the tournaments best player (in alphabetical order):
Saori ARIYOSHI (JPN)
Lucy BRONZE (ENG)
Amandine HENRY (FRA)
Julie JOHNSTON (USA)
Carli LLOYD (USA)
Aya MIYAMA (JPN)
Megan RAPINOE (USA)
Celia SASIC (GER)
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get your copy today.
Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey