Lionesses burn for 'Ashes' revenge

Not a typical Ashes rivalry you may relish This is Australiarsquos Matildas against Englandrsquos Lionesses The Womenrsquos World Cup semifinals The here and the nowBoth teams want to be clear itrsquos not one of those clashes for the Ashes that have come to represent an intense international sporting rivalry dating back to the 1800sThat began with the burning of some bails mdash small wooden pegs that sit atop cricket stumps mdash after a team of English gentry lost to a squad of colonial upstarts from AustraliaThis is about an Australia team led by superstar striker Sam Kerr mdash who has been injured for most of the tournament but will play some part in the game mdash against England defender Millie Bright and her European championsKerr and Bright are teammates at Chelsea and have combined to win titles for the Londonbased club but theyrsquore playing off here for a spot in the World Cup final against SpainEngland lost the semifinals at the 2015 and 2019Womenrsquos World Cups Australia is into the final four for the first time and aiming to be just the second host to win the title on home soilWomenrsquos soccer has been making its own history in England where the Lionessesrsquo run to the European Championship title in 2022 captured the nationrsquos attention And itrsquos making history in Australia where the Matildas have twice attracted crowds exceeding 75000 in this tournament and will again on Wednesday nightAlso Read Womenrsquos football on the rise and for the betterThe 76 penalty shootout win over fifthranked France last Saturday in Brisbane was the highestrating program on Australian television in 2023 Local media reported that the shootout pulled the biggest domestic audience for a sports event since the 2000 Sydney OlympicsAs much as fans and the media have tried to frame it as a fresh chapter in the Ashes an England squad with a Dutch head coach and Matildas roster with a Swedish head coach have repeatedly said their biggest rivalries in womenrsquos soccer extend well beyond these two countriesAs soon as England had clinched a 21 comeback win over Colombia in the quarterfinals to ensure a match against Australia coach Sarina Wiegman was asked what she knew about the Ashes rivalry She said shersquod check with the team and staffOn Tuesday at a prematch news conference in Sydney that ran into the 21st minute of Spainrsquos 21 semifinal win over Sweden in New Zealand Wiegman said the feedback related to cricket and rugby and netball and ldquowe didnrsquot feel that rivalry that muchrdquoBright said she couldnrsquot think of a previous England vs Australia encounter in any sport sticking in her memory What shersquos looking forward to is playing in front of a capacity crowd at Stadium Australia despite knowing her opposition will have overwhelming supportldquoAs an England team therersquos always pressure and itrsquos something you embracerdquo she said ldquoWersquove experienced moments like this tense environments big stadiums big crowds We do thrive in those momentsrdquoBright recalled the extra lift big crowds gave England in the European ChampionshipldquoItrsquos the semifinal Itrsquos the World Cuprdquo she said ldquoYou want that environment you want it to be intense you want it to be noisyrdquoEnglandrsquos only loss under Wiegman who guided the Netherlands to the final in 2019 was against Australia in a friendly in AprilFor 10thranked Australia that 20 away win was part of a sequence that also included wins over Spain and France that boosted confidenceWhile England went through the group stage with wins over Haiti Denmark and China and then beat Nigeria in a penalty shootout the Australians had to rebound after losing 32 in the group stage and then having to beat Olympic champion Canada for a place in the knockout roundsThe Matildas beat Canada 40 and then Denmark and FranceTony Gustavsson who was an assistant coach with the titlewinning United States team in 2019 said No 4ranked England would probably start as the favourite with the bookmakersldquoIf you look at rankings theyrsquore favourites If you look at where their players play they have starting players in top clubs and top leagues all over the world mdash not just 11 they have like 15 16rdquo Gustavsson said ldquoIf you look at resources financially obviously they are a massive favourite going into this gameldquoOne thing that we have that they donrsquot have is the support and the belief from the fansrdquo he said ldquoand that itself is going to be massive tomorrowrdquoWhat Australia also has is an energised Kerr who missed the group stage because of a calf muscle injury she sustained on the eve of the tournament and a team that has grown in stature because of her absenceldquoThe way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive both from a mental and physical aspectrdquo Gustavsson said of Kerrrsquos role as a secondhalf substitute against France ldquoShe trained today so shersquos availablerdquoThe Matildas have also played down the Ashes context of the showdown but goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold the star of the shootout wins over France eventually responded after a repeated line of questioning about how it might feel being knocked out by EnglandldquoBeing knocked out by anyone is kind of unthinkablerdquo Arnold said ldquoTherersquos probably a lot of English people that would love to see us knocked out by England but I think there are more Australians that would love to see England knocked out by usWith AP inputsThis story was originally published on Tuesday August 15