By Alan Duffy
In what could be a seminal moment for women’s football in the UK, a crowd of over 70,000 saw Team GB take on and beat the mighty Brazil by a 1-0 scoreline, a result that sees Hope Powell’s side top Group E (with three wins out of three) and face Canada in the knockout stages.
Left-back Steph Houghton (oddly pronounced ‘Hawton’ rather than in Ray ‘Houghton’) was the goal-hero yet again, with the Arsenal defender netting in the first-half with her third goal in three games. Houghton’s team-mate Kelly Smith did miss a penalty but despite the best efforts of Marta and co., Brazil couldn’t break down a superb GB side.
Disciplined and confident, the GB side were a match for Brazil and deserved the victory. And with such a massive crowd watching in the stadium and with the game live on BBC1, let’s hope it helps to boost attendances in the domestic women’s game.
Photos…
Highlights to follow (they’re hard to find with all this Olympic copyright malarkay)
Photos: PA