By Alan Duffy
England secured a historic third-place finish after narrowly beating Germany on Saturday night, courtesy of yet another Fara Williams spot-kick.
Tinkerman Mark Sampson started with three centre-backs for the game, with Jo Potter dropping in alongside Steph Houghton and Laura Bassett.
However, the Germans started brightly, with Celia Sasic missing a great chance.
Houghton then cleared off the line as the Lionesses wobbled.
Man City’s Houghton then missed a good chance herself to open the scoring.
After the break, the Germans improved, with Karen Bardsley keeping out a header from Sara Daebritz.
A close-range effort from Lena Petermann was then blocked, again by England captain Houghton.
Sampson sent on the pacey Eni Aluko, who set up Jill Scott, only for the lanky midfielder to fluff her lines in front of goal.
Then, in the first-period of extra-time, the goal finally came, after sub Lianne Sanderson was felled in the box by Tabea Kemme. Fara Williams calmly converted the resulting spot-kick, her third of the tournament, to put England ahead.
Germany did miss a fabulous chance at the death, with Bianca Schmidt missing when she really should’ve scored.
Ultimately, England would hold on to secure their first win against Germany in 20 meetings, and finish a creditable third place in the World Cup. Well done the Lionesses!
Highlights…
Photos: Getty Images
Highlights: Zidankrisz via Dailymotion