England’s quest for a first ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ title came to an end on Thursday with their 3-0 loss to Spain, but the opportunity to still make history is there for the Young Lionesses. With a win on Sunday against USA in the match for third place, England will earn a bronze medal for the first time.
Players and head coach Natalie Henderson were left disappointed by coming up short in the semi-final, but the ambition to finish on the podium is definitely there.
“I think it would be really good, that will be our full focus now, we’ve got nothing to lose,” said defender Rachel Maltby. “We’ve done ourselves proud so far and I think this last game is really where we can show how good we are and who we can compete with, so third place is what we’re aiming for now.”
Midfielder Laila Harbert echoed the sentiments of her team-mate, saying they will relish the opportunity to go up against a tough USA side.
“We made history in the summer as well as the first U-17 Lionesses side to reach the EURO final, so we’re looking to create history again on Sunday,” said Harbert. “We have a very good chance. We fell short tonight to a very strong Spain side, but we know this is not the end of our journey and we look forward to playing against the USA on Sunday.”
Henderson expressed her pride at how her team battled on the night against the holders, and knows it will not take much to get her side to bounce back and be ready for Sunday.
“We are really motivated by that,” said Henderson. “It’s obviously not the game we wanted to play in, however we feel like it is a good opportunity to go and show the world what we can do and we want to finish in that top three.”
