MX23RW : Thursday, December 12 20:40:08| >> :600:32087896:32087896:
[monks data]
Attendance: 28,205
Women's World Cup | Group Stage
Jun 19, 2019 at 8pm UK
 

3-3

Little (19'), Beattie (49'), Cuthbert (69')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Menendez (74'), Alexander (79' og.), Bonsegundo (94')

Lee Alexander praises opposite number Vanina Correa

Emma Hayes ignited a debate about the size of women's goals, but the Scotland goalkeeper "completely disagrees".

Scotland goalkeeper Lee Alexander is against the idea of smaller goals in women's football and has pointed to the performance of Argentina's Vanina Correa against England as a supporting case.

Keeping out a Nikita Parris penalty was among a number of impressive saves Correa made during her side's 1-0 loss to England in their World Cup Group D clash in Le Havre on Friday.

Ahead of Scotland facing Argentina on Wednesday in Paris, Alexander said: "You look at performances like the Argentine goalkeeper and you can't want to drop the goal height.

"It was an inspired performance. Probably the best goalkeeping performance at the tournament so far.

Vanina Correa, centre, celebrates after saving the penalty against England
Vanina Correa, centre, celebrates after saving the penalty against England (John Walton/PA)

"She had a very good penalty save, did well during the game and deserved the plaudits."

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said in a column for The Times last Thursday that she believes "a debate about the size of pitches and goals in women's football...is worth having."

Alexander "completely disagrees" with the idea of smaller goals in the women's game.

And the 27-year-old Glasgow City player, whose is 5ft 7ins, four inches shorter than Correa, said: "Genetics hasn't given me that and I just have to make sure that I work harder on all aspects of my game.

"If you ask all the goalkeepers in women's football, we work probably just as hard as the men in terms of our speed across the goal line and our plyometric jumps to try to get that top-corner save."

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has opened a debate about the size of goals in women's football
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has opened a debate about the size of goals in women's football (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Scotland, for whom this is a debut Women's World Cup campaign, need to beat Argentina on Wednesday to have a chance of reaching the last 16.

It would leave them third in the group, and four of the six third-placed finishers will join the top two from each pool in the next round.

So far, Shelley Kerr's side have suffered 2-1 defeats against England in Nice and Japan in Rennes. Both matches saw them concede twice in the first half, improve after the break and score in the closing stages.

"I think we have to feel confident," Alexander said. "We have things to build on from our previous two games, albeit we've come away with zero points.

Scotland manager Shelley Kerr will be looking for a victory against Argentina
Scotland manager Shelley Kerr will be looking for a victory against Argentina (Richard Sellers/PA)

"I think our performances in the second halves have shown we have a desire to try to get back in the game, and we are creating opportunities. We are putting teams under pressure. We do know we have to start the games better.

"I think we have maybe given too much respect to the opposing teams, potentially.

"Obviously, they are top teams – England are ranked third and are out here to win the competition, and Japan have won it before (in 2011) and were runners-up in the last one.

"But put that aside, I think maybe we probably could have got closer to them and put them under a little bit more pressure. We found ourselves 2-0 down in both games so that is something obviously we're looking to address."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '22617f85-e5a8-4558-9502-718a47e708e6');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Alexander points to Correa\u2019s heroics as reason why women\u2019s goals are just fine'});

ID:362145: cacheID:362145:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9535:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Shelley Kerr pictured in charge of Scotland Women in June 2019
Read Next:
Shelley Kerr: 'Scotland will not park the bus'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!