England women v Germany, World Cup qualifier, Crystal Palace FC, Sunday 19th May
England women v Germany, World Cup qualifier, Crystal Palace FC, Sunday 19th May
The Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, has encouraged football fans to come along to Selhurst Park this Sunday to cheer on the England team in the World Cup qualifier against Germany. In a debate on schools sport in Parliament, the Sports Minister welcomed the success of the England Women's team in World Cup qualifying and the efforts of The Football Association in developing the sport.
Mr Caborn also welcomed the contribution made by the film Bend It Like Beckham in encouraging more girls and women to get involved in the sport, at a time when there is a concern over girls leaving school and not playing sport.
Meanwhile England have received a set-back with Fara Williams having to withdraw from the squad on Thursday due to a stress fracture of the Metatarsal bone on the side of her left foot. 18-year-old Williams, who has impressed in her first six months in the senior squad, sustained the fracture five weeks ago playing for her club Charlton Athletic, but the game has come too soon for the injury to be fully healed. There are no other injury worries going into the game.
The Nationwide England international will take place at Selhurst Park at 4.00pm this Sunday and will be televised live on Sky Sports TV.
The match will be England’s final group game of the qualifying campaign for the September 2003 finals in China. England are guaranteed to finish the group as runners-up, which sees them progress to a semi-final play-off to be played over home and away legs in August and September 2002. Germany have won the group and therefore automatically qualified for the finals tournament.
National Coach Hope Powell said: "We can go into the game a lot more relaxed than the last game when only three points would do. It's all credit to the girls, because two magnificent performances have got us into the play-off position so it means this is a nothing-to-lose game. Some people would say the result doesn't matter, but we're looking for people to perform. We're preparing for it as if we needed the three points.
"Apart from Fara Williams, everyone's okay. The players are probably very tired after a long season and we'll be mindful of that but they're in good spirits." England look likely to meet either Iceland or Spain in the play-off semi-finals and, should England progress, they could meet a strong Denmark side in the play-off final, which will also be played over two legs. It is a tough qualification process with several of the world’s top ten teams being based in Europe, yet only five places in the final tournament are available to UEFA members. Sweden, Norway and Russia look likely to join Germany by qualifying automatically for the September 2003 tournament.
"Qualification for this World Cup is tough," added Powell. "If we qualify we’ll have done magnificently well. But I think we’re more than capable if we perform like we have in our last two qualifying games. I know the girls want to go to the World Cup; this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it could be the last opportunity for a lot of them. They ecognise that and they want to be there."There are some tickets still available for the game. Priced at just £3 for adults and £1 for children/OAPs or £5/£1 on the gate, it is advisable to book in advance via the ticket hotline on 0208 771 8841, by fax on 0208 653 4708 or via the website: www.cpfc.co.uk
There will be entertainment prior to the game and at half-time.