Can England Move On From The Women’s World Cup Heartache
We’ve all seen it – the most brutal own goal in the history of the game. Laura Bassett, making her way back to stop a fantastic through ball in the dying seconds of a FIFA Women’s World Cup Semi Final, managed to score the flukiest of own goals and put her country out at the expense of Japan. The goal itself, one of pure bad luck and harsh angles, will go down in the memory as one of the most damaging of all-time, having stopped the Lionesses from taking what many had believed to be their rightful place within the Final of the tournament proper.
Now that there has been time to take a deep breath and think about what happened, how can the England team move on from the heartbreak of scoring a goal like that so late on in the semi finals? What can the team, and the people around the team, do to help them get beyond this problem and put themselves back on the path towards consistent success and perhaps even going one better in future?
Look At The Others
It’s been reported on more than one occasion that these days the similarities between sports and games is becoming much smaller; and this can be emphasized by the “performance enhancing” powers of using games to help keep the mind working well. Whilst performance enhancing drugs are strictly banned in all sports, female football has been quite innovative in that many of the players are taking part in games like bingo, as you can see here. This makes a big difference to the overall way that they think and play, and also lets them take their mind off the game for a few short hours.
Invest in Attendances
The thing that makes any footballer start flying in a game, and really hitting their highest levels of performance, is a backing from the crowd. When you have several thousand – maybe tens of thousands – of people cheering you on, it all becomes so much easier to start playing to your best.
Whilst crowds are improving for female football, much more has to be done – especially with the rapid growth of the professional football leagues for females – to encourage people to turn out in their numbers and see these players during each big international tournament. This would make a telling difference to their confidence and belief, and help people achieve a higher standard of success of in time.
Sort The Coaching Problem
Whilst it won’t be a MASSIVE help to those who are playing today, the level of coaching for women’s teams has o improve. Many simply are not getting the hours needed to become better players from a young age, and it’s vital that this is brought into the game and made possible for females. Coaching is the key and without the right hours transmuted, success is impossible.
Tell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?
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