Happy homecomings for Shelina and Kyah, Esther earns first start
Thu 28 October 2021, 12:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
The second international window of the season has drawn to a close with several Spurs Women players in action for their countries over the past week. Here’s our round up of how they all got on…
Across the Atlantic, captain Shelina Zadorsky and her Canadian teammates made their long-awaited return home for the first time after their gold medal winning exploits at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Olympic champions faced New Zealand in a double-header in Ottawa and Montreal which saw Shelina line up against her Spurs teammate and New Zealand’s most capped player, Ria Percival.
In the opener, Shelina came on to represent her home country in the 46th minute as Bev Priestman’s side kicked off their celebration tour with an emphatic 5-1 win in front of over 16,000 fans.
Meanwhile, Ria worked tirelessly throughout and was rewarded for her efforts in the 70th minute when she stepped up to convert a penalty to restore some pride for the Football Ferns.
In the rematch on Tuesday, both Ria and Shelina featured again for their respective countries in a much tighter contest. The Canadians were frustrated by New Zealand’s defence but an Adriana Leon strike in the 16th minute proved to be the difference.
In Minnesota, So-hyun Cho was in the starting line-up for South Korea for their second friendly against the USA on Tuesday. Cho was unfortunate to concede an own goal on the stroke of half-time and her country suffered a 6-0 defeat.
Goalkeeper Becky Spencer was in the starting line-up and played 90 minutes for Jamaica in their friendly against Costa Rica on Sunday. Becky kept a clean sheet, but her side had to settle for a 0-0 draw with the Central Americans.
Elsewhere, Kyah Simon and Australia secured a triumphant return to home soil after two years away as they claimed a 3-1 win in the first friendly double-header against Brazil on Saturday night in Sydney. Kyah started the match and played the first 46 minutes as she continues her recovery from injury.
The Matildas played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in their final friendly of the trip against the South American side on Tuesday evening and Kyah gained more valuable minutes after coming on in the 46th minute.
Back in Europe and it was a break to remember for 19-year-old Esther Morgan who earned her first senior international start for Wales as they gained a valuable point in their 1-1 draw against Czech Republic. Josie Green, meanwhile, was an unused substitute for Gemma Grainger’s side.
Both Esther and Josie were named on the bench on Tuesday evening as their nation recorded a dominant 4-0 win against Estonia to maintain their unbeaten start to their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
After earning her 100th international cap in Finland’s win against Georgia last week, Tinja-Riikka Korpela and her country were aiming to build on their perfect start to qualifying when they played host to the Republic of Ireland in Helsinki on Tuesday.
The goalkeeper wore the captain’s armband for the second consecutive match, and despite making several key saves, was unable to prevent her side from slipping to a 2-1 defeat. Finland sit second in Group A on six points with the Republic of Ireland three points behind with a game in hand.
On loan Eleanor Heeps and England under-19s made it three wins from three in their UEFA U19 Euro qualifiers with a 1-0 win over Switzerland on Tuesday. Eleanor was in the starting XI for the Young Lionesses second match of the trio against Northern Ireland where they recorded an 8-1 win. The result ensures the U19s top their group and are in a strong position to qualify for the finals next summer.
Our internationals will now return to camp to link up with the rest of the squad as we prepare for two huge matches in our season on back-to-back weekends!
We take on Manchester United on Sunday 7 November, before turning our attention to the first Women’s north London derby at The Hive on Saturday 13 November. Don't miss out and book your seat for both games here, now!
