Women's World Cup

[Workingman]

Has anyone been watching?

I have caught quite a few of the games and been pleasantly surprised.

No bad language, no elbows, no falling over at the slightest breeze, no rolling about for ages then getting up and doing a Usain Bolt sprint to get back in position. Best of all is the level of skill the women have. The last WC was dire from a technical point of view, this one shows just how much progress has been made.

[TheOstrich]

I haven't been watching, no, but I was pleased to see the progress the England team has made in the competition. I believe they have Japan in the next game; the first ever women's game I saw live was pretty much a sell-out friendly between England and Japan in June 2013 at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton-on-Trent (Burton's close to the St George's Park training complex), and that finished as a 1-1 draw. OK, it was a friendly, but it wasn't exactly scintillating fare ... what was impressive was the number of Japanese nationals and ex-pats in the crowd!

Since then, I've seen a dozen or so games involving Aston Villa Ladies who play in the FAWSL Division 2, and included in those matches are a few cup games against Division 1 opposition, but I don't think I've seen very many (if any at all) of the current England squad. What I have seen, however, is more than few U-20 and U-19 England internationals in action.

I will watch it, but I can't say that the women's game enthuses me. The main complaint from the groundhoppers like me who watch the WSL in the summer months is that there's too much faffin' ahbaht in midfield and not nearly enough goalmouth action. All the qualities you mention are there (although I have twice seen Villa's Sherry McCue sent off for throwing a huge hissy fit at the referee - she nearly brained one! ), but it lacks a certain something .... there was one match last year where I think my only highlight of the afternoon was exchanging a high-5 with the Villa mascot, Bella the Lion. There's also a bit too much peripheral razamatazz for us oldsters as they are trying to promote the game to the younger element (bouncy castles, disco music) but in fairness, it does attract crowds - Villa Ladies 200-400, Sutton Coldfield Town (the landlords) in the Northern Premier 1 (S) get around 120.

I think I can sum up the match entertainment factor like this:
Women's soccer (overall) my goals per game average: 2.20
With men's soccer, my seasonal average is usually just under 4.

[Rodo]

Hubby stayed up and watched it all, and I just watched the last half hour.

[Workingman]

We are in the semis and Japan, the holders, are our opposition. We are not great but have got better as the competition has gone on.

[victor]

no spitting ,no nose clearing

and entertaining football

[Diflower]

We've seen some of it, I didn't expect to enjoy it (sorry women!) but did