It was a weekend off from WSL action as players departed their clubs to join up with their national teams for UEFA Euro 2022 qualification games. A whole host of WSL players were in action and below we summarise what happened throughout the break regarding your WSL favourites:
Wales played a vital game against Norway on Tuesday where they had to win to have a fight for the group winners spot, but it was the Norwegians who came away victorious. Chelsea’s Guro Reiten was on target in a 1-0 win in Oslo. Wales Captain and Chelsea midfielder Sophie Ingle reached the impressive milestone of 100 senior caps with this fixture, congratulations Sophie! Brighton’s Kayleigh Green, Man United’s Hayley Ladd, Tottenham’s Josie Green, Reading’s Natasha Harding, Rachel Rowe, Angharad James and Jess Fishlock all played 90 minutes for Wales while Anna Filbey was subbed off as a precaution for a head injury after 84 minutes. Ingrid Moe Wold, Maria Thorisdottir, Maren Mjelde, Cecilie Fiskerstrand and Amalie Eikeland featured for Norway with the latter departing after 67 minutes. Gemma Evans, Lily Woodham, Carrie Jones and Elise Hughes were unused substitutes.
The Republic of Ireland faced Germany in a game that also had a host of WSL involvement. The Irish fell to a 3-0 defeat with Arsenal’s Katie McCabe, Brighton’s Megan Connolly, Rianna Jarrett and Denise O’Sullivan, playing 90 minutes. West Ham’s Leanne Kiernan was substituted after 63 minutes while Courtney Brosnan and Birmingham’s Harriet Scott were unused from bench. Chelsea’s Melanie Leupolz played 64 minutes for Germany while Leonie Maier was a first half substitute playing 54 minutes. Ann-Katrin Berger was an unused sub. This was the first of two games for the Germans as they defeated Montenegro 3-0 on Tuesday. Leupolz was on the scoresheet before being substituted on 53 minutes. Maier started the game before leaving the action at half time while Berger was again unused from the bench.
Denmark recorded a 4-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina with Everton’s Rikke Sevecke on the scoresheet. Everton teammate Nicoline Sorensen and Chelsea’s Pernille Harder lasted the full ninety along with Sevecke while Aston Villa’s Stine Larsen was replaced after 62 minutes. The Danes made it two wins from two over the international break beating Malta 8-0 in their second game. Larsen and Harder were on target in that game with the latter also recording the assist for Larsen’s goal. Harder was then replaced after 65 minutes while Sevecke, Sorensen and Larsen played 90 minutes.
Sweden were on fire in their first game defeating Hungary 8-0. Chelsea captain Magdalena Eriksson scored a goal and recorded an assist while club teammate Jonna Andersson also helped herself to an assist. Both players played the full 90, a welcome sight for Andersson owners. In the second game for the Swedes, they were held to a 1-1 draw in Iceland with both Andersson and Eriksson playing the whole game.
The Netherlands faced a tough trip to Russia and the WSL’s early leading goalscorer netted again. Jill Roord set Oranje on their way as they won 1-0. A goal for the Arsenal midfielder assisted by Danielle Van de Donk. The joy was short lived however with Roord leaving the field after 73 minutes with an injury that forced her to depart the camp early to return to Arsenal. She was replaced by Brighton’s Inessa Kaagman while Man United’s Jackie Groenen featured for 90 minutes alongside Van de Donk. Vivianne Miedema was replaced with two minutes to go while Brighton’s Danique Kerkdijk was an unused sub.
Switzerland drew 1-1 with Croatia as Arsenal trio Malin Gut, Noelle Maritz and Lia Walti played the whole game. West Ham’s Alisha Lehmann played 66 minutes. Both Lehmann and Gut were on target in the second game for the Swiss as they defeated Belgium 2-1. Lehmann played 68 minutes while Maritz, Gut and Walti again played the full ninety. Bristol City’s Yana Daniels was an unused substitute in both of Belgium’s games.
Northern Ireland recorded an emphatic 6-0 win over the Faroe Islands with Everton’s Simone Magill the star of the show. The forward scored twice and assisted once with Birmingham’s Chloe McCarron assisting Magill for her second goal. Both players featured for the full 90 minutes.
Katerina Svitkova’s Czech Republic drew 0-0 with Poland before defeating the same opposition 2-0 in the reverse tie. The West Ham midfielder played 90 minutes in the first tie before hobbling off on 57 minutes of the second.
France defeated Serbia 2-0 with Everton’s Maeva Clemaron featuring off the bench for the final two minutes while Valerie Gauvin and West Ham’s Kenza Dali were unused substitutes. The French then went on to defeat North Macedonia 7-0 with Dali entering the fray on 62 minutes. Both Clemaron and Gauvin remained on the bench.
Manchester United’s Ona Batlle was an unused sub as Spain defeated Moldova by nine goals to nil while Austria recorded a 5-0 victory over Kazakhstan. Arsenal duo Manuela Zinsberger and Viktoria Schnaderbeck played the whole game.
Finally, away from Euro qualifying, hosts of the tournament who do not need to qualify, England came together for a training camp at St George’s Park with an initial 30-player squad featuring in two in-house friendly matches. Ahead of the first of the two ties Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson pulled out through injury while Manchester United captain Katie Zelem was forced to withdraw after a positive Covid-19 test, Everton’s Izzy Christiansen was called up as a late replacement. In the games, every squad player got minutes with Ellen White (2) and Ella Toone on target in a 3-0 victory where Fran Kirby was Player of the Match and Chloe Kelly, Esme Morgan and Christiansen scoring in the second fixture that finished 2-1.
To see a full breakdown of the minutes played by each player, follow @etiawneb on Twitter.