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      Luis Rubiales Apologizes for Kissing Jennifer Hermoso After World Cup Win

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      “Probably I made a mistake,” Luis Rubiales, the Spanish soccer federation chief, said after grabbing Jennifer Hermoso and planting a kiss full on her mouth, igniting howls of outrage on social media.A day after drawing outrage by grabbing and forcefully kissing the Spanish forward Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the Women’s World Cup medals ceremony, Spain’s soccer federation chief issued something of an apology.“I have to apologize,” the official, Luis Rubiales, said in a video broadcast by the federation on Monday afternoon. “Probably I made a mistake.”The kiss was delivered in Sydney, Australia, only a few feet from where the Spanish queen, Letizia, was standing onstage as she congratulated the women’s team for trouncing England, 1-0, to capture its first World Cup trophy on Sunday.Video footage shows Mr. Rubiales enveloping Ms. Hermoso in his arms, grabbing her face between his hands and planting a kiss full on her mouth.Spaniards reacted with confusion and disgust on social media. Many saw it as evidence of a callous disregard for Ms. Hermoso and, more broadly, lingering sexism in soccer.The episode is the latest in a string of incidents that have plagued the women’s national team in recent months. Last year, 15 star players walked out in protest, accusing the coach, Jorge Vilda, of outdated training methods and controlling behavior.But the soccer federation backed Mr. Vilda, and only three of the rebel players were readmitted to the team.At first, Mr. Rubiales responded to the latest controversy with flippancy, brushing off his critics as “losers” in a late-night interview with the Cadena Cope radio station before boarding a flight back to Spain from Australia.“We shouldn’t pay attention to idiots and stupid people,” he said then, claiming that the kiss had been just a “peck between two friends celebrating something.”But by the time his long-haul flight landed in Spain on Monday morning, condemnation of his behavior was widespread in Spain.Adding his voice to the chorus of complaints, the minister of culture and sport, Miquel Iceta, called for an explanation from the soccer chief, pointing out that it was unacceptable to congratulate soccer players by kissing them on the lips.Other prominent politicians demanded Mr. Rubiales’s resignation. The minister of equality, Irene Montero, accused Mr. Rubiales on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, of sexual violence.Mr. Rubiales then changed his tune. “There was no bad intention by either party,” he said on Monday. “We saw it as natural,” he added, apparently referring to Ms. Hermoso. “But it has caused a commotion and people are offended, so I must apologize.”Attempts to reach Mr. Rubiales by phone and email were not successful on Sunday and Monday.As for Ms. Hermoso, she seemed to have been taken by surprise by the kiss on Sunday, and expressed her distaste in a post-match video, saying, “Hey, but I didn’t like that!”Later, she appeared to downplay the episode. “It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture,” she said, “because of the huge joy of winning a World Cup.” More

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      A Kiss After Spain’s World Cup Win Prompts Many to Cry Foul

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      A soccer federation chief kissed the Spanish forward Jennifer Hermoso fully on the lips during the medals ceremony, an unpleasant reminder to many of the sexism that has plagued women’s soccer.Spaniards celebrated their country’s first Women’s World Cup victory on Sunday afternoon by holding dance parties in the streets and sharing their giddy delight.But it was a kiss seen around the world that was the talk of social media.Amid the national jubilation, many were jolted by an impromptu kiss planted on the Spanish forward Jennifer Hermoso by the president of Spain’s soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, during the medals ceremony, an unpleasant reminder to many of the sexism scandals that have plagued Spanish women’s soccer.After the Spanish players defeated England 1-0 and lined up onstage in Sydney, Australia, to collect their medals before lifting the World Cup trophy, Mr. Rubiales enthusiastically grabbed Ms. Hermoso, kissed her on the cheeks and then kissed her fully on the lips, video of the encounter showed. Spain’s Queen Letizia was onstage at the time.¿Lo de Rubiales? pic.twitter.com/H7ZaAQ0RxU— Darío (@Youpsico) August 20, 2023
      Later, in another video, Ms. Hermoso is seen apparently making her distaste known, responding, “Hey, but I didn’t like that!”The video of what many concluded had been an unwanted smooch was widely shared on social media, spurring confusion among many Spaniards and prompting others to denounce it as highly inappropriate behavior. Some called it disgraceful and evidence of lingering sexism in soccer. Others demanded that Mr. Rubiales resign.As of Sunday night, he had not responded to the criticism. The soccer federation did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment from Mr. Rubiales as it was late in Spain.The kissing episode revived memories of the mistreatment of Spain’s female soccer players. For 27 years, the women’s national team had the same coach, who was infamous for dismissing the players as “chavalitas,” or immature girls. He was dismissed in 2015 after players protested.Current members of the women’s national team have also complained that they have been disrespected by top male soccer executives and denied the kind of elite equipment and treatment given to the men’s teams. The women have said that the facilities the federation provided for them are subpar and that Jorge Vilda, their coach, fostered an oppressive workplace environment, one in which the players’ every move was monitored by his staff.Last fall, many players revolted against the coach and federation, accusing them of mistreatment and withdrawing from consideration for the national team. Ms. Hermoso was seen as having tacitly supported the rebellion.The controversies did not stop Spain from winning this year’s World Cup. But the sudden kiss added another dimension to the women’s victory.In a live video posted on Instagram and shared on other social media platforms, Ms. Hermoso is seen celebrating with her teammates in the locker room after the final and smiling even as she says the kiss was not wanted.Adding to the confusion, Mr. Rubiales is heard in another video telling the players that they would be rewarded with a trip to Ibiza for their victory and adding that it would be an opportunity to celebrate his “wedding” to Ms. Hermoso — an apparent reference to the kiss.There is no indication that Mr. Rubiales and Ms. Hermoso are in a relationship.Nadia Tronchoni, an editor at El País, Spain’s biggest newspaper, noted in an opinion piece that Sunday’s victory was “more than a title” for Spanish women.“The women, the girls of this country celebrated the fact that our stubbornness has finally defeated machismo,” she said, referring to female players’ long struggle to be recognized. “Rubiales’s kiss to Hermoso reminds us that the road ahead is a long one.” More

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      Spanish Fans Rejoice at World Cup Win

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      The final against England brought out fans of all stripes and rallied girls in both countries to hit the field and play.In the game’s last seconds, Ona Sánchez couldn’t sit still. Then, when the referee finally blew the whistle to confirm that Spain had won the Women’s World Cup, she and the crowd around her — girls, boys, parents and other fans who had gathered to watch the match in Sant Pere de Ribes, near Barcelona — erupted in cheers.“Campeonas! Campeonas! Olé, olé, olé!” Ona and her friend Laura Solorzano, both 11, and draped together in a Spanish flag, sang in the small town’s central cobblestone square as other supporters splashed water from a nearby fountain. The two friends, both players in a local soccer club, said they couldn’t have hoped for a better ending.“It was the first time I watched a World Cup,” Ona said, emerging from a group of dancing children. “And we won! I’m so happy! It fills me with hope.”Laura Solorzano, left, and Ona Sánchez, both 11, seconds after Spain won the Women’s World Cup.Constant Méheut/The New York TimesSpain’s first victory in the Women’s World Cup and England’s run to the final were not only formidable achievements for teams that have transformed into perennial title contenders in the space of just a few years. They were also a fortifying message to the many girls in both countries who have increasingly been taking up the sport: Women, too, can elevate a nation to the summit of world soccer.The final has reflected the increasing interest and investment in women’s soccer in Spain and England, with more and more girls joining clubs and leagues that are growing in size and professionalism — a profound change in countries where soccer was long the preserve of all-powerful men’s teams, and one that is likely to accelerate after this year’s World Cup.“The perception of women’s soccer has changed,” said Dolors Ribalta Alcalde, a specialist in women’s sports at Ramon Llull University in Barcelona. “It is now seen as a real and exciting opportunity for girls. This World Cup, with its high profile, will have an impact on how people view women’s soccer. It will help make a big step forward.”In England, the mood was more somber as the national team’s hopes to follow up its European Championship victory were dashed. Even so, professional and recreational leagues have seen a surge of interest in recent years from women and girls, in a nation that has considered itself the spiritual home of the game. The advancement of the Lionesses to the final has only fueled that optimism.England fans watching in London. Interest in women’s soccer has surged in Britain.Henry Nicholls/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“It’s a catalyst for change,” said Shani Glover, an equal game ambassador for the London Football Association, which has pledged to encourage women and girls to play at both professional and recreational levels. An advocate for that shift, Ms. Glover said she had seen growing interest in girls signing up to the sport, particularly after England’s European Championship win. “Having the women center stage — it shifts the public’s mind-set,” she said.“If it was like before, I wouldn’t feel motivated; it was quite isolated,” Cerys Davies, 15, said while watching the final from an East London community center. Cerys trains several times a week at a football academy focused on giving underprivileged players a pathway to elite careers. “It’s good that women are getting the recognition and support they need,” she said, adding that she was heartened to see the crowds in the stadium for the final. “It allows me to know that I’ll be supported,” she said.Cerys Davies, 15, trains several times a week at a football academy focused on giving underprivileged players a pathway to elite careers.Isabella Kwai/The New York TimesIn Sant Pere de Ribes, residents did not have to wait for this year’s World Cup to benefit from the new spotlight on women’s soccer.Aitana Bonmatí, the Spanish star midfielder who was named the tournament’s best player, grew up in the town and played for the local youth soccer club for several years. As Ms. Bonmatí rose to success, many girls took up soccer, hoping to follow in her footsteps.“Our club has grown a lot,” said Tino Herrero Cervera, the club’s manager, noting that the number of girls’ teams has jumped from one to 10 since 2014. Girls now make up a third of the club’s players.“To see Aitana become such a great player motivates me,” said Laura, who wants to become a soccer pro herself. Her team won a youth league championship this year with a 14-point lead over the runner-up.“They’re the next Aitana,” Mr. Herrero said of Laura and Ona, grinning. He added that the high caliber of the girls’ play had helped the club rise in the league rankings. “It’s simple,” he said, “we want more girls to play.”Tino Herrero Cervera, the manager of the local youth soccer club, in Sant Pere de Ribes, south of Barcelona.Constant Méheut/The New York TimesThat has not always been the case. Dr. Ribalta, the sports academic, also oversees women’s soccer at Espanyol, a professional club in Barcelona, where she previously played for over a decade. “A girl playing soccer used to be a trauma for the family,” she said.Until recently, she said, female players were sometimes insulted on the pitch and denied access to proper training equipment and professional coaches, and they had to reconcile their sporting ambitions with the impossibility of earning a living from soccer.Women’s soccer teams were long disregarded — if not simply banned, as was the case in England in 1921. The country’s Football Association was alarmed by the popularity of women’s games, which had gained a following while the men’s league was suspended during World War I. The ban was in place for 50 years.In Spain, the women’s national team long lacked elite training facilities and even jerseys designed to be worn by women. It reached its first Women’s World Cup only in 2015, under a long-serving coach infamous for dismissing the players as “chavalitas,” or immature girls.Change came only in recent years. England created a professional domestic league for women in 2018, and Spain followed suit three years later. Corporate sponsors flocked in and elite women’s clubs such as Arsenal and Barcelona Femení started to attract more attention. The Barcelona team won two of the past three editions of the Women’s Champions League.Barcelona players celebrating after winning the Women’s Champions League final against Germany’s Wolfsburg in June.John Thys/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThat trend is filtering down to smaller and more amateur leagues, as well as younger players. In England, the number of teams playing in one girls’ league at Hackney Marshes, a famed playing ground for recreational soccer in East London, expanded to 44 teams from 26 in one season. In Spain, the number of registered female players has more than doubled since 2015, reaching nearly 90,000 today.That is still a far cry from the hundreds of thousands of men playing in both countries. But many are convinced that this year’s World Cup will inspire more girls to take up soccer and join talented youth teams, a pipeline for national women’s teams.“Many girls have watched these players on big screens for several weeks and followed them on social media,” said Soraya Chaoui López, the founder of the Women’s Soccer School in Barcelona, an academy begun in 2017 to help girls play soccer and to promote the role of women in the sport. “They are references they will listen to and imitate. They can look forward to becoming professional players themselves now.”Destiny Richardson, 14, left, and Dejaunel Bass, 15, watched the World Cup final on Sunday in London.Isabella Kwai/The New York TimesLooking up at the faces of the Lionesses loom on the screen in London, Destiny Richardson, 14, said, “Even if we come second, it’s still good.”She added that she was inspired as a player, saying, “You want to be there one day.”In London, a rare young player elated by the win was Mariam Vasquez, 9, who cheered when Spain triumphed, in honor of her family’s Spanish side.“I’m so happy to be with her to watch it,” her mother, Hind Aisha, said, adding that the whole family was supporting Mariam’s own soccer dreams. “I’m very proud — it’s a women’s game.” More

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      Women’s World Cup Final Reminds England of Men’s Team’s Painful History

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      The women play Spain on Sunday, hoping to end a nearly six-decade national wait for a World Cup win — a reminder of the travails of the Three Lions, the country’s long-suffering men’s team.In London, theatergoers have flocked to “Dear England,” a hit play that chronicles the drama and anguish of the men’s national soccer team in its long quest for another World Cup title, now at 57 years and counting. In Sydney on Sunday, the England women’s team might finally get the job done.England will face off against Spain in the Women’s World Cup final, the first for either team. While they are closely matched, England’s impressive march through the tournament has spurred hopes that “football’s coming home,” in the ever-optimistic words of “The Three Lions,” the unofficial anthem of the men’s team.That the Lionesses, not the Lions, might bring it home is a twist that has beguiled and bemused people in a country where the painful history of the men’s team — a litany of blown chances, unfulfilled promise and knockout losses (particularly to Germany and particularly after penalties) — is deeply engraved in the national psyche.“It’s hard to deny that this is really a big moment for the women’s game here,” said John Williams, a sports sociologist at the University of Leicester in England. “But it doesn’t take the monkey off the men’s backs. If anything, it makes them look even less formidable and more culpable, if women do the job.”In a country that claims to be the spiritual home of the game, winning is winning — and men and women, young and old, are rooting for the Lionesses. “As long as it’s England, I don’t care who’s bringing football home,” said Brad Jones, 25, a consultant from Bristol who was riding the underground in London on Friday.Watching the semifinal against Australia in London on Wednesday. “It’s hard to deny that this is really a big moment for the women’s game here,” a sports sociologist in England said.Frank Augstein/Associated PressYet the vexed history of the men’s team, in a country that also views soccer as a vital expression of male camaraderie, has prompted criticism that the women are not receiving the same treatment that their brethren would.The government has ruled out declaring a bank holiday — British parlance for a national day off — if England wins. Critics said that officials would do that without thinking if the men’s team ever claimed another World Cup. Neither Prime Minister Rishi Sunak nor Prince William, who is the president of the Football Association, plans to travel to Australia to watch the game.Queen Elizabeth II attended the World Cup final in 1966, the last and only time England won (prevailing against West Germany, 4-2, after extra time, on home turf). She presented the trophy to the England captain, Bobby Moore. Spain plans to send Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter, the Infanta Sofía, to the final in Sydney.“When the Spanish team look up at the stands on Sunday morning, they will see their queen,” the columnist A.N. Wilson wrote scoldingly in The Daily Mail, a British tabloid. “When our brave Lionesses strain their eyes to see a British grandee,” he noted, “they will be forgiven for not recognizing anyone at all.”Even pubs may not be able to serve pints before kickoff, which is at 11 a.m. in Britain, because of restrictions on serving alcohol on Sunday mornings. The government rejected a theatrical call by the opposition Liberal Democrats to recall Parliament to pass legislation relaxing the rules. But a senior minister, Michael Gove, wrote to local councils to urge them to allow pubs to open an hour earlier than normal.Outside 10 Downing Street on Friday. The government has ruled out declaring a national holiday even if England wins the final.Susannah Ireland/ReutersFans, Mr. Gove said, should be able to “come together and enjoy a drink before kickoff for this special occasion,” adding, “the whole nation is ready to get behind the Lionesses this Sunday in what is England’s biggest game since 1966.”Strictly speaking, Mr. Gove has a point regarding the game’s significance. But the reality is more nuanced. The women already won the European title last year, which brought the first major soccer cup back to England since 1966.For the men, it is the losses, not the victories, that have defined the team’s narrative. In December, England was dismissed by France in a World Cup quarterfinal in Qatar. In July 2021, at the European final, it lost to Italy in a penalty shootout that left the crowd of 67,000 at Wembley Stadium in shock and despair.That heartbreak is captured in “Dear England,” as is another infamous missed penalty kick, by Gareth Southgate, an England player who is now the team’s coach, at a semifinal against Germany in 1996. The lingering shadow of those defeats is part of the lore of English football, which is balanced against the exuberant, diverse, and politically aware squad that Mr. Southgate has since assembled.England’s male players have forced Britain to confront fraught issues, kneeling before games to protest racial injustice, for example. After three young Black players missed penalty kicks in the 2021 defeat, they were subjected to racist slurs.The women’s team is less racially diverse than the men’s team, with only two Black players on the current roster. Professor Williams, the sports sociologist, said that representation reflected the development of women’s soccer in England as a suburban, middle-class sport, much as it is in the United States. But unlike the American women’s team — or, for that matter, the England men — the Lionesses have generally stayed out of the political fray.“None of the team are known for being politically outspoken,” Professor Williams said. “They don’t have the dimension that Megan Rapinoe brought to the U.S.A. team,” he added, referring to the star American winger who campaigns for gay and lesbian rights and has been vilified by some on the political right, much as some male England players have been criticized by right-wing figures in Britain for their political statements.England’s women are known mostly for their tight cohesion and relentless drive on the field. Their no-nonsense Dutch coach, Sarina Wiegman, is a former player who has already taken her home country’s team to a World Cup final, where it lost to the United States. She has no reluctance in running up the score against weaker opponents.England’s coach, Sarina Wiegman, center, before the start of the semifinal. A former player, she has already taken her home country’s team to the World Cup final, losing to the United States in 2019.Carl Recine/ReutersStill, merely by being women in a sport dominated globally by men, England’s players are part of a longer social story. The country’s Football Association barred women from professional soccer in 1921, in part out of a fear that the women’s game had become too popular during the suspension of men’s games because of World War I.The 1966 World Cup victory rekindled interest in women’s soccer, but the Football Association took over responsibility for the women’s game again only in the 1990s. Its profile has grown quickly in recent years as Premier League teams, particularly Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, have fielded elite women’s teams.Another storied club, Manchester United, reportedly wants to consult its female players — four of whom are members of the national team — in deciding whether to reinstate a star forward, Mason Greenwood, after charges of attempted rape and assault against him were dropped in February.To some sports commentators, that attempt to show gender sensitivity ended up as an ill-timed distraction for players prepping for a World Cup final.For all the advances in women’s soccer — whether increased television coverage or the improved quality of play — one difference is glaring: Men are paid more than women. Even England’s best players — the likes of the captain, Millie Bright; the striker Alessia Russo; or Lauren James, one of this tournament’s breakout stars — earn a small fraction in comparison with their male counterparts.Women’s games also tend to draw more families with children than men’s matches do, Professor Williams said, and the atmosphere can seem less tribal, aggressive and alcohol-fueled.“You’ve got some male fans who are saying, ‘It’s about time. The quality of women’s football is much better,’” he said. “But it’s clear there’s a rump of male supporters who say this is all a big waste of time. They say, ‘Watching football is a how we get away from women.’”Passing through Victoria Station in London on Friday, Lyndsey Jefford, 45, an elementary-school principal, said, “It’s made me really proud to see how well the women have done, though it still upsets me when people dismiss women’s football by saying the men play a different game.”Declan Bird, 24, who works in digital marketing, agreed that it did not much matter whether England’s men or women won the World Cup. And he pointed to a useful potential benefit of a women’s victory.“Hopefully,” he said, “it inspires the men’s team.”The midfielder Ella Toone scoring England’s opening goal in the 3-1 win over Australia on Wednesday.Jaimi Joy/ReutersNatasha Frost More

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      At Inter Miami, Lionel Messi’s Only Complaint Is the Humidity

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      After taking the Leagues Cup tournament by storm, Messi, 36, had his first news conference since joining Inter Miami. It was clear he is now in a more relaxed stage of his career.The version of Lionel Messi who has become South Florida’s reigning sport king is not the playmaker in his prime that he was for Barcelona or the tortured captain-under-pressure that he was for Argentina. The Messi of Miami is, in his own words, happy. Very happy.Happy to have moved his family to a city where they used to vacation. Happy to greet legions of adoring fans. Happy to show his young new team, Inter Miami of M.L.S., how to win. Less happy, perhaps, to deal with South Florida’s crushing summer humidity.Those were Messi’s reflections in the first news conference of his career in the United States, a rite of passage for newly acquired star players that was supposed to take place when he arrived about a month ago. But Messi is not just any player. He is known to rarely speak to reporters. And the circuslike atmosphere that surrounded his first days in town was unlike anything M.L.S. had ever seen, even when David Beckham arrived in 2007.So Messi’s moment to meet the American press was delayed until now, after his team had won six straight games and he had scored nine goals for his new club. Inter Miami, which had the fewest points in M.L.S. regular-season play before it signed Messi, will now play the final of the new Leagues Cup tournament against Nashville S.C. on Saturday.“I think the team experienced a lot of growth,” the soft-spoken Messi said in Spanish, crediting the new coach, Gerardo Martino, the Argentine known as Tata who had coached Messi at Barcelona and on the Argentine national team, with helping the turnaround. (Two of his former Barcelona teammates, midfielder Sergio Busquets and defender Jordi Alba, have also joined him at Inter.)It was one of several understatements Messi delivered during a 20-minute news conference in which he took just 10 questions from a room packed with more than 70 reporters, a dozen television cameras and outlets from Argentina, Brazil and Spain. (“The best player in the history of world soccer just sat here!” one man exclaimed in Spanish to his viewers, pointing to a chair shortly after Messi left.)When a reporter asked about the ease with which Messi and Inter Miami have defeated their M.L.S. and Liga MX opponents in the tournament, hinting at the inferior level of competition he now faces compared with Europe, Messi spoke about “setting difficult goals” for Inter — and praised Liga MX and M.L.S. teams’ ability to compete.“The Mexican league is a very competitive league, where they have great, world-class players,” he said.Messi has scored nine goals in six games in the Leagues Cup tournament, including on Tuesday in a semifinal against the Philadelphia Union, one of the better teams in M.L.S. in recent years.Eric Hartline/Usa Today Sports Via Reuters ConIt was clear that Messi, 36, who led Argentina to its first World Cup championship in more than three decades last year, was in a more relaxed chapter of his career. Asked if he thought he might win the Ballon d’Or, the award given annually to the world’s best soccer player, for an eighth time, he said he was not considering it, especially “after having achieved the World Cup.”Messi did acknowledge that tearfully leaving Barcelona in 2021 for Paris St.-Germain was a rough transition. The move happened “practically overnight,” he said, making it difficult for him to get used to a new club and a city that was not a particularly good fit for his family.In contrast, his wife and three sons blessed coming to Miami, he said, characterizing it as a decision the family made together. Messi chose Miami over a reportedly more lucrative deal in Saudi Arabia, which is pursuing top talent, and over a potential return to Barcelona, which is in financial trouble.“It’s a city of many Latinos, and that makes everything easier,” he said. “All the time, they are showing you affection, closeness. That, already, is the most important thing, the healthiest thing, and the most beautiful thing to adjust and be able to enjoy what you do.”More than a hundred fans clad in Inter and Argentina jerseys waited outside the stadium to catch a glimpse of his departing car after the news conference, despite the rain.“One never completely adapts to this climate,” Messi had said moments earlier.James Wagner More

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      Australia Loved the Matildas. Will It Continue to Love Women’s Sports?

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      Australian fans are mourning their team’s semifinal defeat at the Women’s World Cup. Beyond the ache, there are concerns about whether the support for women’s sports will last.The morning after Australia’s dream run at the Women’s World Cup ended one win short of the final, Denisse Lopez, 34, found a quiet spot to sit in Darling Harbour. She was still wearing the Sam Kerr jersey she had put on for Australia’s semifinal loss to England the night before. She carried a book and a croissant, a type of pastry she had denied herself, because of its origins, until her team had beaten France in the quarterfinals.Betrayed by her puffy eyes, Lopez admitted she had been crying. She had attended all of Australia’s matches in this World Cup, starting with their first group stage contest four weeks earlier, using airline miles to follow the Matildas up and down the country’s east coast. So strong was her belief in the team that she had secured tickets to the final but not the third-place match in Brisbane, where Australia will play Sweden on Saturday.“It just came out this morning,” Lopez, who lives in Melbourne, said of her tears. “The players started posting about the loss, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m sad.’ Mostly, I feel flat and disappointed for the girls. But, you know, there’s one more game.”Hosting the tournament along with New Zealand, Australia was a cauldron of complex emotions after the hometown team fell shy of the outcome that many Australians did not know they wanted so badly until it came so close to happening. Disappointment was mixed with pride, but there was also some uncertainty about whether there would be the fan and institutional support needed to sustain Matildas fever beyond this quadrennial tournament being held on their home soil.This is a sports-mad country, but not necessarily a soccer-mad one. The Daily Telegraph, a local tabloid, cited a survey taken before the World Cup that said most Australians could not recognize any Matildas players besides Kerr, the team captain and star striker. Surely that is no longer the case, as breakout players like goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold and forward Mary Fowler have become instantly recognizable through countless on-field close-ups. Thursday morning in Darling Harbour, fans approached Cortnee Vine, the substitute who scored the winning penalty kick in the quarterfinal, for a selfie as she appeared to be out for a walk with family members.Matildas fans cheered before Australia’s match against France in the quarterfinals.Dan Peled/ReutersBut Kerr’s plea, in the aftermath of a defeat that left her in tears, that her sport receive the kind of funding that is devoted to the Australian Football League or the National Rugby League was a reminder that there is no guarantee that this moment has permanence. Australia Coach Tony Gustavsson had referred to this as a “crossroads moment” for the country’s investment in women’s soccer to match that of some of its top opponents, such as England. Perhaps similarly recognizing the fragility of the bond between Australians and their Matildas, midfielder Katrina Gorry urged supporters not to jump off the bandwagon. And just 14 hours after more than 75,000 fans packed Stadium Australia in Sydney for the semifinal against England, the Matildas asked fans on social media not to forget that they still had one more match. Rana Hussain, a Melbourne-based inclusion and belonging specialist in sports, said the tension around what happens next contributed to her heartbreak as she lingered in the stadium after the final whistle on Wednesday night, not wanting the magic to be over. “It’s the fear that we go back to the old normal, especially after having a taste of what life feels like when we do fund and invest in women’s sport and what it does look like when the crowds turn up and to see that it’s possible,” she said in a phone interview. “We all kind of are holding our breath waiting to see, do we go back to business as usual? Or is this really the line in the sand that we’re all saying it is and hoping it is?”Hussain wrote on social networks that Australia would never look back after this run, which she admitted was as much to reassure herself as anything. She also encouraged fans to continue supporting Matildas players as they disperse to their club teams, sometimes in other countries, a common obstacle to sustained support after major international tournaments. The morning papers on Thursday predicted staying power. The lead headline of The Australian declared, “Dream Kerr-tailed but national love affair’s just begun.” The front page of The Telegraph asserted that despite the loss, “our girls in green and gold have changed the nation’s sporting landscape forever.”The semifinal broadcast reached 11.15 million Australians, more than 40 percent of the population, according to ratings figures released by OzTAM, Australia’s audience measurement source. The national average audience of more than seven million, which does not include viewers at pubs or other venues, made the game the most-watched television program since the measurement system began in 2001.Because women’s sports were born of exclusion, said Kasey Symons, a research fellow with the Sport Innovation Research Group at Swinburne University in Melbourne, they often generate a more welcoming and inclusive fan culture. She saw that happen during this World Cup, and said the passion of new fans contributed to the emotional hangover that she too was working through on Thursday morning.“I think a lot of people are trying to navigate some feelings they don’t really know too well,” Symons said in a phone interview. “There’s just this really overwhelming sense of validation that women in sport has value, and people have connected with that. So that’s a really emotional experience to see that and feel part of it, and that sense of belonging I think is a really important part of this.” The broadcast of Australia’s match against England on Wednesday drew more than 11 million viewers in Australia, not counting those who watched in bars or public gatherings like at Federation Square in Melbourne.Joel Carrett/Australian Associated Press, via Associated PressIn Darling Harbour, the FIFA fan festival was closed on Thursday, but Clare Roden, 46, a teacher who lives a two-hour drive down the coast, was asking a security guard for information about getting in on Saturday to watch the Matildas. She bought a ticket to the final last October, not thinking her team would be in it — but over the last week she started to believe it would happen. She still plans to go to the final between England and Spain, painful as it may be, but first needed to lock down her viewing plans for the third-place match.Lopez was hoping to make the trip up to Brisbane. After all, she had been at every other Matildas match this tournament.She is a newer fan who began watching soccer during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when pandemic-related restrictions in Melbourne kept her home. Australia’s win over Britain in the Olympic quarterfinals got her hooked, and as an immigrant from the Philippines, she felt connected to a game that is international. She began attending the Matildas’ friendly matches, some with crowds a fraction of what she saw during this tournament, and bought the FIFA 23 video game because Kerr was on the cover.Even after the agonizing defeat, Lopez found solace in rewatching the moment that had given the home crowd a final surge of hope: Kerr crossing the midfield line with the ball, gaining steam as she drove forward and then delivering a strike from over 25 yards out. Lopez posted a clip of that goal to Instagram with a caption to which most of Australia could relate: “Mentally we’re still here.” More

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      Kerr Scored. The Crowd Roared. But England Wasn’t Done.

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      England advanced to its first World Cup final by leaning on the experience and the resilience of a champion.The entire continent of Australia had been waiting not so patiently for the moment that finally arrived in the 63rd minute of Wednesday night’s Women’s World Cup semifinal between Australia and England.Collecting the ball in her own half and crossing the midfield line, Sam Kerr was off. Head down, driving forward, she took a couple of quick dribbles, then a few more, then nudged the ball ahead of her right foot and fired. Her shot, struck hard and high from just outside the penalty area, soared past the reach of England goalkeeper Mary Earps.Kerr had wheeled away in celebration by then, even before the ball had settled into the net, and the home crowd inside Stadium Australia let out a deafening and sustained roar. Australia had pulled even with England, and for the first time in the match, it seemed as if the English might be on the ropes.THAT’S ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT 🤩GOLAZOOO SAM KERR 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/Gnts261nW2— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 16, 2023
      Maybe a previous version of the team would have been. But this England team scored eight minutes later to pull back ahead, and then added a third goal in the 86th minute. It had, in less than half an hour, turned a tenuous moment into its most dominant finish of this tournament, a 3-1 victory over Australia that sent the Lionesses to their first World Cup final, where they will face Spain on Sunday.“We’ve got that in this team,” England defender Lucy Bronze said. “We’ve got resilience. We’ve got an inner belief that, I think, is bigger and better than we have ever had previously.”Bronze was part of the England squads that lost in the World Cup semifinals in 2015 and 2019, disappointments that she has admitted have lingered with her. Getting over that hump in this tournament was hardly a linear path, even after England won the European Championship last year on home soil.England arrived at the World Cup last month without three of its top players, all sidelined with knee injuries, and it has played its past two games without its initial breakout star here, midfielder Lauren James, who served a two-game suspension for stamping on a Nigerian player in the round of 16.Coach Sarina Wiegman also pointed out that her players have faced added attention since winning the Euros, which can bring new challenges and absolutely brings heightened expectations. On Wednesday, though, England looked all the better for that experience — a seasoned team that thrived, rather than crumbled, under pressure.Australia’s Mackenzie Arnold was beaten three times on Wednesday.Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Reuters“I don’t think anything fazes us,” said midfielder Ella Toone, who scored England’s first goal, before halftime. “We’ve faced a lot of challenges this tournament that we’ve just got on with and got through.”Indeed, a theme of this tournament has been England’s finding a way to win, even as it has taken a while to find the dominant form many had expected. In their early matches, the Lionesses relied on strong defense and Earps’s steady goalkeeping as they struggled to score. Against Australia, though, it was their goals that silenced an expectant home crowd.Having the stadium backing the other team was nothing new, of course. Bronze referred back to England’s 2-1 quarterfinal win against Colombia, when the Lionesses fell into an early deficit in front of another crowd that also heavily favored their opponent. The visceral release inside the stadium after Kerr’s goal was at a different level. While those kinds of moments are expected from Kerr — even if she was not entirely healthy coming off her calf injury — defender Jess Carter said England’s back line was still disappointed to have allowed her goal, frustrated because they felt as if they should have handled it better.The next few minutes felt a little bit shaky, Wiegman admitted, as the replays of the goal on the stadium video screens wound up the fans again and the noise continued to reverberate. Kerr got another chance on a header, and then another. Earps appeared to signal to her teammates to settle down. The only way through, England knew, was to stick to the game plan, and hold its nerve.“I thought we did really well, but we have done that really well the whole tournament so far,” Wiegman said. “And then, of course, it didn’t take that long before we scored a second goal. And that helps.”Alessia Russo sensed her clinching goal was in even before it crossed the line.Mark Baker/Associated PressThat may be the quiet strength of these England players: They have won in different ways this tournament, changing their tactics to suit their opponents, adapting on the fly when those tactics aren’t working, holding teams off until someone, somehow, conjures a goal. But it was the way they responded to Kerr’s equalizer that demonstrated above all else why they will be playing in the World Cup final.Forward Lauren Hemp scored in the 71st minute, off a long and searching pass by Millie Bright, England’s captain. Fifteen minutes after that, Alessia Russo delivered the final blow: a low right-footed shot after a driving run up the center by Hemp.Just as Kerr had done, Russo wheeled away to start her celebration even before the ball had settled into the net. She knew, England knew, the job was done, and the final beckoned. On the bench, Wiegman finally let herself relax.“We are not,” she thought, “going to give this away anymore.” More

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      Lionel Messi and Inter Miami Advance to the Leagues Cup Final

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      The goals keep coming, and a team that once looked poor keeps winning.After all the hubbub over Lionel Messi’s five goals in his first three games with Inter Miami, soccer fans relaxed a bit, knowing that the law of averages was bound to catch up to him.And it did, but only a little. In his next three games, Messi had four goals. He now has nine goals in six games. And Inter Miami, frankly poor before Messi showed up, has six straight wins in the Leagues Cup tournament and has advanced to the final.Let’s recap. Messi entered Game 1 against Cruz Azul of Mexico early in the second half. He scored deep into injury time to win the game, 2-1. He had two goals in a 4-0 win against Atlanta and two more in a 3-1 win over Orlando.It seemed like the good times might end in his first away game, at Dallas on Aug. 6. Messi opened the scoring with a shot from outside the box, but Miami trailed by 3-1 after an hour and by 4-2 with 10 minutes to play. But Messi curled in a free kick that was headed in for an own goal, then effortlessly spun another free kick over a leaping wall to tie the score. That took the game to penalties, and Messi duly scored the first of five perfect pens for Miami.Messi scored the final goal, a one-touch shot from close, in a 4-0 rout of Charlotte in the quarterfinals on Friday.In the semis in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, Messi scored an absurd goal from more than 35 yards out. He shot before anyone in the stands, or in the Philly defense, seemed to even consider the possibility that he would, or could. A despairing dive from keeper Andre Blake was far too late. That game ended in another rout, 4-1.That first small sample size of three games has become a slightly larger sample size of six games. And who can resist dividing nine by six and noting Messi’s 1.5 goal-per-game ratio? Surely such a high number is not sustainable? After all, last year’s leading scorer in M.L.S., Hany Mukhtar, averaged 0.7 goals a game, and even the amazing Erling Haaland had a 1.0 ratio in the Premier League last season.Yet Messi has defied logic before. With Barcelona in La Liga he averaged 1.35 goals a game in 2011-12 and 1.44 in 2012-13. A decade later he is exceeding those marks.Messi is getting the headlines. But which is the more remarkable headline: “All-Time Great Player Plays Well”? Or “Bad Team Suddenly Starts Winning”? It looked extremely unlikely that Miami would win six games in a row before Messi’s arrival, as its 5-14-3 league record attested. It has scored 21 goals in the Leagues Cup and surrendered seven. That plus-14 goal difference would be second best in the M.L.S. table, where the teams have played more than 20 games each.Inter has also added two former Messi teammates at Barcelona, midfielder Sergio Busquets and defender Jordi Alba, who has a goal and two assists so far. Robert Taylor, a Finnish wingback, seems invigorated by Messi’s arrival and has four goals and three assists in the Leagues Cup. But make no mistake, this is Messi’s story.Inter Miami plays Nashville, and its attacking star Mukhtar, on Saturday night. Miami is favored. But those are not the most surprising odds currently being offered.Win or lose Saturday, Messi and Miami return to the M.L.S. regular season on Aug. 26. Using any normal logic, they are dead and buried. They are last in the Eastern Conference, 12 points and six places out of the final playoff spot with 12 games to play. And even if they rally, the M.L.S. playoffs are difficult to win. Teams sneaking in the bottom two spots must win five rounds, four of them single elimination games.Surely even Messi couldn’t pull off that kind of parlay? Or could he? Oddsmakers currently have Miami as the third favorite to win M.L.S. at just 7-1. More