Will Lucy get Bronze? The 3rd place play-off.

[Patrick Thistle]

Karen Carney on. Bit churlish I know but it does feel like "England magical thinking time" pushing for a fairytale ending.

[Wouter D]

Why oh why are Sweden not playing in blue shorts? Would've been so much better. This monochrome nonsense can take a hike.

[Wouter D]

Hard as nails defender there.

[Wouter D]

Fucking hell Zigiotti. Just pass it to your right,

[Doraemon]

Fischer has been fantastic this game and has had a very good tournament

[Wouter D]

Getthefuckouttahere. That was a red card.

[Wouter D]

I do approve of that happiness with the Swedes there. Validates the concept of a third-place playoff.

[Patrick Thistle]

Yeah. Give away two goals and then start playing.

They had chances but Sweden defended stoutly and managed to keep them out.

[Patrick Thistle]

Getthefuckouttahere. That was a red card.

The ref seemed to have it on her hand and then put it back in her pocket

[DCI Harry Batt]

Huzzah!

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

It's an enormous disrespect to England imo that they had to play a lesser team after the real final against USA.

Fair play to them for not bothering to defend in the first half then slagging off the match after the final whistle, thus retaining their dignity.

[DCI Harry Batt]

He's a right wanker, that manager of theirs, isn't he?

[ursus arctos]

If he isn't, he certainly does a bang up job of playing one on television

[DCI Harry Batt]

How many of the England squad who lost the loser match today were involved in colluding with their racist coach against Eni Aluko?

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

Depends what you mean by collusion. I think every player in the starting XI today except Mead and McManus in the starting XI was in the squad for the Russia game where the entire team ran over to celebrate the first goal with Sampson.

[tee rex]

Players are usually jubilant when they win this game at the Olympics, so it's fitting that Sweden seemed to genuinely enjoy doing it at the World Cup. If GB pick up a bronze next year it will hardly be noticed in the media, assuming the whole Olympic team is collecting a bucket load of medals across other sports. So this actually *was* their moment, even if they haven't realized it yet.

[Duncan Gardner]

How many of the England squad who lost the loser match today were involved in colluding with their racist coach against Eni Aluko?

Almost all of them as already answered. They're the RUC to the EFA's UDA

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

Players are usually jubilant when they win this game at the Olympics, so it's fitting that Sweden seemed to genuinely enjoy doing it at the World Cup. If GB pick up a bronze next year it will hardly be noticed in the media, assuming the whole Olympic team is collecting a bucket load of medals across other sports. So this actually *was* their moment, even if they haven't realized it yet.

England were pretty jubliant when they won the same game in Canada too? tbh whether a bronze is good or not depends on your level of expectations - Sweden were not expecting to reach the semis so having a lap of honour and something to take home is something they clearly cherished. I can see why England weren't thrilled about the prospect of *just* replicating 2015.

That's said it's interesting how that result colours impressions of the tournament for England a little bit. Losing to the USA, in the way they did, was no disgrace (even if it did raise questions about management) and certainly seemed to place England as one of the best sides in the world.

Losing the third place playoff to Sweden, who are a very good, drilled, organised team but are operating on a different planet in terms of resources and played 120 minutes three days ago seems to open that to questioning a bit more. Maybe it's just that they weren't motivated for the game, but maybe they aren't quite as good as they think they are. You start thinking back to the 3 - 0 semi-final defeat to Netherlands (admittedly much closer than that scoreline suggested).

[DCI Harry Batt]

Almost all of them as already answered. They're the RUC to the EFA's UDA

I'd forgotten I'd asked previously. Ta.

How TF anyone finds them "likeable" while "struggling to warm to" the US team is entirely beyond me.

[Duncan Gardner]

TT- I was just referring BLT's answer to your question on this page.

I find the England and America teams quite similar. They're arrogant about their success but that's not entirely unlikable to me.

The English (sports) media are just being chauvinistic as usual. Don't be surprised

Yes, the treatment of Aluko was crass and hypocritical by the other players. I'd have called it that (and selfish) rather than collusion

[Janik]

Colluding in the attempt to brush it under the carpet, maybe. But that reaction against Russia was two years after the actual behaviour against Aluko occurred. Aluko herself said she doesn't have a problem with 99.9% of the squad (her mathsing skills not matching her lawyering ones, clearly), which I read to mean there are one or two max who she regards as being complicit in what happened and it's aftermath. She has offered no hint on who that might be.

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

Colluding in the attempt to brush it under the carpet, maybe. But that reaction against Russia was two years after the actual behaviour against Aluko occurred. Aluko herself said she doesn't have a problem with 99.9% of the squad (her mathsing skills not matching her lawyering ones, clearly), which I read to mean there are one or two max who she regards as being complicit in what happened and it's aftermath. She has offered no hint on who that might be.

Aluko's forgiveness (or otherwise) is obviously hers to do with as she sees fit, but it's also the case that the England team's show of support for Sampson was very public and i don't think any of them have ever addressed or acknowledged that publicly? Certainly the only time England players have spoken about it publicly (Lucy Bronze for example) they've suggested it's up to Aluko to build bridges/regain the trust of the rest of the team.

[longeared]

Aluko's columns in the Guardian suggest Bronze is not top of her Christmas card list.

[Patrick Thistle]

There is the possibility that Aluko and Bronze didn't like each other for non racist reasons.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Yeah, Lucy probably doesn't even see colour.