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Football: England 3-0 Turkey

July 30, 2024

Rachel Yankey celebrated her 100th cap with a goal to ease England’s chances for a place in the World Cup Finals in Germany 2011. Along with strikes from winger Jess Clarke and substitute Ellen White, the ladies put in a gutsy display that sealed all three points against a lack-lustre Turkey side.

The three lions are now top of group five level on points with rivals Spain, but with a better head-to-head record, England will finish top regardless of the result in their last qualifier against Austria next month.

The early stages of the contest looked set for a repeat when the two sides met last November, England dominating but unable to find the net. However, in front of a home crowd at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium, the ladies seemed to have that extra bit of grit and determination and that spurred them on. Fara William’s tested the Turkish defence early on with a decent long range shot and Yankey’s effort skimmed the cross-bar.

Yankey, only the second woman to win her 100th appearance in an England shirt, put in an awesome display and was on the score sheet in the 22nd minute. Latching onto team mate Alex Scott’s well-placed pass, the midfielder dinked the ball past Turkey’s goalkeeper Duygu Yilmaz. Eniola Aluko should have grabbed a second moments later, taking advantage of defender Cansu Yang’s error but the ball cruised high over the cross bar.

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The first goal seemed to settle England and they were hungry for more. It wasn’t until after the break though that England gave Turkey another punch in the stomach. Half-time substitute White, turned in Jill Scott’s pass after successfully beating Yilmaz who came running out from her goal just after the hour mark, the ball slowly dribbling over the line.

Yilmaz saved her side from a much more embarrassing defeat, keeping out Katie Chapman’s header from William’s delightful free kick less than a minute later. Jill Scott also tried her luck from close range but Yilmaz somehow denied the midfielder.

The Turkish ‘keeper’s luck wasn’t to last long though, un-marked Clarke netted the third after 76 minutes to pretty much ensure England’s top place finish in their group. England now face a play-off tie to reach next year’s finals in Germany, but they will go in as one of the top seeds.

Speaking after a successful 100th appearance for England, Yankey was delighted:

“I hadn’t scored an England goal for a while so when my shot went in the emotion really came out, especially as it was an important goal for us.

“We have to build on this now and make sure we get through the play-offs because we’re all desperate to get to the finals.” BBC Sport said.

England coach Hope Powell was pleased with the result:

“We got the job done - we lost our focus at times and their goalkeeper had a blinder, but we persevered and created lots of chances.

“The important thing was getting the three points to make sure we topped the group, and we’ve done that with a game to spare and that’s very pleasing.” BBC Sport.

Lisa Warman, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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