England 6-1 Argentina
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England 6-1 Argentina: Quarter-finals beckon
Arsenal striker Kelly Smith scored twice as England strolled into the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a comfortable victory over inept opposition who played most of the second half with 10 players after having central defender Catalina Perez sent off.
Smith's brace took her tournament goal tally to four, level in the Golden Boot stakes with Germany's Birgit Prinz and Marta of Brazil.
But it was two early goals, the first of them a gift from Argentina captain Eva Gonzalez, that set Hope Powell's team on their way to reaching the last eight of a major tournament for the first time since the 1995 World Cup finals.
Gonzalez was under no pressure when a ninth-minute cross from left-back Casey Stoney dropped towards the penalty spot, but inexplicably the central defender headed into the top corner of her own net.
The second goal a minute later was equally bizarre, Everton midfielder Jill Scott challenging Perez 25 yards from the Argentina line and the ball flying off Scott's right boot to beat the despairing dive of goalkeeper Romina Ferro.
With England rampant Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko almost stretched the lead in the 17th minute, chipping an 18-yard shot against the crossbar.
Everton goalkeeper Rachel Brown made an easy 18th-minute save from midfielder Fabiana Vallejos' speculative effort as the Argentinians tried to force their way into the game.
But England were quickly back on the offensive for Arsenal winger Alex Scott, Aluko and Kelly Smith all to have well-struck shots kept out by Ferro.
Five minutes after the break victory was virtually assured when Perez, booked for encroachment in the first half, saw red for a foul on Kelly Smith and Williams coolly slid home the resulting penalty.
Argentina pulled a goal back through a 20-yard free-kick by Gonzalez on the hour, and two minutes later England took a more severe blow when Williams was booked for the second time in successive games and so will be suspended for the quarter-final.
But a further two minutes on the celebrations at reaching the last eight began in earnest as Kelly Smith swept the ball in from a Yankey cross for the fourth goal.
And the Arsenal striker doubled her tally in the 76th minute, ramming home the loose ball after Ferro failed to hold Yankey's shot.
Doncaster Belles midfielder Vicky Exley completed the scoring from a last-minute penalty after her fellow substitute Jody Handley had been brought down by Gonzalez. -
I thought mens soccer. -
Originally posted by sand king: I thought mens soccer.
me too so how many goals did Victoria Beckham score? -
I was like going: who's kelly smith???Originally posted by sand king: I thought mens soccer.
then i was going: how come argentina's players' name so feminine.... -
argentina's women soccer obviously cmi.
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x2Originally posted by sand king: I thought mens soccer. -
Hahaha strangely enough, I thought it should be the women's football when I saw the scoreline! Because that's just not possible coming from the men.
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sadly, their male side can never repeat this scoreline.
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women's world cup is quite a joke. Dorminated by the few big teams. The rest really just there to make up the numbers. Haha, Fifa still say wanna expand women world cup to more teams. More meaningless matches only.