Aston Villa women at the World Cup

The Womens World Cup could be considered a success for some of the Aston Villa team. While we have seen former players drop out of the tournament in the group stages such as Ruesha Littlejohn with Ireland and goalkeeper Anna Leat with New Zealand, those still at the club, who have featured all managed to get out of the group stages.

We take a look at those who have featured for their country and a little mention of Jordan Nobbs who is still awaiting her first minutes for the England team. What has she got to do to get some game time?

Alisha Lehmann

Alisha Lehmann only featured for 19 minutes, in the final group game, which was a 0-0 draw against one of the co-hosts New Zealand. She didn’t feature in either of the first 2 matches, a 2-0 win against the Philippines and a 0-0 draw with Norway, which saw her native Switzerland come out of the group top with 5 points. Their group finish earned them a place in the round of 16 where they came up against Spain.

The winger didn’t feature in this game which unfortunately saw her country lose 5-1 against a team that was heavy favourites going into the game. Some Switz fans questioned why Lehmann wasn’t given more minutes in a team that struggle to create chances.

Kenza Dali

Kenza Dali wasn’t selected for the final group game which saw France beat one of the tournament debutantes Panama 6-3, however, she did play in the other 2 group matches.

She was introduced off the bench in a goalless draw with Jamaica and started in France’s 2-1 win over Brazil. Similar to Switzerland, France also topped their group, earning them a place in the last 16 against Morocco.

Dali once again started as France cruised into the final eight with a 4-0 win and our very own Kenza getting on the scoresheet.

Daphne Van Domselaar

Villa’s new number one has started every match so far for her native Netherlands. She has had a very successful tournament so far collecting clean sheets in their win 2-0 win over Portugal and the 7-0 win over Vietnam.

During the group stage, she conceded just the won goal against the current holders and World Number 1, USA where they drew 1-1. Winning the group earned them a tie against South Africa in the last 16. The goalkeeper put in a player-of-the-match performance saving 13 shots on goal as the Netherlands progressed with a 2-0 win.

They will now take on Spain in the Quarter-Finals which can be watched live on ITV, Friday at 02.00 am.

Rachel Daly

They say you save the best to last, Rachel Daly. Last season’s player and supporters player of the year was hoping that she could show why she won the golden boot in the WSL at the highest stage.

Sarina Wiegman had very different ideas, leaving Daly out of the first group game with Arsenal forward Allesia Russo preferred. The forward did make a cameo appearance for the final 14 minutes as England kicked off their tournament with a 1-0 win over Haiti.

Daly was selected for England’s second outing but was preferred at left-back, where she was successful at last year’s European Champions. England once again, ran out 1-0 winners against Denmark.

The final group game saw Daly start at left wing-back which allowed her to push slightly further up the pitch and even manage to bag herself a goal in the 6-1 over China which saw England top their group with maximum points.

England had progressed to the round of 16 where they faced Nigeria, once again with Daly at left-wing back. England struggled and were far from their best as they took the game to extra time with 10 players. The game was eventually decided by penalties, where England ran out 4-2 winners, with Daily slotting home her effort from the spot.

England will now come up against Columbia, this Saturday with an 11.30 am kick-off (live on ITV).

I wish the best of luck to the final 3 Villans left in the tournament and commiserations to those that have been eliminated.