England win 6-0 but Team GB to miss Olympics as Dutch advance،
GLASGOW, Scotland — England beat Scotland 6-0 at Hampden Park on Thursday night, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Netherlands at the top of their Nations League group, meaning the he British team will not take part in the women's football competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Lionesses were the nominated team to qualify Team GB for the Olympics and needed to reach the Nations League final to take one of two available places. But Damaris Egurrola's 95th-minute goal for the Netherlands saw them beat Belgium 4-0 and, in doing so, top the Nations League group, surpassing England on goal difference by only one.
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It looked like Lucy Bronze's 91st minute goal was going to do the job for England and Team GB, but the Netherlands scored twice in injury time to advance them to the semi-finals .
“I'm very disappointed,” said England coach Sarina Wiegman, who would have coached the British team at the Olympics. “I felt we delivered tonight.
“The team showed a lot of character, but we started really well. I thought when Lucy scored we were going to do it. Then the Netherlands scored, and that's how close it was .I was really proud of the performance, but we didn't finish, and that's very disappointing.
“If you can't qualify on goal difference, it's not enough. I still think what we did, the Euros, reaching the World Cup final, with barely [any] rest, before the first Nations League campaign and yes, we had times where we struggled, but we had times where we did very well, but that's football.
England went into the match aiming for a big victory and led 4-0 at half-time thanks to an Alex Greenwood header, two long-range strikes from Lauren James and one late in the first half of Beth Mead, on her first start in England since September 2022.
Fran Kirby tapped home a Georgia Stanway cross from close range early in the second half and Bronze scored in injury time to make it six.
Scotland only mustered a few decent chances, with Mary Earps doing well to stop a one-on-one with Kirsty Hanson, but almost managed to get one back in the dying moments of the match as Earps pushed in a header by Martha Thomas on the post. .
The Netherlands headed into the final round of the group stage on Tuesday evening tied on points with England, but with a superior goal difference by a margin of three goals. So, for England to top the group, Belgium either had to take points from the Netherlands in the other match of the evening, or they had to recoup that goal difference with a resounding victory at Glasgow.
In the end, the Dutch got the job done with a 4-0 victory, while England's crushing victory was not enough. England were in complete control throughout the match, but it is the Dutch who will face France, Germany or Spain in the semi-finals in February.
“We were waiting, it lasted for many minutes and we thought we had succeeded,” added Wiegman. “And then it was obvious that we didn't get there. And I said I didn't know what to say – I could only say that I was proud of the performance and what we did and everything this week, but it wasn't enough.
