The England women’s national team won the European Champion Viñalissima Football Cup in its first edition, by defeating its Brazilian counterpart, the South American champion, on penalties, 4-2, after they drew 1-1 at Wembley Stadium in the capital, London.
England goalkeeper Mary Erbes excelled by saving Tamirish’s kick, while Arsenal’s Rafael Sousa kicked the crossbar.
It is the 30th match in a row without a loss for the England national team since Dutch coach Sarina Feichmann took over the technical matters, 3 and a half months before the Women’s World Cup scheduled in Australia and New Zealand.
England’s players dominated the first half in light of the Brazilians’ decline, but the changes introduced by Swedish coach Pia Sundhoegh, the 2011 World Cup runner-up and Olympic gold medalist in 2008 and 2012 with the US women’s team, brought the Brazilian back to the atmosphere of the match.
Manchester United striker Ella Ton, who failed in her penalty shootout, opened the scoring for England in the 23rd minute after a pass from Lucy Bronze, before Andressa Alves snatched the equalizing goal in the fatal minutes of the match, following a fatal mistake by goalkeeper Erbes (90 + 3).
England’s women occupies fourth place in the FIFA world rankings, while Brazil, which dominates the southern continent by winning the title in the last four editions and a total of 8 times out of 9, is in ninth place in the world.
