England captain Millie Bright said that not having a video assistant referee (VAR) review available for their UEFA Women’s Nations League game against the Netherlands in Utrecht on Tuesday was “mind-blowing” after TV replays suggested the hosts’ first goal in their 2-1 victory was offside.
Substitute Renate Jansen scored a 90th-minute winner for the Dutch after Alessia Russo canceled out Lieke Martens’ first-half opener. Danielle van de Donk appeared to be in an offside position in the buildup to Martens’ goal.
Bright said that it was “frustrating” that VAR was not being used in the match.
Photo: AP
“I think we push the level of the game to be so high and professional, yet we sometimes have VAR, sometimes [we] don’t,” she said after England suffered their third defeat in 41 games since Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman took charge in 2021.
“This is international football and we do not have VAR in a competitive international game, which is mind-blowing,” she said.
The VAR system is not mandatory during the group stage, with the hosts of each match deciding whether to use it or not, but would be implemented for the Women’s Nations League Finals.
Wiegman said that it was “obvious” that the Dutch opener was offside and echoed Bright’s calls for consistency in the use of VAR.
“I think the whole stadium thought it was offside so I’m really disappointed about that,” said Wiegman, who returned to the Netherlands with England for the first time since her appointment.
“When you talk about VAR, of course it would have taken away that goal. I think we need consistency in VAR. Either you have VAR or you don’t have VAR,” she said.
The result left England third in their four-team Nations League group with three points from two games, a point behind leaders Belgium, who drew 1-1 with Scotland.
In Cordova, Spain’s Women’s World Cup winners were given a rapturous reception, as they played for the first time at home after their triumph, thrashing Switzerland 5-0 in front of a record crowd.
Captains Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes presented the trophy to jubilant supporters in Cordoba and the squad sported wristbands reading “It’s Over” — a nod to the charge the players are leading in the protracted battle for equality.
La Roja’s triumph in Australia and New Zealand in August was regrettably tarnished by the behavior of former Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales, who forcibly kissed midfielder Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony.
The disgraced chief resigned, while controversial coach Jorge Vilda was sacked, but dozens of internationals stayed on strike, demanding further federation improvements.
Eventually the majority of new coach Montse Tome’s squad agreed to participate in the Nations League matches, despite being called up against their will, as the Spanish government intervened to broker a deal between the federation and the players.
Hermoso was not included in the squad, which Tome said was to “protect” her.
Spain beat Sweden 3-2 in Gothenburg on Friday last week and then crushed Switzerland to take a stranglehold on the top spot in League A Group 4.
The two eventual Nations League finalists qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Additional reporting by AFP
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS