For those who work at St George’s Park, in the Staffordshire countryside, England’s progression to the Women’s World Cup semi-final is more than a source of great satisfaction and pride. It has saved them from the most miserable summer imaginable. It has sent them to work with a spring in their step during a time of head-scratching and soul-searching. The summer has been pretty much a wash-out for the England men’s teams. There was encouragement as the under-18s reached the final of the eight-team Slovakia Cup in May, before losing to Spain on penalties, but since then the seniors have lost to Holland in the Nations League semi-finals and the under-21s, under-20s and under-17s have all been knocked out at the group stage of their…

Source: The Times June 28, 2019 16:07 UTC