England's Lionesses beat Australia with Piers and Prince William offering praise
Celebs have been gushing over the England Lionesses' victory following a tense game against Australia's Matildas during the Women's World Cup Semi-Final which saw them take the lead with a 3-1 victory.
The team created history as they sailed through to a first-ever Women's World Cup Final with Ella Toone scoring the first goal, before Lauren Hemp securing the second. In a historic win, Alessia Russo netted the third and final goal.
Speaking shortly after the match concluded, Lucy Bronze told the BBC: "This is the one thing I've always wanted to get to the Final of a World Cup. After two times of getting disappointed... I can't believe it. We all dreamed of being in the Final and all of our family of friends have booked to stay here for the Final because they believed in us."
As the game went on, Australia appeared to be closing in with Mary Fowler getting the ball on her head but England's Mary Earps managed to save the goal. Prior to kick-off, Aussie coach Tony Gustavsson insisted that England's Lionesses were favourites but they intended to put up a fight.
England's Lionesses celebrated making history as Alessia Russo scored the final goal of their match against Australia (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)But as the match came to an end, the likes of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan came out to throw their support behind the Lionesses. He tweeted: "What a game. A massive congratulations to our incredible @Lionesses Know that all of England is with you as you head into the final—we couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of you."
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Meanwhile, Prince William penned: "What a phenomenal performance from the @Lionesses – on to the final! Commiserations to @TheMatildas, you've played brilliantly and been fantastic co-hosts of this World Cup. W."
Piers Morgan tweeted: "England’s fabulous @Lionesses crush Australia’s wilting Matildas 3-1 in their own back yard to reach the Women’s World Cup Final……. sweet revenge for the Jonny Bairstow Ashes runout debacle. Congrats ladies- you’ve made your country proud!"
England's Ella Toone managed to land our first goal of the semi-final (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
Russo helped create history for the team (Getty Images)Meanwhile, EastEnders star and singer Heather Peace penned: "And what an outstanding performance." Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt said: "Congratulations @Lionesses. You're on your way to #FIFAWWC. So proud of you all."
Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer penned: "Come on! Phenomenal semi-final win from the #Lionesses. World Cup Final here we come! #FIFAWWC." Manchester City and England star Steph Houghton commented: "Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!! Now go and win it! @lauren__hemp absolutely unreal!"
Over on Instagram, presenter and model Lizzie Cundy shared a snap of the team and exclaimed: "Well done girls!! We are coming home!!" Loose Women star and Olympic legend Dame Kelly Homes said: "THAT WAS INSANE. Huge congrats to all the team."
Throughout the tournament, the likes of Prince William has been vocal with his support, previously tweeting: "Bring on the semi-finals! A hard-fought win, well done @Lionesses," following their quarterfinals victory. Shortly after they secured their spot in the quarters, the Prince of Wales tweeted: "Well done @Lionesses! It was hard-fought but now we're on to the quarter-finals. Good luck."
The moment Russo landed the third and final goal (AP)Australia has been hosting the tournament, despite never being associated to be a "football country" – with the government even opening two more stadiums in Sydney for fans to enjoy the game. But while many Brits and celebs were cheering on for Leah Williamson and her teammates, Arsenal women's manager Jonas Eidevall said he was tempted to support the Aussies.
Just one day before kick-off, Gustavsson claimed England will be the favourites but Aussie Matilda's will have a "massive" support network behind them. Speaking at a press conference, he said: "You guys are better than me at speculating that. But if you look at rankings they (England) are favourites. If you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top leagues around the world.
"They don't just have an 11 they have like 15 or 16 top-class players in big teams. Compared to us we have some bench players in those teams. We have players in the A-league or playing in mid-table teams in Sweden. If you look at all that and the resources financially, they are massive favourites going into this game. But if you add the belief we have.
"Also the one thing we have that they don't have is the support and the belief of our fans. That is going to be massive tomorrow."
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