England’s dramatic Euro quarter final victory over Sweden last night has ignited an online war of words, with critics rounding on the national side for missing several of their spot kicks.
Alessio Russo, Chloe Kelly and Lucy Bronze were the only England stars to score in the dramatic shoot-out, which remarkably saw just five of fourteen spot kicks converted.
Even Swedish goalkeeper couldn’t convert after nine below-par efforts, throwing away the opportunity to win it and instead forcing sudden death to decide who would earn a final four tie with Italy.
The shootout has since come in for criticism – with Falk herself describing her own attempt as ‘f***ing c**p’ – while former Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton was quick to pile on, describing the whole shootout as a ‘monstrosity’.
‘Peter Gerhardsson [Sweden manager] asked if I could do it and then I said yes,’ Falk said.
‘I just thought I would take a few deep breaths and put it to the left, which I didn’t do.
‘It was f***ing c**p and then it was just about focusing on saving the next penalty.’
Another two misses followed before Bronze’s winning penalty, in a shoot-out which saw nine failed attempts.
Controversial former midfielder Barton soon piled on, describing the thrilling encounter as a ‘monstrosity’.
‘Is this a knockout game this monstrosity?’ the former Newcastle midfielder wrote on X.
Broadcaster Jeff Stelling was quick to reply, writing: ‘Bet you haven’t turned off though Joey?’
He also responded to a number of tweets throughout the match to defend the women’s game
Barton later responded: ‘I did Jeff. That’s how bad it was. You can’t tell me that’s proper football. It’s pure cosplay nonsense… And YOU know it!’
England captain Leah Williamson was forced off early with an injury, and admitted that the whole shootout was ‘awful’ to watch from the sidelines.
‘I just feel really, really proud,’ the Arsenal star began. ‘That was awful to watch at the end, but the girls, I just love that we don’t ever give up.
‘We’ve said it before, we’re never done. We don’t believe that we’re ever done. The fightback, the quality to turn the game around and then stay in it mentally – just incredible.’
Sarina Wiegman’s side earned their semi-final spot after a dramatic late comeback at Stadion Letzigrund.
They scored two goals in less than two minutes, courtesy of Bronze and Michelle Agyemang, to level the score with just nine minutes remaining.
England later triumphed 3-2 on penalties with goalkeeper Hannah Hampton saving two attempts as Sweden could only net two of their seven spot-kicks.
The Lionesses face Italy on Tuesday and are just two wins away from defending their crown.
The fixture was not the first time that former colleagues Barton and Stelling have clashed.
Stelling previously branded Barton’s views on the women’s game as ‘totally wrong’, claiming he makes headline-grabbing claims to increase attention towards his podcast.
Asked if he followed Barton’s unsavoury debates around women’s football, Stelling told the Guardian: ‘Oh, yes. You can’t avoid it, can you? I’ve worked with Joey a couple of times and I enjoyed his company then.
‘Initially, I’m sure this was to gain some traction for the podcast. Unfortunately it’s become a monster and totally wrong to say women have no right to talk about football.’
The 70-year-old also called out the ‘sexist environment’ at football while he was growing up, when his sister Sue took him to Hartlepool United matches.
‘She would honestly be the only woman in the ground,’ he said.
‘There were no toilet facilities for women and it was very foreboding and unwelcoming.’
Stelling added: ‘It was a totally sexist environment. To see a woman at football was a shock and they didn’t understand she was just my big sister doing me a massive favour in taking me to the game.
‘I’m so glad that’s changed because you now see so many women and families at football matches.’
