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The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Spain Women vs England Women prediction and best bets: Lionesses may miss out on finals
Spain Women vs England Women Betting Tips England face Spain tonight in a winner-take-all encounter as both sides battle to finish top of Group A3 and qualify for the finals of the Uefa Women's Nations League (6pm, ITV1) Spain currently occupy top spot with 12 points from their opening five matches, while England are second with 10 points but will be full of confidence following Friday's 6-0 win over Portugal. Aggie Beever-Jones scored a first-half hat-trick at Wembley to set England on their way, while Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly were also on target as England found their form just weeks before the European Championships get underway. Results before last week's game had been patchy, losing 3-2 to Belgium last month and only managing a 1-1 draw in the away fixture in Portugal in February, but with a trophy to defend, Sarina Wiegman's side are starting to show the form that saw them crowned European champions in 2022. The home match against tonight's opponents ended in a 1-0 win for Wiegman's side when Jess Park scored the only goal of the game in the first meeting between the two sides since Spain beat England in the 2023 Women's World Cup final. A repeat of that result would see the Lionesses advance to the knockout stage of the Nations League, while Spain only need a point to secure their spot in October's semi-finals with only the group winners from League A advancing. Spain and England are the top two in the market on football betting sites for this summer's European Championships, which get underway on 2 July in Switzerland. You can get 5/2 on Spain and 17/4 on England, and tonight's game give us a bit more of an insight of where the two sides are right now in their preparations. Spain are the standout favourites to win this latest encounter and top the group at 11/20, while England are 11/2 and you can get 19/4 on a draw – which might not be a bad shout. The two sides have met 13 times so far, with England leading the head-to-head by seven wins to three while the other three meetings have ended all square. The Lionesses have also never lost to Spain in Spain, winning on their last trip in 2016 and drawing on their previous two visits. England might have won their last match 6-0 against Portugal, while Spain were beating Belgium 5-1 on the road, but we expect this one to be a closer encounter. Only one meeting has been won by more than one goal and that was in 2017 when England secured a 2-0 win in the European Championships. Spain Women vs England Women best bets: Gonzalez to keep up her scoring run Spain have scored 16 goals in their last three games since that 1-0 defeat to England back in February and Esther Gonzalez has scored four of those goals. The striker, who now plays for Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League, left Real Madrid in 2023 as their all-time top scorer with 39 goals in 77 games and she has continued that form. She scored the opening two goals on Friday as her side took a 5-0 lead in Belgium before Tine De Caigny pulled one back for the hosts with two minutes to go. Betting sites are offering 23/5 on her scoring first, or you can get 6/4 on her to score at any time. When having a bet, it's vital to practice responsible gambling. When using gambling sites be aware that sports betting can be addictive. Please take steps to remain in control of your time and budget. The same applies whether you're using new betting sites, slot sites, casino sites, casino apps, or any other gambling medium. Even the most knowledgeable punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses. It's particularly important not to get carried away by any free bets or casino offers you might receive, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution. You can stay in control by making use of the responsible gambling tools offered, such as deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion and time-outs. You may also want to visit the following free organisations to discuss any issues with gambling you might be having: We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
New York Times
22-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Spain Women secure late victory over Belgium one day after Luis Rubiales verdict: ‘What we want is to win games'
Mariona Caldentey says Spain Women were glad to focus on winning again after producing a late comeback victory the day after the verdict of the Luis Rubiales trial. On Thursday, Rubiales, the former head of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), was fined more than €10,000 ($11,400) after being found guilty of sexual assault for kissing Spain forward Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup final. Advertisement On Friday, Spain scored two stoppage-time goals as they came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium 3-2 in the Women's Nations League. 'What we want is to win games,' midfielder Caldentey said. 'Obviously it's been a difficult few months for everyone. Now the sentence is out, everything's been said and done and we've come out to win and in the end we've done it.' During the two-week trial in February, Judge Jose Manuel Clemente Fernandez-Prieto heard testimonies from Hermoso and her Spain team-mates Irene Paredes, Alexia Putellas and Laia Codina. Hermoso was again not named in the squad for February's Nations League fixtures, while Putellas missed out through injury. Paredes played the full 90 minutes of Friday's win and fellow defender Codina was an unused substitute. Spain, reigning world champions and ranked second in the world, had trailed 2-0 to a Belgium side 19th in the FIFA rankings after 72 minutes in Valencia on Friday. The visitors led through goals from Mariam Toloba and Tessa Wullaert, before Claudia Pina halved the deficit with 13 minutes of normal time remaining. Lucia Garcia equalised in stoppage time before Cristina Martin-Prieto scored a 96th-minute winner. Speaking to Spanish media outlet TVE ahead of the fixture, Codina said: 'When this all started I knew I had to take the stand in four days, it was tough, but once you're there you just have to say what you saw despite how hard it is to relive what happened and knowing that Jenni suffered everything she suffered when you hear her at the trial after a success like that. 'The day after testifying I seemed like a different person to the previous three days. A weight had been lifted. When I got back from Madrid I had a match that afternoon. I was on the bench and I thought: 'I don't know if I'm ready to play'. Emotionally, everything that comes with it is difficult.' Advertisement Spain's High Court also banned Rubiales from going within 200 metres of Hermoso, and from communicating with her for one year. He was also ordered to pay a further €3,000 for moral damages and half of Hermoso's legal costs. Rubiales has appealed the decision. Since Rubiales kissed Hermoso as the players received their winners' medals in Sydney on August 20, 2023, he has maintained that the kiss was consensual. Hermoso has consistently maintained she did not give consent and testified to that effect in court. Rubiales and three other RFEF employees — the former Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda, the former Newcastle United forward and ex-RFEF sporting director Albert Luque and former marketing director Ruben Rivera — were also acquitted of the charge of coercion. Spain return to action against England at Wembley on Wednesday. After her side's Nations League draw with Portugal on Friday, England manager Sarina Wiegman said: 'I stand with the Spanish players and it's really sad they have this on their path. But there is also change in society and they have so much courage to stand for this and themselves and we stand in solidarity with them. It's just now we have (the) Nations League starting tonight, we are talking about this but we should be talking about the Spanish team and how good they are at football.' GO DEEPER Jenni Hermoso was not the victim people wanted her to be - we should be grateful to her for that ()
The Independent
11-02-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Barcelona's Mapi Leon denies inappropriately touching rival in ‘private parts'
Barcelona defender Mapi Leon has denied touching an opponent's 'private parts' after a video surfaced of her touching the crotch of an opponent. The former Spain Women star has been accused of 'violating the privacy' of Espanyol 's Daniela Caracas following a confrontation on Sunday in the Catalan derby. Espanyol condemned the alleged incident with the club offering Caracas the services of their legal team to pursue action against Leon. But the Barcelona star has strongly denied the accusation, responding via a statement from her club: 'At no time did I, nor was it my intention, infringe upon the intimacy of my fellow professional Daniela Caracas. 'As the images show, it was part of a playing action in which she deliberately touches me and I touch her leg saying in reaction to the clash, 'What's up with you?'. 'There is no contact with her private parts, and certainly no intention. I insist, it was just part of the game that does not warrant the importance that has been attached to it.' Earlier, in a separate statement, Espanyol said they wanted to 'express total condemnation at events which took place during the game which we consider unacceptable and should not pass unnoticed.' The players could be seen arguing in the 15th minute with the game level at 0-0, though Barcelona eventually ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo. The incident comes during the ongoing trial of former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales after being accused of forcibly kissing Jenni Hermoso following Spain's iconic 2023 Women's World Cup victory in Australia. Leon has not featured for the Spanish national team since 2022 and she was among 15 players to reject call-ups following a dispute with former coach Jorge Vilda. '[I have] a way of life and values. I can't go back if the situation hasn't changed,' Leon told RAC1 before the World Cup. 'There have to be changes. I'm not saying that no changes have happened, but I don't see them'. Caracas sparked controversy in 2023 with remarks against the Republic of Ireland, proclaiming, "let them eat s***" and labelling her rivals "little girls" after a hostile warm-up match was abandoned after just 20 minutes. The ill-tempered affair was scrapped when Denise O'Sullivan was the target of a strong challenge, with manager at the time Vera Pauw later stating that she "feared for their bodies".
