2-1: Wembley pushes England against the United States

The women’s group Englandbuoyed by euphoria at Wembley, beat the world champions 2-1 on Friday USArivals Spain on Tuesday, in a friendly in their first game since winning the European title in July.

The presentation of this gala game was overshadowed by the damning revelations of a report into the “systemic” sexual abuse and misconduct scandal in football.

Before kick-off, the two teams gathered behind a banner that read: “Protect the players.” Players from both teams also wore armbands in solidarity with victims of sexual abuse, and Wembley was also lit up to mark the occasion.

The 76,893 spectators in attendance cheered wildly before the decibel count rose as the rain began to pour down.

England opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Lauren Hemp collected a cross from Beth Mead that was poorly negotiated by American defender Alana Cook on her way into the penalty area. That goal that brought down Wembley. But the reigning world champions equalized through Sophia Smith before half-time, aided by poor English defense (28th). After receiving the ball, Georgia Stanway, pressured by Lindsey Horan, passed the ball back to Smith, who scored despite Earps’ desperate intervention.

Stanway quickly redeemed himself by restoring England’s lead thanks to a penalty after a foul by Hailie Mace following a high kick to the face by Lucy Bronze, which was confirmed by VAR (33′).