Informative, passionate, entertaining. We continued to show attacking intent and pressed high up the pitch, forcing Berger to kick straight to City debutant Deyna Castellanos, who took an assured touch before powering a shot just off target from the right edge of the 18-yard box. I used to compare myself to other players. Fran Kirby plays football professionally for Chelsea FC in London and the English It felt as though Chelsea would have had greater success taking a TV remote from a puppy than regaining possession from Graham Hansen. There was still time for more action before the interval as City conjured their seventh attempt of the half, though Berger was equal to it again as she produced her finest save of the half to deny Coombs at the near post. Her full name is Maren Naevdal Mjelde, a professional Norwegian football player. "It was strange; everyone had gone their separate ways. But when they arrived, I'd sit with my back to them, doing a puzzle. The Chelsea and England star forward/midfielder missed. Like, really hard. All rights reserved. "I just needed to get away from the negativity and my phone," she tells ESPN. KIRBY HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL to Chelsea's success this season. The problem for sides trying to win the ball back is that the only thing Barcelona love more than the ball is space. Berger, Eriksson, Kerr, Kirby and Mjelde have all played a part in helping Chelsea secure back-to-back WSL titles, the Continental League Cup, Community Shield and reach our first-ever Champions League final. 200,000. Subs: MacIver, Keating, Stokes, Fowler, Angeldahl, Raso, Losada, Hutchings, Blakstad. "I sounded like a zombie," she says. Hayes would not delude anyone about the scale of the challenge ahead on Thursday. It was a bruising one-on-one for the former England captain Houghton, who was outpaced under the watchful eye of the Lionesses manager, Sarina Wiegman. The team as a whole defended as well as they could, Hayes said. In 2005, she joined the Arna-Bjrnar club in Norway at 15. Comfortable, now, without dominating the ball, and more decisive. I promise you.' Shes great in the FA Cup. Chelsea took full advantage of any weary England legs in the Manchester City starting 11 as Kirby fired them in front inside five minutes. Niamh Charles and Jess Carter part of a makeshift back four including a forward at right-back and a right-footer at left-back that night in Sweden demonstrated their growth. She captains the Norway national team in addition to playing as a defender or midfielder for Chelsea. I'd not thought about it -- it was an eye-opener, how quickly football could get taken away from me. A double in either half from the inform England striker Fran Kirby at home to Manchester City booked Chelsea a place in the FA Cup final. What if Chelsea had started more aggressively, and been first to the pass from which Caroline Graham Hansen sent the ball looping inexorably beyond the reach of the Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger for the ties only goal? So it's full-steam on playing for Chelsea, and then maybe Team Great Britain and the Olympics. So, we cant do much about that, the rules are the rules, the teams are the teams.. Kirby has also appeared on the prestigious "Lesbian 100 records" for April 2020 from Diva Magazine. Despite holding the advantage at the midway point, the amount of chances Chelsea were offering up to City will have been a concern for Hayes, and that pattern continued straight after the restart. Her ethnicity is English, as both of her parents were British. Against Ukraine in a qualifying play-off for the latter event, Mjelde scored her maiden goal for Norway. "I'm sad that I have to write to you all another message like this . This was a clash between first and third in last terms WSL, though the loss of several key City players in the summer, either to retirement or moves abroad, had reset expectations for the Sky Blues. There was also a return for Norwegian international Maren Mjelde, coming back from injury for the first time since the League Cup final on 14 March to make a substitute appearance. Having a public figure like Fran to talk about these things is inspirational.". It called to mind the sign in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in The Simpsons title sequence: zero minutes without a Barcelona goal. Yet here she stands today, fully recovered and still one of the most talented forwards in world football. a bit like 'what's going on?' In the absence of Harder, "That played a big part in how bad I was feeling, seeing people write things about you like 'ah she's not committed, because she's not in training.' Kirby made the same promise to herself, and to her teammates. ", "She needed that time during COVID to get to that point," Hayes says. ", Kirby is a reluctant inspirational figure. Fortunately, in February 2020, Chelsea disclosed that Kirby had recovered from pericarditis, a condition that may have ended her career. Aprs une pricardite qui avait mis sa carrire en pril la saison dernire, Kirby, qui est finalement devenue la meilleure buteuse de l'histoire de Chelsea et qui a remport le titre de championne de la WSL, s'est blesse lors de sa deuxime journe aux Jeux d't de Tokyo. We were dominating by the second half, comfortable after a poor first half. "Mentally she's had to fight to get over these obstacles. The University of Winchester awarded Kirby an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) When Graham Hansen demonstrated that contortionist-like agility to get herself where other liquids cant, Mjelde would sprout additional limbs for the decisive intervention. Follow Katie on Twitter @KatieWhyatt, Graham Hansen celebrates after scoring the games only goal (Photo: Steve Bardens/UEFA via Getty Images), Hayes said her side needed to play a perfect game against Barcelona on Saturday (Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images), Journey to the Cup, supported by Google Chrome. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. "Everyone gets to where they want to go if they put the hard yards into it," Hayes says. WebKIRBY HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL to Chelsea's success this season. Maren It was baffling: An elite athlete shouldn't be having such pains and symptoms. A fortnight later, having slept for much of last 14 days, she was back at training. The same disease took her life later. Thats what she does best, her manager Emma Hayes said of the player who scored once again in the knockout competition. Chelsea registered their first points of the Womens Super League season as Fran Kirbys finish and a Maren Mjelde penalty saw the defending champions defeat Manchester City 2-0 at Kingsmeadow. Maren Mjelde Niamh Charles Midfielders Erin Cuthbert Guro Reiten Jessie Fleming Johanna Rytting Kaneryd Jelena Cankovic Sophie Ingle Melanie Leupolz Forwards Lauren James Sam Kerr Pernille Harder Fran Kirby Earlier today, our Blues trained at Cobham training ground ahead of the flight to Barcelona. She tested herself with a jog. They beat Manchester City 2-0. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Having been reduced to 10 players early on, a penalty from Maren Mjelde and a goal from Fran Kirby helped the Blues to a 2-0 home win that they take to a neutral "I sat there thinking 'Are they right? There is an international break now, so Taylor's side are next in WSL action on Sunday 16 October, playing host to Leicester City. They executed everything as we asked them eventually. That was quite scary, because obviously it kind of came out of nowhere. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. MONDAY, NOV. 18 STARTED like any other day after a game. Am I as ill as I think I am? English International . Lessons learned from Lionesses defeat in France, Fran Kirby: The little artist looking to start on a fresh canvas. Eriksson led by example at the heart of the Blues defence and her partnership with Millie Bright seemed to go from strength to strength with each game. "It [the illness] could have been worse," Kirby says. At what point did Barcelona realise that? "I just started to get extreme chest pains," Kirby says. As she reflects on that frightening moment, Kirby laughs a little and contemplates where she is and where she was. In Even Pellerud's team for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Mjelde was chosen. "I've got into the state of where I'm not thinking about what's coming up, I'm thinking about what's going on right now. The cruel sting of this tie so much closer, so much more competitive is that there is far more to lose. Man United end Villa's run, take step towards top-four finish against backdrop of fan protests, How Premier League clubs can qualify for Europe this season, What Wrexham, Reynolds and McElhenney can learn from Salford City's League Two struggles, Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only). So, challenge accepted: I knew I needed to work on that. Fran Kirby's postmatch routine stays largely the same. A standing ovation greeted the striker as she made way for Aluko shortly afterwards, rested, no doubt, for Chelseas midweek trip to Everton and then Sundays visit of Wolfsburg, who have twice knocked the London side out of the Champions League. In June 2014, she became the first member of the WSL 2 to be called up to the senior team for the World Cup qualifying matches against Belarus and Ukraine. However, in stark contrast to the first 45 minutes, chances were at a premium for both sides in the second period, the game becoming increasingly scrappy in the battle for possession. Inspired by witnessing her brother play, Kirby started playing football when she was a small child. "She'd play in goal if I asked her to," Hayes says. The Norwegian swiftly found Sam Kerr in the centre but the striker couldnt adjust herself to trouble Ellie Roebuck in the City goal. Mjelde shone for Chelsea in both the right-back and central defence positions and the Norwegian International showed her importance to the Blues when she netted two vital penalties in our Champions League round of 16 tie victory against Atletico Madrid. "There are still transitions happening with us too but maybe the collective leadership in my group is further ahead than City.. Maren Mjelde Niamh Charles. Three points safely secured in the setting sunshine represented a good days work for Chelsea, who will be back in WSL action at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday evening as the 2022/23 campaign starts to click into gear. Chances were coming thick and fast for Chelsea as Kirby missed the target from a decent opening before the referee pointed to the spot when Leila Ouahabi handled inside the box and Mjelde made no mistake. Pernille Harder (FW) She felt better. Amid the blitzed runs and deft, nimble feet of Lucy Bronze, Aitana Bonmati, Fridolina Rolfo and Geyse, Chelsea truly battened down the hatches, like the heroes in a horror film barricading themselves to safety with dining chairs and antique dressers. That was the lone blot on Chelseas defensive copybook, and the womens game will see few better individual displays in that position this season than the likes of Maren Mjelde and Magdalena Eriksson offered here. The returning Ann-Katrin Berger had to make a string of saves in the first half, though it was Kirbys goal that broke the deadlock just before the break when she turned in Guro Reitens perfect centre from close range. WebFran Kirby and Maren Mjelde after winning back-to-back league titles with Chelsea Women! Kirby went on holiday before the coronavirus lockdown; the trip gave her some momentary relief, but it prompted another false dawn in her recovery. The silver lining for Chelsea amid the ignominy of the 2021 Champions League final was that Hayes could have no real regrets. "I also spoke to Georgie [Hodge, Kirby's agent]. Jag visste att ngot var fel, men inte exakt hur allvarligt det var Det var som en sorg, faktiskt. Taylor's side quickly turned defence into attack as Shaw raced into the box and was sent tumbling under the challenge of Kadeisha Buchanan, but referee Abigail Byrne waved away the penalty claims. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Nothing is helping me; can you help me?". Everything I say around Fran is around her, and what she did -- not what anybody else did, because she transformed her life. A heavy fixture schedule both are in the semi-finals of the Champions League has seen their league form take a hit. Among the goals that night was one that saw each Chelsea defender facing in different directions when the ball crossed the line. However, Shaw continued to spearhead the attacking endeavours for Gareth Taylors side and her deflected effort from the left won a corner after 17 minutes, from which Aleixandri flicked a header narrowly wide. I can never wrap my head around it because, you know, I'm just going out and playing football. Four years of an age gap between the two did not She has reportedly endorsed brands such as Swarovski, Nike, Wow, Protein Water Company, and Hydrate. degree in October 2019 in recognition of her "achievements both on and off the field, particularly her work supporting mental health and wellbeing.". "In the course of my 25-year career, I've never seen a player transform their life as much as I've seen her from a place of difficulty, disruption, despair to joy, to gratitude, to application," Hayes tells ESPN. That was Chelseas first and to date only Champions League final. Fran Kirby's Partner, Maren Mjelde, Is A Norwegian Professional Footballer. The goal changed the complexion of the game and Chelsea only grew in confidence thereafter, with Lauren James testing City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck. - Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only). I want to win every day, even if it's in-house games. The victory was soon sealed with 12 minutes remaining, though it came amid a moment of uncertainty as referee Abigail Byrne pointed to the spot to award the Blues a penalty.
Koreshan State Park Wedding,
Hanford High School Football Coach,
Is Dulcolax Safe For Kidneys,
New Rappers From Virginia,
Articles M