Emotional Lionesses gnash teeth over Olympic slot miss
How could you win so massively and yet fail to qualify for the Olympics? That was the sad reality of England Lionesses after they beat Scotland by half a dozen goals.
England star Lucy Bronze was seen collapsing on the pitch in disappointment after confirmation that Team GB will not be taking part in the women’s football tournament at next summer’s Olympic Games.
The Lionesses were tasked with securing a place at Paris 2024 as a nominated nation in the Olympic qualification cycle.
READ ALSO Olympic Chief Thomas Bach ‘Very Satisfied’ With Paris 2024 Village
England needed to finish first in their UEFA Women’s Nations League group to remain in the fight for qualification, and the two finalists joined hosts France at the Games in February.
Sarina Wiegman’s team needed to improve on the Netherlands’ result with three clear goals on Tuesday night to reach the Nations League final.
England seemed to have done enough by thrashing Scotland 6-0 at Hampden Park, only for the Netherlands to score a goal in the 95th minute to beat Belgium 4-0.
England were left heartbroken after a late Dutch goal ended Team GB’s Olympic hopes.
Footage has revealed the heartbreaking moment the England team were told in a team meeting about the late Dutch goal, which ruined Team GB’s Olympic hopes.
A Lionesses staff member, who was watching the final minutes of the Netherlands match on a mobile phone, was seen telling the team “they have scored”.
Forward Lauren Hemp was seen walking away in disappointment, while Bronze collapsed on the field and covered her face with her hands.
Previously it seemed that Bronze had been the player who had kept Team GB’s hopes alive.
The defender had scored in the third minute of stoppage time to return England to the top of the table, only for another late turnaround as the Dutch regained top spot.
England had to rue an earlier defeat to the Netherlands in the group, as well as a shock 3-2 loss to Belgium in October.
READ ALSO Greek refs announce boycott over violent attacks
The Great Britain team would have qualified for the Olympics under the previous qualification format, in which the three UEFA places were determined based on the teams’ performance in the Women’s World Cup, where England finished as runners-up.
Team GB qualified for the Tokyo 2020 women’s football tournament for the first time following an agreement between the four British football associations.
Their only other appearance was at London 2012, where the Great Britain team was awarded a host country spot.