A friendly match between Great Britain and New Zealand ended in a 3-0 victory for the women’s football team before their Olympic campaign in Tokyo. Ellen White scored a brace while her teammate Nikita Parris also got on the scoresheet for England. Todoroki Stadium in the Greater Tokyo area hosted the match behind closed doors.
A warm-up match between the GB men’s team and Zambia was scheduled to be played at Stoke’s bet365 Stadium on July 1, but that was postponed after the African team pulled out due to complications relating to coronavirus. England opens its Olympic campaign on the road against Chile in Sapporo on Wednesday before playing hosts Japan in the same city three days later. On July 27, they will face Canada in Kashima for the conclusion of their group matches.
One group consists of the United States, Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand. The other group includes Holland, Brazil, China, and Zambia. A seventh edition of the women’s Olympic football tournament takes place from July 21 to August 6. Participating teams don’t have age restrictions, unlike the men’s tournament.
The stars competing in Tokyo include Yuzuho Shiokoshi of Japan, Bruna Benites of Brazil, and Carli Lloyd of the United States. As a result of Germany’s elimination in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019, they failed to qualify. England (represented at the Games as Team GB) reached the semi-finals with the Netherlands, Sweden, USA and England and subsequently booked their places in the Olympics.
