England are hours away from kicking off their World Cup campaign down under with their opening match against Haiti.
The Lionesses go into the tournament off the back of their Euro 2022 win last year and as one of the big favourites to lift the World Cup trophy in August.
England sit 49 places above Haiti in the global rankings, and are expected to win comfortably in Brisbane later on.
The team will also face Denmark and China in their Group D games.
Talismanic boss Sarina Wiegman said her squad will do “everything” they can to bring the World Cup home, but warns facing opposition lower down the ranks means they have more to lose.
“We’re here and we have a dream, and of course there’s always a chance to win the World Cup, and many more countries can win the World Cup I think, but of course we’re going to give our everything…,” she said.
“The pressure is always something. Everyone expected England to win anyway… so that’s not different.
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“What we’re just trying to do is play our game and focus on what we have to do and how we can win, and that’s basically what we do all the time, so bring it back to what actions we need to take as a team.”
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Women’s World Cup explained
Wiegman is no stranger to the World Cup, having made it to the final in 2019 with the Netherlands but ultimately losing to the USA, who will be looking to retain the trophy.
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However, while the Lionesses prepare to run out on to the pitch in Australia, they have expressed their disappointment after not being able to come to an agreement with the Football Association around performance-based bonuses and commercial endeavours.
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For the first time, FIFA prize money will be paid directly to the Lionesses squad rather than the FA, and England’s players have been pushing the association to top up the central payments awarded to every side since 2022.
But captain Millie Bright said the squad had to put conversations on hold in order to focus on their campaign, saying they want to grow the women’s game.
Image: The Haiti team in training
British expats and England supporters who’ve flown to Australia are planning a day of activities leading up to the game and the city’s well-known British style pubs are planning for a big crowd.
More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the big game which starts at 7.30pm local time (10.30am UK time).
Brisbane was quiet early on Saturday morning but it is expected to ramp up.
Image: George Gallantree established the British branch of the “Barmy Army”
George Gallantree established the British branch of the “Barmy Army” and can’t wait to support the Lionesses.
“We’re really excited to see them,” he told Sky News.
“I think it’s a chance for young girls to see their idols play. Girls’ football is huge in Australia and it’s growing by the day.”
A brother and sister have been jailed for the murder of a drug dealer in a “ferocious” knife attack.
Isaiah Marsh, 21, and his 23-year-old sibling Mya Marsh were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for killing Minister Enfrence, 21, in a row over a £200 cannabis debt.
Bank worker Mya was trying to buy drugs from Mr Enfrence in Kings Norton, Birmingham, when she met him armed with a kitchen knife at about 10am on 5 November, the city’s crown court heard.
Judge Simon Drew KC said that Mya was the aggressor in an initial confrontation with Mr Enfrence over the debt as he sentenced the siblings on Thursday.
Mya called her brother Isaiah to the scene, who “launched a ferocious attack on Minister as he lay defenceless on his back on the floor” and had intended to kill, the judge said.
Mr Enfrence suffered at least 12 stab wounds to his body, arms, hands and head in the “unprovoked” attack.
He did not die instantly and managed to escape before collapsing nearby.
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Judge Drew said footage of the attack, which was caught on CCTV, was “truly sickening” to watch as Mr Enfrence died a “traumatic and painful death”.
Image: Minister Enfrence was killed on 5 November. Pic: West Midlands Police
Siblings unanimously convicted of murder
The footage shows Mya passing a knife to her brother during the stabbing.
The judge told them: “This was an attack by two people on one. That attack was unprovoked. Members of the public, including a child in a pushchair, passed very close by while the attack was taking place.”
After the killing, Mya went to work “as if nothing had happened” after taking the morning off work, citing mental health problems, the court was told.
Isaiah later handed himself in to the police.
A jury unanimously convicted the siblings of murder on Monday following a three-week trial.
Both had denied murder and alternative charges of manslaughter.
Isaiah claimed he acted in self-defence, while Mya claimed she did not believe her brother would use the knife to stab Mr Enfrence.
Rachel Brand KC, representing Mya, said the attack was “utterly out of character” for her client and that Mya had shouted “stop it” and “break it up” during her brother and Mr Enfrence’s struggle.
Isaiah, meanwhile, would find it “almost impossible to reconcile what he saw on the CCTV with who he is”, his barrister Michael Ivers KC told the court.
“He has told everyone who will listen when they have spoken to him that he is full of remorse about what happened,” Mr Ivers said.
A “despicable” rapist has been brought to justice and jailed for 10 years in part thanks to a woman’s testimony from beyond the grave.
Steven Connery, 41, repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted two women in the Forth Valley and Tayside areas.
Judge Douglas Brown said Connery’s first victim was left “so shocked that she couldn’t speak” following a painful attack in a bathroom while she was getting ready for a night out.
A court heard how the second woman was also left in “agony” after a sex assault.
Connery was arrested in 2022 after his past crimes were brought to the attention of Police Scotland.
His second victim died before a trial was held at the High Court in Glasgow, but her evidence was read out in the form of a statement by one of the investigating officers.
Connery denied any wrongdoing but was in March found guilty of four charges.
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He returned to the dock on Wednesday and was handed a 13-year extended sentence, with 10 years in jail and three years on licence once released back into the community.
Judge Brown said: “It is almost inevitable that offences of this nature will cause substantial harm and in relation to the second complainer, who has since died, it is clear from a victim impact statement submitted by her sister that your behaviour had a massive impact not only on her but also on her family.”
It was noted that Connery was “still reasonably young” at the time of some of his offending, but the judge added: “Though there is little to indicate that a lack of maturity was a significant factor.”
Connery was additionally placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and banned from contacting the woman who is still alive.
Detective Sergeant Khalid Abdulrahman said: “Although one of Connery’s victims passed away, it was right that her evidence was heard in court through the reading of statements.
“I hope this sentencing brings some comfort to both her family and the other victim in this case.
“Our thoughts remain with them, as without their information Connery wouldn’t have been held accountable for his despicable actions.”