ENGLAND’s defence of the women’s European championship got off to a poor start with a 2-1 defeat against France at Zurich’s Letzigrund stadium. The alarm bells have started to ring as Sarina Wiegman’s England deal with adversity for arguably the first time. Three years since their glorious victory against Germany in the competition, England look to have gone backwards a little. Time is catching up on some of the team, notably Lucy Bronze, who was made to look yearning for the other side of 30 by her Chelsea team-mate Sandy Baltimore. But in truth, the England defence, as a unit, was ineffective and France’s energy and trickery was too much for the midfield, while the front line could only muster two shots on target. The 2-1 scoreline flattered England and now they face the Netherlands knowing they cannot afford to lose. Nine of the 16 that played in the 2022 final were included by Wiegman, the question is, should that figure have been much lower?
**Diogo Jota: A versatile performer, cut off in his prime**
DIOGO Jota’s death, at the age of 28, was a reminder that footballers are as mortal as any of us. A car crash in Spain on July 3 killed both the Liverpool forward and his brother, André Silva. Born in Porto in December 1996, Jota played for Paços de Ferreira before spells with Atlético Madrid and Porto. He signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers where he played 131 games and scored 44 goals, before joining Liverpool in September 2020 for a fee of £ 45 million. Renowned for his versatility – he could play as a forward or in midfield – he was also admired for his work ethic on the pitch. He won the Premier League, FA Cup and two EFL Cups with Liverpool and was part of the team that reached the Champions League final in 2022. Jota played 182 games for Liverpool and netted 65 goals. Portugal capped him 49 times (14 goals) with whom he won the UEFA Nations League twice.
**FIFA Club World Cup: Three Europeans in the last four**
FLUMINENSE remain the last surviving non-European side in the Club World Cup after they beat Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal 2-1 in the quarter-finals. They will play Chelsea, who beat another Brazilian side, Palmeiras, 2-1 in Philadelphia. Chelsea player-in-waiting, Estêvão, opened the scoring for Palmeiras and caught the eye in the game. Paris Saint-Germain, who had two men sent off, beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in Atlanta with two late goals. Kylian Mbappé netted a 98thminute winner as Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 to clinch a semi-final place. They will meet PSG in East Rutherford.
**Club Review: Inter Milan – A season of near misses**
INTER’s ageing team may have reached its peak in 2024-25 and could need a rebuild in the coming year. They were runners-up in Serie A and the UEFA Champions League – their second final in three years – and reached the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup. Inter, who started the campaign under new ownership, finished one point behind Napoli in the league. They also reached the last four of the Coppa Italia but were beaten by Milan over two legs. They were the highest scorers in Serie A with strikers Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scoring 42 goals between them across all competitions. Their Champions League run was no fluke – they lost just once in the initial phase and beat Bayern Munich and Barcelona on the way to the final, but a tired team was humiliated by a youthful Paris Saint-Germain side, who netted five past the Inter defence without reply. Still one of Europe’s best supported clubs, they averaged over 70,000 at their home games at the San Siro. At the end of the season, coach Simone Inzaghi left the club, but given the plethora of Inter players over the age of 30, other changes may be needed before 2025-26 gets underway.
**Irish Premier: Derry hit seven**
ALTHOUGH Shamrock Rovers lead the League of Ireland Premier by nine points, second-placed Derry City have two games in hand on the Dublin side. While Shamrock recovered from a two-goal deficit to earn a point at struggling Sligo, Derry went goal-happy at the Brandywell to beat Waterford 7-2 with veteran striker Liam Boyce netting a hat-trick. Boyce has scored over 200 goals in a career of more than 500 games. Derry and Shamrock will meet two more times this season in the league, with the second of those clashes on the penultimate weekend of October 24. In other recent fixtures, Drogheda beat Galway 1-0, Shelbourne were 3-1 winners against Cork and St. Patrick’s and Bohemians drew 0-0.
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)