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Women's World Cup fever sweeps England

 
England players celebrate a quarterfinal victory over Canada that kept millions of fans back home up late watching.
England players celebrate a quarterfinal victory over Canada that kept millions of fans back home up late watching.
Published July 1, 2015

MANCHESTER, England — The movie Bend It Like Beckham first got Kiera Burke interested in soccer. During the 2012 Olympics, she went to Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium to watch the women's teams from the United States and Canada play a thrilling semifinal.

Now the 13-year-old is among millions of Britons — including Prince William, David Beckham and Harry Potter actor Emma Watson — who are following the English team's unprecedented progress in the Women's World Cup.

Kiera, who plays for an under-15 team in the city of Chester, has a pass from her dad to stay up until the early hours of Thursday to see if the Lionesses can beat Japan in a semifinal. Who cares that it's a school night?

"The time difference isn't great," said Peter Burke, who runs girls teams of various age groups, "but the girls have still been watching it. The publicity associated with the World Cup has been great."

In a summer without an Olympic Games, a men's World Cup or a European soccer championships, England's women soccer players have seized the nation's attention.

Many of the women are now household names.

"I've lost count how many times I've been asked what time the games are on, when the next game is, what channel it's on," said Nick Cushing, coach of Manchester City's professional women's team.

"Whether it's at this football club or around Manchester, people really are buzzing about this England team."

About 1.6 million people tuned in to watch England beat Canada in the quarterfinals, a match that started at midnight.

Beckham posted a picture of the women's team in a huddle, with the message: "We are so proud of what you have achieved and the passion you have shown gives us so much pride."

BLATTER STAYING AWAY: FIFA president Sepp Blatter will not go to Canada for Sunday's World Cup final, FIFA said Tuesday, as criminal investigations into soccer's governing body continue in the United States and Switzerland. Secretary general Jerome Valcke will also be absent. FIFA cited their commitments in Zurich.

FIFA CRITICIZED: Critics took aim at FIFA on social media after fifa.com referenced American forward Alex Morgan's looks. The article referred to Morgan as "a talented goal scorer with a style that is very easy on the eye and good looks to match." One Twitter user asked if FIFA would be commenting on Ronaldo's looks.