Women’s football round-up: Scotland Ladies coach Anna Siguel to fight on after World Cup play-off exit

A look at the best action from the last week in women’s football

Scotland Ladies pictured last summer (GETTY IMAGES)

Scotland Ladies head coach Anna Siguel has insisted she will not resign from her role following their defeat to the Netherlands in the World Cup Play-offs. The odds were against Siguel’s side following a 2-1 home loss and the Dutch proved to be too strong in Rotterdam on Friday, cruising to a 2-0 win in Rotterdam. When asked if she would remain in charge, the Swede simply replied: “Absolutely”.

France or South Korea will host the 2019 Women’s World Cup after Fifa narrowed down the bidding process to the two countries. Both nations have recently hosted World Cups, with France in 1998 and Korea/Japan in 2002, and news of the bids pleased Fifa President Sepp Blatter, who said on Friday: “It’s really great to see now their interest shifting towards women’s competition”.

i player of the week: Melania Gabbiadini (Italy Women)
With her side staring at an unlikely exit at the World Cup Play-Off semi-final stage, Gabbiadini – her younger brother Manolo plays for Juventus – stepped up to the mark. The 31-year-old had been tormenting the Ukraine defence for the entire game, creating chance after chance for her team-mates. But when the opportunity arose for her to put her country in front, she didn’t disappoint, bringing the Italians level on aggregate before team-mate Patrinzia Panico sealed the winner.

Moment of the week
The moment women’s football in the United Kingdom had been waiting years for has finally arrived: they have outsold the men. According to figures from the FA, over 41,000 tickets have been sold for England’s clash with Germany at Wembley later this month – surpassing the 40,181 who attended the men’s 1-0 victory over Norway.

They said...
“We wish to thank Gordon for all his hard work, inspiration and leadership on the field and wish him every success in the next stage of his career." Doncaster Belles confirmed the departure of Gordon Staniforth after their failure to gain promotion to the WSL2.

Is stat true?
0 – Scotland are yet to qualify for a World Cup, having failed on seven occasions.