History will be made in London this week, as the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™ reaches its crescendo and crowns one of four global giants as intercontinental champion.
A battle of the Americas gets the action under way on Wednesday as Gotham FC, who lifted the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup last May, take on South American conquerors SC Corinthians at Brentford Stadium. Later in the day, the same venue will play host to the second semi-final, as European queens Arsenal face off against African title-holders ASFAR.
The two winners will advance to the decider at Arsenal Stadium on 1 February.
The groundbreaking tournament has peaked the interest of all onlookers, and former England international Jill Scott can’t wait to see the action get going.
“If you go back ten years, these competitions weren’t happening, but I really feel like this is the start of something exciting,” she told FIFA. “Obviously, it’s the first time it’s been done in the women’s game, and I think just the chance to see these players from all over the world, coming to London, playing for their club teams – it’s going to be so exciting.
“For that next generation as well, there’s probably a lot of players that maybe they see on TV that they’ve never been able to see up close. But the fact that you’ve got Gotham FC travelling from America, they’re going to be able to see the likes of Rose Lavelle, Jess Carter, obviously the Arsenal players as well. It shows the rise of the game.”
Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright, who is an active voice in the development of women’s football, believes this global extravaganza will only enhance that progress.
“What it says is that there’s global growth happening, and that’s what needs to happen in respect to the women’s game,” he said. “It needs to be globally growing. Every woman in the world, every girl in the world, every community, should be able to get the opportunity to play football, and play football against the best. It’s important that you can have a tournament like this where we can see different cultures, different players from around the world.”
While Scott enjoyed a stellar career, in which she scored at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™, won the UEFA EURO and scooped trophies with Manchester City and Everton, the former midfielder wishes she could’ve added the Women’s Champions Cup to her glittering CV.
“I would have loved to have done this,” she stated. “I remember playing a friendly game against an American team and it was really good just to test yourself against the best players. Obviously we would play against America for England, but it would be once every four years in the World Cup. I think club football is also very, very special. I was chatting to a few of the Arsenal girls last week and they’re so looking forward to it.”
While Arsenal and Gotham feature a host of Women’s World Cup winners and Olympic gold medalists, Wright believes that the tournament’s global appeal is what will make it special for those watching.
“You want young girls coming in, looking at it, watching it, seeing a team from America, from Brazil, from Morocco, seeing different players, different styles,” he continued. “Maybe they’re influenced by one of the players from Morocco, or from America, or from Brazil, and that makes them want to play. The main thing is getting world-wide eyes on the game globally so everybody can see and everybody can be inspired by it.”
