On the same day as the Women’s Super League 10-year anniversary, 15 Blues stepped out to represent their home nations. The day kicked off with South Korea facing China in the second leg of the Asian Qualification playoffs in Suzhou. Ji So-Yun’s visiting team went into the tie 2-1 down and although they got off to a strong start after a good first half, they were unable to take the win, ending with a 2-2 draw. China now head to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning 4-3 on aggregate after the two legs, taking the last spot in the tournament.

Next up was Ann-Katrin Berger for Germany against Norway’s Guro Reiten at the BRITA-Arena, Germany. Reiten got off to a flying start for Norway scoring in the 4th minute but they were unable to hold off the world ranked number two team for long with the German side powering through to a 3-1 victory.

Sweden had the biggest result of the night with a 2-4 win over Poland with keeper Zecira Musovic starting for Sweden with Jonna Andersson and Blues captain Magda Eriksson on the bench having played the full 90 against the USA last week. In an end-to-end match, Poland initially took the lead in the 26th minute but Sweden were able to come back, going into half-time at 1-2. Poland levelled three minutes into the second half and it looked likely to end a draw but with a raft of subs from the Swedes, they managed to score two further goals in quick succession in the 86th and 87th minute to give them the win.

Sam Kerr once again captained the Matildas as they faced the Netherlands but for the second match in a row, it wasn’t to be their night, losing 0-5 to the home team.

There were two further games to round off the night with England facing Canada and Wales up against Denmark. It was a historic moment for Mille Bright, leading the Lionesses out for the very first time with Bethany England, Carly Telford and Fran Kirby starting alongside her. Niamh Charles was also on the bench with Jessie Fleming playing for Canada. Although bright at times, the Lionesses could not bounce back and create enough chances following their two costly mistakes in defence, leading to a 2-0 loss to the visiting Canadians - England’s second-consecutive defeat.

Sophie Ingle and Pernille Harder came face to face, with Wales playing at home in Cardiff to Denmark. Harder got things started by racing towards the box to dip one past the Welsh keeper on the 24-minute mark and hand Denmark the lead. It was Harder’s 65th international goal in 125 games, becoming Denmark’s joint top scorer with Merete Pedersen. Jess Fishlock equalised for the Welsh side on the hour and the score in a thoroughly entertaining match remained 1-1.

With international duty coming to an end, our players will now return to Cobham over the next couple of days as we prepare to take on London City Lionesses on Friday night in the fourth round of the Women’s FA Cup.

International attention will also turn to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic draw next week on Thursday 22 April. The 12 international women’s teams will learn the identity of their upcoming opponents as we count down to the postponed Olympic games this Summer.