It is the international break for the Chelsea Women team with the majority of the club’s players out representing their countries across the world.
The Blues return to Women’s Super League (WSL) action on Sunday afternoon as they make the trip to face Brighton with Sonia Bompastor’s ladies searching for their 10th straight win in all competitions. The form of Bompastor’s side has been nothing short of sensational and the head coach is now being recognised for her efforts in the role with a nomination for the WSL Manager of the Month award.
Bompastor has been nominated alongside Arsenal’s Renee Slegers and Manchester United manager Marc Skinner. Likewise, Lauren James’ brilliant stoppage-time winner against Everton earlier in February has made the shortlist for the WSL Goal of the Month.
James picked up the ball around 30 yards from goal at Kingsmeadow, took one touch and then fired into the bottom corner on her left foot to spark jubilant celebrations from the Chelsea players. Also in our weekly Chelsea Women wrap-up, football.london takes a look at how the ladies are getting on while representing their countries and what Emma Hayes said about Sam Kerr.
International round-up
Six Chelsea players represented England on Wednesday evening as they overcame Spain 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in the first meeting between the two sides since the Women’s World Cup final in the summer of 2023. Back then, the Spanish beat the English by one goal to nil, but the score-line was reversed on Wednesday night.
There were 46,550 fans inside the national stadium in London with Jess Park scoring the only goal of the game in the Nations League. As mentioned, six Blues stars represented the Lionesses, with Hannah Hampton in goal, Niamh Charles, Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze in the back four ahead of her, Kiera Walsh in midfield and James playing in the attack. Aggie Beever-Jones was on the bench but was not used by Sarina Wiegman.
Meanwhile, Maika Hamano helped Japan keep up their 100% record in the SheBelieves Cup as they beat the United States by two goals to one to win the tournament. Hamano played for 75 minutes in Japan’s win, while Catarina Macario played for less than an hour for the USWNT. Mayra Ramirez was also in action in the SheBelieves Cup, with her Colombia side beating Australia 2-1 with the attacker producing an assist in the victory.
Sandy Baltimore scored a winner for France in their Nations League victory over Iceland on Wednesday night. For Sweden, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd featured for 83 minutes as they drew 1-1 at home to Wales in the same competition.
Wieke Kaptein started for the Netherlands in the Dutch’s 2-1 victory over Scotland in Group A1. Guru Reiten played 88 minutes for Norway in their narrow win over Switzerland, while Sjoeke Nusken was used for 45 minutes in Germany’s comfortable victory over Austria. Ashley Lawrence played the full match as Canada thrashed Chinese Taipei 7-0 in the Pinatar Cup.
Hayes makes Kerr prediction
Former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes had backed striker Sam Kerr to return to her “very best” with the Aussie being absent for 13 months with a serious knee injury. Kerr is getting closer to her return but the Blues have been reluctant to put a specific timeframe on when their star striker might return.
Hayes, who was in charge of Chelsea when Kerr was brought to the club in 2020, has backed the 31-year-old centre-forward to return to her full potential despite being sidelined for such a lengthy period of time. “I love Sam Kerr – I’ll always love Sam Kerr,” Hayes said. “She’s amazing, and I’m sure she will find another step to be the very best Sam Kerr.”
As well as an injury that has kept her on the sidelines for over a year, Kerr was recently involved in a court case where she was found not guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment in January 2023. Bompastor confirmed earlier this month that Kerr will not face any disciplinary action from the club.
“Sam made a statement, she apologised and I think that is enough,” Bompastor said. “Everyone can make mistakes and that’s what you learn from and that’s how you move forward. What she was facing last week was hard enough for her so the only thing we want to do as a club is support her.”
