Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

England’s Own Goal at Women’s World Cup Brings Sympathy, Not Scorn

Laura Bassett was comforted by her teammates after England lost to Japan in the Women's World Cup semifinal Wednesday.Credit...Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

It was a soccer player’s worst nightmare. With seconds left in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday, Laura Bassett of England lunged for the ball and accidentally kicked it into her own net.

Seconds later, the whistle blew. Japan had won, 2-1, and Bassett and many other England players were left in tears. And members of the sometimes vicious British news media sharpened their pens and offered ... sympathy?

The most common word in British newspaper and website headlines on Thursday was “heartbreak,” and photos of the weeping Bassett dominated the coverage.

England Women Have Done Their Country Proud,” The Times of London wrote. Even the tabloids were gentle, with The Mail grumbling that the better team had lost: “Own Goal Gives Japan Lucky Win Over Lionesses.”

Support came from all over, including from the former American players Brandi Chastain and Landon Donovan.

Image
There was little sympathy in England for David Beckham, right, when he received a red card in a 1998 World Cup loss to Argentina.Credit...Denis Doyle/Associated Press

The Women’s World Cup is a showcase of the finest players in the world as well as a quadrennial trigger for debate over the treatment of women’s sports — by fans and the news media. England’s surprise run to the semifinals captured the attention of the country and its journalists, and the loss highlighted the response to a blunder by a female athlete compared with one by a male player.

“Gender is probably a factor,” said Cheryl Cooky, an associate professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Purdue. “We have in our culture a protectionist stance toward women.”

The reaction to Bassett’s error was in sharp contrast to the aftermath of high-profile World Cup failures by the England men’s team over the years. In a 1998 round-of-16 game against Argentina, David Beckham kicked out at Diego Simeone and was given a red card. The ejection seemed a little harsh, but sympathy for the 23-year-old Beckham was not forthcoming after England lost the game on penalties. The Mirror’s headline was typical: “10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy.”

A stamp on Ricardo Carvalho caused Wayne Rooney to be ejected from the 2006 quarterfinal against Portugal. Once again England lost on penalties, and once again the press and the public were unsparing. The male players who have missed penalties in crucial games are well remembered by every English fan.

In The Telegraph on Thursday, Claire Cohen called attention to the disparity in an essay titled “Our Sympathy Towards Laura Bassett Is Sexist.” “If we really want men and women’s football to be on a level playing field,” she wrote, “then we need to treat all players in the same way.”

Bassett, 31, has played for several teams in England, including Arsenal and Chelsea, and currently plays for Notts County. In this World Cup, her second, she attracted attention when she took a hard elbow to the face against France that gave her a black eye, and admiration when she played on. “If you are not hurt, you don’t stay down,” she told The Independent. As the team’s regular starter in central defense, she helped the English surrender only seven goals in six games. Unfortunately, the seventh was the own goal.

Image
Jo Potter, near left, consoling Laura Bassett after England lost to Japan, 2-1, on an own goal by Bassett in the closing seconds of a Women’s World Cup semifinal Wednesday.Credit...Jason Franson/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

The positive reaction to Bassett may have been prompted in part by the especially horrifying last-second nature of her mistake. The “emotional intensity” of the moment, said Cooky, who has studied the news media’s coverage of women’s sports, “pulled at the heartstrings of people.” Bassett’s act was also the product of trying hard to make the right play, not a petulant drawing of a red card or a lackadaisical mental lapse.

Bassett’s tearful reaction may have also softened the public’s response. “I’ve told them it’s O.K. to cry,” England Coach Mark Sampson said after the game. “They left everything on the field, and it’s a really tough way to go out.”

Jane Stangl, who teaches at Smith College and is the president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, said she had watched the game and felt deeply about Bassett’s misdirection. “Cry she should, and I think most men may have as well,” she said.

There have been notable incidents of men crying after sports failures, including the English soccer player Paul Gascoigne at the 1990 World Cup and the Iowa State player Paul Shirley in the 2000 N.C.A.A. basketball tournament.

“Crying is a human emotional response,” Cooky said. “Because sports is so highly masculinized, it’s O.K. for men to cry. When a female athlete cries, it gets read much differently.”

And longstanding differences like those are hard to shake.

“We see male athletes as athletes first,” Cooky said. “We see female athletes as women first.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 9 of the New York edition with the headline: Sympathy, Not Scorn . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT