Mary Earps has claimed the Golden Glove award for her performances at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Manchester United goalkeeper kept three clean sheets (Haiti, Denmark and Nigeria) throughout the tournament, and performed brilliantly in Sunday’s final despite losing 1-0 to Spain.
Earps saved Jenni Hermoso’s penalty to keep England’s hopes alive against the Spanish, but they were unable to score an equaliser for force extra time.
Despite the disappointment of losing a World Cup final, the Lionesses still did well to get as far as they did and Earps was awarded the Golden Glove accolade for her exploits in Australia.
However, fans will still not be bale to buy a replica of Earps’ goalkeeper kit despite an ongoing campaign throughout the World Cup to convince Nike to put one on sale. This decision led to criticism from fans and even Earps herself.
In a statement released on Sunday, Nike promised to address the matter in future tournaments – but not now.
The statement read (via Express): “Nike is committed to women’s football and we’re excited by the passion around this year’s tournament and the incredible win by the Lionesses to make it into the final.
“We are proudly offering the best of Nike innovation and services to our federation partners and hundreds of athletes.
“We hear and understand the desire for a retail version of a goalkeeper jersey and we are working towards solutions for future tournaments, in partnership with Fifa and the federations.
“The fact that there’s a conversation on this topic is testament to the continued passion and energy around the women’s game and we believe that’s encouraging.”
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“Working towards solutions” ? Keeper’s jersey is much more difficult to produce then others, then?
Poppycock. They screwed up and trying to cover that fact with loads of buzzwords. Pathetic.