Smoke cannons and ‘ginga’ – the World Sevens kicks off

This was not the typical experience for Europe’s top female footballers, with smoke cannons blaring off behind the goal, live music coming out of a DJ set during corners, and free shirts being thrown to fans at half-time.

“Carnage . Fresh off of his side’s 3-2 victory over Roma in Portugal, Manchester United manager Marc Skinner declared that there was simply chaos.

Manchester United and Manchester City were among the eight teams competing in the Women’s World Sevens, which started in Estoril on Wednesday.

The new seven-a-side competition offers $5 million ($3.76 million), more than the women’s champion league winners will receive in Lisbon three days later.

It’s a format that both brings out flair and creativity as well as attacking intent, with rolling substitutes, no offsides, and 15-minute halves.

In Manchester City’s opening 4-0 win over Rosengard, England international Jess Park started giggling when she nutmegged a player for a corner, prompting the DJ as she prepared the set-piece.

After England midfielder Clinton’s clever chip drew cheers from the 200-odd fans watching on in the stands, United duo Celin Bizet and Grace Clinton took the fun to a whole new level by chest bumping in celebration shortly after.

By the time Bayern Munich had defeated Ajax 4-2, players were buzzing and up, with Norwegian defender Tuva Hansen even pulling off her shirt to celebrate in Chloe Kelly fashion.

“I really liked it,” I said. The Roma players, in my opinion, took it a little bit more seriously than we did. We had a lot of fun, Clinton said of United.

We have all arrived together, he said. We were completely unaware of what to expect. We strive to accomplish this every day during training. We fully embraced it.

The 5, 000-capacity ground known as the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota in Estoril was renovated for the World Sevens, where games are being played.

After Estoril men defeated Estrela 4-0, stands were built, TV cameras installed, and large screens installed starting at 20:30 BST on Saturday.

After United’s men reached the Europa League final, which they lost 1-0 to Tottenham on Wednesday, Skinner’s side played earlier at the World Sevens to prevent a clash.

After City’s 2-1 win over Benfica, the crowd initially poured in slowly, with only about 100 people tuning in, but more were coming throughout the night, filling a stand on the other end.

It’s intriguing, I think. It has a unique quality. Leanne Woodall, a City fan who traveled to Estoril, said the stadium “looks nice.”

Fan Charlotte Wilkins continued, “I play seven-a-side football, so I was very interested to see how the professional players handled it and what strategies they employed.”

When we first arrived, we couldn’t find where we needed to go, but now that we’re there, things are really good and there’s good vibes. It’s exciting.

The semi-finals and final will be staged on Friday, with organizers hoping to fill the arena with fans who flew to Portugal on Saturday in anticipation of Barcelona and Arsenal’s Champions League final (17:00 BST).

However, the players had a positive impression of the first impression.

Roma’s Hawa Cissoko, who spoke on the subject, said, “I was really sad it was only one game today. I could play this all day.”

“I think we took the game a little more seriously than Manchester United, who were really [relaxed] at the beginning.

They acting in this way made me believe that we are here to enjoy ourselves. When we were children, we were doing this. It reminds me a little of what I did ten years ago. That is wonderful.

Nick Cushing, interim manager for Manchester City, stated that the game should be played in their “believers’ manner.”

I enjoyed the music a lot, said Brazil forward Kerolin. Everyone in Portugal says, “OK, we like these vibes,” given how pleasant the weather is.

“Yes, we want to win and win some money!” However, I believe it to be a little bit Brazilian. I enjoy the informal Brazilian expression “gada” for creativity and trickery.

With Euro 2025 starting on July 2 and clubs participating in the tournament, some have questioned the timing and risk of injury.

Rosengard traveled to Estoril on Saturday (14:00 BST), where they will face BK Hacken in the Swedish league.

Rosengard midfielder Emelia Larsson said, “We had some reactions in Sweden, that we came here, because we have a game.

It’s like taking a break from everything, in our opinion. You missed a training week, but I believe it to be really enjoyable to be here.

“It’s a good time to show off our skills and football to other people.”

It was good practice, according to manager Joel Kjetselberg, to train for Champions League football, which they would play between weekend games in the middle of the week.

City and United had one training session in addition to the five that City had scheduled for the World Sevens.

According to Clinton, “We would only be doing this in training all week.”

“We would have just been playing small-sided games anyway,” said one England representative before the next England camp.