Having dug deep for their quarter-final victory, the Lionesses are better equipped to win the tournamentEngland winning all three group games with an aggregate score of 14-0 might have given the impression that tournament football is straightforward, but the quarter-final victory over Spain showed it is far from that. England had to work extremely hard to stay in the game and needed to change tactics to get the better of their opponents, which will be beneficial going into the semis and, hopefully, final.There is no doubt Spain are the best team England have played and offered a very different challenge from those in the victories over Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland. England needed to put into practice a different gameplan...
England’s performance against Spain was far from perfect but European Championship glory is now only two games awaySix minutes into extra time, and for the first time all evening, Georgia Stanway had room to breathe. It had been a taut and suffocating night, in many ways a horrible night, a night when the tension knots itself in the stomach like a tumour. But finally, a little after 10pm, the angst and the doubt and the foul throws and the blur of substitutions had sharpened to a single moment of clarity.All game, Stanway had found her way blocked and thwarted by a forest of legs, by a barbed‑wire fence of red shirts. All game, Aitana Bonmatí in midfield had clung to...
Set-up of elite women’s football in England needs to change – and saying so is not a criticism of this squad or managerFootball is all about creating dreams but even the most ambitious and imaginative young players require some initial inspiration.Before they can begin envisaging being part of a trophy-winning team or start dreaming about scoring goals galore, budding Lionesses need role models to whom they can relate. Continue reading...
Spain will be a different challenge in the Euro 2022 quarter-final but England have the attacking talent to beat Jorge Vilda’s sideEngland’s momentum is growing and they will not be worried about facing Spain in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals on Wednesday. They have played them before and know what it takes to get the better of one of the best sides in Europe.At Euro 2017 I was in the England squad that beat Spain 2-0 despite having only 22% possession during the match. England will be happy to let Spain have the ball as long as they themselves are organised and disciplined, which they have shown to be thus far. Sarina Wiegman’s side have dominated possession in the group stage...
Huge victories do not always carry deep meaning but Norway melted when faced by the hosts’ startling aggressionBobby Charlton was performing his national service in Shrewsbury when Manchester United played their first home European tie. He got a lift up to Maine Road (Old Trafford’s first set of floodlights was still being installed) with a Sgt-Maj White and watched enthralled as Matt Busby’s young side beat Anderlecht 10-0 to complete a 12-0 aggregate victory. In the mess the next day, Charlton found it almost impossible to convince people that United had been brilliant: 10-0, they insisted, was a measure less of United’s excellence than of how weak the Belgian champions must be.That’s the problem with emphatic victories: they can almost...