There is an old football adage that nobody asks how the next day. The only important thing is the yield, i.e. the three points for a win – regardless of the degree of spectacle between the kick-off and final whistle. The English soccer players could console themselves with this: With the surprisingly difficult 1-0 win against Haiti, they were already on course for the round of 16 after the first day of the World Cup preliminary round. National coach Sarina Wiegman’s team continues against Denmark on Friday (10:30 a.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the women’s soccer World Cup and on ARD).
The side’s performance against Haiti was a far cry from the playful displays that made England European champions on home soil a year ago. Instead of hopeful hymns of praise, the local press mainly read critical observations during the week. The how of a victory is obviously not that important after all.
Because it could have gone wrong against Haiti. Minutes before the end of the game, England goalkeeper Mary Earps saved her side’s narrow lead with a strong foot defense. It wasn’t the only time she was called upon to play decisive roles, as the back four often looked disorganized against the feisty Haitians. Especially when England lost the ball on the move – which happened far more often than Wiegman would like – the defensive proved vulnerable to counterattacks.
This in turn has to do with the bad luck with injuries suffered by the English team: Captain Leah Williamson, seeded in central defense at the European Championship, will be absent from the team at the World Cup. Instead, Millie Bright wore the captain’s armband on her arm. It is quite possible that Wiegman will change the defense against Denmark. Because the Danish attacking series around the star striker Pernille Harder, who has just switched to FC Bayern, will probably use their chances better than the luckless World Cup debutant Haiti.
Haiti’s ability to counterattack at all had to do with England’s individual mistakes and lack of accuracy in playmaking. Critics mainly target the predictability of the English build-up game from the defensive. With playmaker Fran Kirby also missing from the World Cup squad through injury, England’s attacks were mostly down the flanks and the resulting mostly high crosses from Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp kept Haiti’s defense well under control.
The fact that England developed so little goal danger over the full season, despite high ball possession values, is proof of the playful lack of ideas – and also reveals the severity of the third injury absence: Beth Mead, together with Germany’s Alexandra Popp European Championship top scorer, is also noticeably absent from England this summer .
“The win puts us in a good position”
The winning goal against Haiti in Mead’s absence came from Georgia Stanway; not from the game, but from the penalty spot, and even that only on the second try, because Haiti’s goalkeeper left her line too early on the first execution and then made an illegal save. England have not scored through playful means for more than 330 minutes in an international match.
Still working on the lineup: England coach Sarina Wiegman : Image: dpa
Wiegman is therefore unconcerned to the outside world, also in order not to put additional pressure on center forward Alessia Russo. But the offensive interaction will have been one of the priorities in training this week. An alternative to Russo is Rachel Daly, last season’s Women’s Super League top scorer, who came on for Russo with 15 minutes to go against Haiti. She was visibly dissatisfied with her reservist role, as she later openly admitted: Anyone who likes to sit on the substitutes’ bench in competitive sports has chosen the wrong career path.
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“The win puts us in a good position,” said goalkeeper Earps soberly after the opening win: “But there’s certainly a lot we have to work on because we set ourselves higher standards.” Meanwhile, in England, the obvious parallels have long since become apparent moved to the EM a year ago. England also won their opening game at the sold-out Old Trafford in Manchester against Austria 1-0. Little shine, but three points on the account.
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Norway, one of the favorites for the title, was waiting in the next game. England dominated the game from the start, could not be defeated defensively and exceeded all expectations in terms of play. At half-time it was 6-0 and in the end 8-0 for England. A sensation. “It’s three points,” Wiegman said at the time to curb the euphoria – “whether you win 1-0 or 8-0.” The old wisdom is always a question of perspective.