9th July. 2011. Leverkusen. England vs France. The Women’s World Cup Quarter Finals. With just 10 minutes to go, England find themselves ahead 1-0, courtesy of Jill Scott’s early second half chip. History beckons, a first ever World Cup knockout round triumph for the Lionesses. At this moment, Hope Powell turns to her bench, and brings on defensive reinforcements. Have what we hold. Sit deep. See this out. In response, France ups the ante, tightens the vice. And then, the inevitable happens.
Flash-forward to this summer, as temperatures soared to unprecedented levels, the transport network has suffered tremendously. Lineside fires. Failed signalling systems. Rails buckling in the shear heat, causing derailments for some trains on the continent. Back home, the Lionesses’ very own hype train looked set to be coming off the tracks. After soaring through the group stage with consummate ease, Spain were finally giving England the challenge they desperately needed.
Spain are Europe’s pass masters, with the midfield of Bonmatí, Guijarro and Abelleira orchestrating the flow of the ball across the carpet. Whilst Spain seemed comfortable in possession, England struggled to retain it. Keira Walsh, England’s midfield dictator, was neutralised by Bonmatí, blocking off the passing lanes and switch of plays so crucial to England’s build up play. The pacy wingers of Mead and Hemp, so devastating in their last visit to Brighton, failed to get any change out of Batlle and Carmona, often being forced to pass back and run backwards, robbing England of a consistent attacking platform. In fact, it was at the other end of the pitch the full backs were struggling. Bronze found herself doubled up on in the defensive third as Spain laid to siege, in an attempt to force the error. England could not get out, they could not pass out, they could not run out. What few chances they had were squandered. Ellen White had a header that was glanced wide, then was caught offside when she thought she had scored from a set piece. Hemp failed to head the ball as the half drew to a close, where any attempt to re-direct the cross would surely have led to a goal.
Yet despite the dominance, Spain, once again, carried little threat. The group stage had seen them passing without purpose, passing the buck when in the final third, passing up chances when the shot would have been the better option. They passed like an out of depth contestant on Mastermind, with scorelines to match. At half time, they had registered just the one shot on target, a punt from range that was easy pickings for Earps. Then, in the second half, their probing paid dividends. Del Castillo, on at half time for Cardona, beat the over-committed Daly to the pass into the channel, and suddenly England were woefully exposed at the back. A simple pass to Gonzalez, a simple turn and finish. For the first time at the tournament, Spain had scored a non-headed goal from open play. They had scored via the philosophy hard coded into their footballing DNA. They had passed the ball into the net.
Teams of England past may have wilted in this scenario, or risked throwing caution into the wind by throwing on extra strikers to chase the game. But under Sarina, England are a different beast, with the luxury of quality rotational depth to improve the side without unbalancing it. Not afraid to make the big calls, Wiegaman retained Hemp, but withdrew Mead, along with White and Kirby, both of whom had failed to impact the game. It would be up to Toone, Russo and Kelly to be the difference as Wiegman’s finishers. But Spain were still in control. Del Castillo was running Rachel ragged on the right, exposing the shortcomings of playing a forward at left back. A wonderful nutmeg created a crossing chance that England were able to deal with. Another cross caused much greater threat, as a desperately back peddling Earps was forced to claw one out from under her own crossbar. Time was bleeding for England, as they tried desperately to force the issue. Daly had a crack from range that didn’t threaten Paños. A brief bit of pinball in the Spanish box ended with Hemp blazing over. They were half moments, whispers, with little faith behind them. Spain knew they had the win; they had the lead. But that lead was slim. Spain were close, close to finally fulfilling the huge weight of talent spread across their side, despite the losses of Hermoso and Putellas. But England were coming back into this. If they could hold on, if they could see this out, they would get over the line. They just needed that extra bit of defensive security.
And so, Jorge Vilda fell into the same trap Hope Powell did on that day in Leverkusen. Sensing the finish line, sensing history, he withdrew Abelleira and goalscorer Gonzalez, and brought on two defenders to try to close out the result, at the cost of ceding the initiative. Suddenly, Walsh had room in the midfield. Suddenly, the tight squeeze of the passing carousel was relinquished. England could play their game again, albeit in what little time that remained. They had 13 minutes to save their tournament, to drag themselves back from the brink. Passing and pressing was replaced with aerial directness, spurred on by a wave of anxious home support, begging for this incredible journey not to end so soon. With just 6 minutes left, Sarina’s positive changes paid off. Hemp dug out a cross, Russo drew three defenders onto herself and beat them all to the header. Toone, who had toiled in front of goal at Euro 2022 until now, sprinted unmarked onto the knockdown.
A nation held its breath as she met the ball on the volley and guided it into the bottom corner. Jubilation resonated around the AMEX, as England dragged Spain back down to their level, back from a place in the Semi Final. Spain were floored, mentally shot. Their protests over the legality of the goal fell on deaf ears. They knew that their chance, their moment, had passed. For England, it was an emotion all too familiar to them. They too had tried to play the hold out game in 2011, only to fall to France’s Bussaglia’s 88th minute screamer, and then (naturally) lost on penalties. This time, the boot was on the other foot, and now England had all the momentum that Spain had robbed them of over the previous 80 minutes. And in Extra Time, they cashed in.
The defensive changes by Spain had robbed them of their midfield monopoly, and suddenly, there were spaces everywhere for England to exploit. Toone forced a turnover off 3 Spanish players, and a quick recycle gave Stanway oceans of space to run into. In panic mode, Spain prioritised Georgia’s passing options over her own movement. With no press, no challenge, she motored to the edge of the box and let loose an absolute howitzer of a rocket past the despairing dive of Paños and into the top corner. From nothing, from nowhere, England had fought off Spain, and now it was they who found themselves in the driving seat.
We can't get enough of Georgia Stanway's goal! 🤩#WEURO2022 #BBCEuros #BBCFootball #Lionesses
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 20, 2022
In desperation, Vilda brought on Sarriegi, in an attempt to restore the attacking dominance that he had earlier robbed Spain of. But it was no use. England possessed more experience and defensive know-how in how to see games out from this postion. Marshalled by captain Leah Williamson and the indestructible Millie Bright, England’s defence stood firm against the endless wave of Spanish pressure, seeing out a memorable result that had fans cheering to the ceiling at the final whistle. Sarina, so often calm and restrained, could not help but let her emotions loose on the side-lines, a roar to the heavens before being engulfed by her coaching team. England had faced their first major test of Euro 2022. And despite being outplayed and out passed for the majority of the contest, through grit, courage, heart and belief, they had found a way to win.
Photos from the fixture by James Whitehead
Written by Adam Salter.
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