logo
Lionesses will be going home if they do not shape up but history offers hope

Lionesses will be going home if they do not shape up but history offers hope

The Guardian8 hours ago
The England fans in Zurich have a new favourite song, replacing the word 'Tequila!' with 'Sarina!' It is a fun twist on a 1950s number from The Champs, written by the American saxophonist Chuck Rio. If the band's name is fitting, for a few more days at least, for England's status as defending champions, by full-time at Stadion Letzigrund against France the artist's name was more in keeping with the mood among supporters, because Sarina Wiegman's side are in genuine danger of being chucked out of Euro 2025.
England will point to Alessia Russo's goal at 0-0 being ruled out for an offside that did not seem conclusive even from zoomed-in VAR images, yet the simple truth is this: if England do not improve markedly when they face the Netherlands on Wednesday, they will probably be out before they face Wales in their final group match. Defeat would spell the end unless France lose to Wales later in the day.
Losing 2-1 to France is, in isolation, no cause for panic. It is not as if England were beaten by minnows; France were semi-finalists three years ago, are one of the world's in-form sides in 2025 and their skilful, athletic team are contenders to win this trophy. It was the manner of England's performance that signalled alarm bells. The Lionesses had two shots on target, lost too many duels – France winning 52 to 37 – and looked vulnerable to pace when they turned over possession. There were too many sloppy errors, too many players not on the top of their game.
At half-time, the English pundits on ITV were expressing huge concern, Emma Hayes saying 'England have been bullied all over the pitch' and Karen Carney stating: 'We looked like we've never played together. That wasn't good enough.'
After the game, the England left-back Jess Carter admitted: 'I think we played like we were a little bit scared today. Maybe we weren't aggressive enough. We maybe were worrying about their threats in behind and what they can do rather than doing what we can do.
'We didn't do as well on the ball, or off the ball. The only positive to take is that last 10 minutes. For me watching it from the side I really believed we would get a goal, I really felt like we could get a second goal. We have to focus on that 10 minutes that we did have at the end and take that over to the next game. The energy the subs brought on was incredible, really pressing and being aggressive.'
There were positives for the Lionesses, not least the late cameos by the promising young Arsenal striker Michelle Agyemang and the midfielder Grace Clinton, who provided energy, and the fact that England were much the stronger team for the opening 15 minutes. It was those middle 70 minutes – gulp – that were the problem.
As holders, England are there to be targeted. After five consecutive Women's Euros between 1997 and 2013 where Germany successfully defended their title, the defending champions have gone out in the quarter-finals in the two tournaments since, the more recent fallen winners being the Netherlands. As it stands, England would be relieved to get that far.
What will encourage England supporters – who sang their new song loyally in support of the head coach even at 2-0 down – is that under Wiegman the team have scarcely played two poor games in a row, tending to respond to disappointing results with some of their best football. Last summer in qualifying ties, for example, they regrouped rapidly after losing to France at St James' Park and beat the same opponents in Saint-Étienne four days later with arguably their best performance since the World Cup. A sloppy loss to Belgium in October 2023 was followed by an impressive home win over the Netherlands, and after this year's defeat in Belgium came a resounding 6-0 victory over Portugal at Wembley in May.
Sign up to Moving the Goalposts
No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football
after newsletter promotion
Therein also lies one of the underlying concerns about this England team over the past 24 months: chronic inconsistency. There have almost been two England teams: the wasteful England who got an off-colour draw in Portugal in February and the impressive England who beat the world champions, Spain, at Wembley five days later; the England who have looked vulnerable to pace on the counterattack against technically-inferior opposition – twice conceding three goals against Belgium – and the England resolute and organised enough to secure clean sheets against the United States, Sweden and Spain.
Which of those Englands will turn up against the 2017 European champions on Wednesday? The answer needs to be the latter. England are playing knockout football, with the Euros only days old. The time to rediscover their magic of 2022 and deliver the performances everyone knows they are capable of has arrived.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Hyett delighted by resilient England in Six Nations Summer Series
Hyett delighted by resilient England in Six Nations Summer Series

South Wales Guardian

time9 minutes ago

  • South Wales Guardian

Hyett delighted by resilient England in Six Nations Summer Series

Tries from Player of the Match Joia Bennett, Grace Clifford, Lucy Simpson, Amelia MacDougall and Molly Luthayi were enough to seal the win at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly. But England were pushed all the way by Scotland, who battled hard for 80 minutes and continually refused to let their opponents get away from them in the scoring, as Holly McIntyre, Emily Norval and Poppy Mellanby all crossed over. And while the final scoreline looks like it was a comfortable win for England, Hyett explained there were plenty of times when her side had to dig deep to hold Scotland at bay. 'I'm really pleased with the girls and the result,' said the 20-year-old. 'We definitely had to fight for it. There were moments in the game where we weren't where we wanted to be, but I think the fight and the desire that we all have, one to 23 right through the squad, is what got us over the line in the end.' Hyett, who tasted PWR [Premiership Women's Rugby] glory with Gloucester Hartpury earlier this year, also said how England's gameplan was always to take the game to Scotland and was delighted by the way the backs and forwards combined. 'We spoke all week about being direct, playing with intent and beating the other team physicality wise, and I think when we did that. 'We earned the right to go wide, and we scored a lot of tries out there. That just proved that when the forwards do a great job, our backs can then reward our forwards.' 😎 A recap of the results from yesterday's opening games in the #U6NSummerSeries Next up for England is a clash against Italy, who fell 46-5 to France in their opening game of the tournament, but Hyett is not underestimating the challenge they'll pose on July 11. 'Italy is a new game on a new day,' she added. 'This game is done and over with and it's on to the next job. 'Italy will be a tough challenge, definitely. '[Against France], they showed that they can be very physical, but also, they are very quick, and they have a lot of threats around the park. 'For us, it'll be how we manage that whilst also focussing on ourselves.' Discover the future of international rugby at the 2025 Women's Summer Series – where rising stars shine. Follow the action live at and on Instagram @u20sixnations.

Piastri feels the pain after British GP penalty
Piastri feels the pain after British GP penalty

Reuters

time20 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Piastri feels the pain after British GP penalty

SILVERSTONE, England, July 6 (Reuters) - Oscar Piastri was feeling the pain after a British Grand Prix penalty cost him a win and handed it instead to McLaren teammate and closest Formula One rival Lando Norris. Instead of forging further ahead in the championship, the Australian saw his lead slashed to eight points after 12 of 24 races. Piastri was leading and following the safety car when it signalled it was about to return to the pits on lap 21. The Australian then braked suddenly, before the restart, and caught out Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver, close behind, went ahead of the McLaren to avoid making contact before resuming position and then spinning on the restart, dropping to 11th. Stewards took a dim view of the incident -- a harsh decision according to team boss Andrea Stella -- and handed Piastri a 10-second penalty that, when taken, left him second in a McLaren one-two. "I'm not going to say much. I'll get myself in trouble," were Piastri's first words to 2009 world champion Jenson Button in the post-race interviews. "Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore. I mean, I did it for five laps before that ... but thanks to the crowd for a great event. Thanks for sticking through the weather. "I still like Silverstone even if I don't like it today." Asked again in a press conference how long it would take him to move on, Piastri -- so often unemotional -- released the pressure on his tongue a little bit. "I don't know," he replied. "It obviously hurts at the moment. It's a different hurt though because I know I deserved a lot more than what I got today. I felt like I drove a really strong race. "Ultimately, when you don't get the result you think you deserve, it hurts, especially when it's not in your control ... I feel like I did a good job today. So, it just makes it more painful when you don't win." Piastri served the penalty with nine laps to go and, with McLaren having suggested they might appeal the penalty, enquired over the radio whether he and Norris might switch positions. With Norris heading for a first home win in front of a Sunday crowd of 168,000, he knew the request was unlikely to be granted. "I thought I would ask the question. I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked. But I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn't going to happen," said Piastri. Stella said the driver was right to ask, however. "We always tell our drivers don't keep things in the back of your mind ... if you want to let us know what you are thinking, just say it," he told reporters. "What Oscar did is exactly what we incentivised our drivers to do. He communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated."

Borak: France won't rest on laurels after victory in U20 Summer Series
Borak: France won't rest on laurels after victory in U20 Summer Series

South Wales Argus

time21 minutes ago

  • South Wales Argus

Borak: France won't rest on laurels after victory in U20 Summer Series

An Elina Folituu hattrick propelled Les Bleuettes to a dominant win in their 2025 Six Nations Women's Summer Series opener at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly. Emy Baudru, Zoe Jean, Tifen Lesieu, co-captain Anna Macipe and Cherrezade Saiki also crossed for France, and while Borak had nothing but admiration for her team's efforts, the prop explained her team has the potential to be even better during their second game on July 11. 'It was a really good game for us,' said the 21-year-old. 'But we will now go away and work on a few things since we have just under a week to work on the game for Ireland. 'We will rewatch the videos again to see what we have to work on, including the small details. 'We are excited for the game coming up next, especially since it's a big game against Ireland and hopefully we'll do better.' 😎 A recap of the results from yesterday's opening games in the #U6NSummerSeries — Six Nations Under-20s (@SixNationsU20) July 6, 2025 France started the game the stronger of the two sides and spent much of the first half camped inside the Italian 22 as they looked to assert their physical dominance. Despite the best efforts of Italy's defence, France benefitted time and again from their physicality, as well as their skill, with Folituu's treble – all scored off the back of rolling mauls – highlighting that fact. And Borak revealed taking the game to Italy early was always in the minds of her and her teammates and also praised the performances of some of the more junior members of the squad. 'It was always part of the game plan, and we just wanted to get the head start first,' she said. 'We were happy that the girls showed up, especially in the second half as well. 'I'm proud of the girls, especially since it's the first selection for some of them. 'Everything was positive and we're really happy for the win. 'We still have a lot to work on, and I still have a lot to work on personally. 'But it's the first game and we made it pretty good out there, and now we're just waiting for the next game and hopefully we'll do better in that next week.' Ireland head into the clash with France also having won their opening game of the competition, downing Wales 27-10 in a hard-fought encounter. Discover the future of international rugby at the 2025 Women's Summer Series – where rising stars shine. Follow the action live at and on Instagram @u20sixnations.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store