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Glasgow Times
35 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Carter: England looked scared in Euro 2025 defeat to France
After Alessia Russo's goal was disallowed on VAR review, the defending champions conceded two goals in the space of three minutes in the first-half, making their route to three points all the more difficult. Despite a late stirring of pressure that followed Keira Walsh's 87th minute strike from range, England fell to defeat - the first-ever for Sarina Wiegman at a major tournament. Starting left-back Carter, who was given the challenge of dealing with Delphine Cascarino, believes England were too concerned by their opponents heading into the match. 'We played like we looked scared today. We weren't aggressive enough. We worried about their threats in behind and what they could do rather than doing what we could do,' she explained. 'We didn't do as well on the ball or off the ball. I feel like the only positive to take is that last 10 minutes. 'For me, watching it from the side, I really believed that we would get a goal and I really felt that we could get a second goal. 'We have to focus on that 10 minutes that we did have at the end and take that into the next game.' Thanks for your fantastic support in Zürich and back home ❤️ Now it's time to recover and reset - we'll see you all on Wednesday, #Lionesses fans 👊 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 5, 2025 That final 10 minutes was inspired in part by the introduction of 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang in the 86th minute, and further spurred on by Walsh's consolation goal a minute later. The Chelsea midfielder collected the ball on the edge of the box from a corner before taking a touch and sublimely firing home for just her second England goal. But it was Agyemang who brought intent as a fourth attacker in place of centre-back Alex Greenwood, providing the travelling supporters with a reason to cheer in a grandstand finish. 'She's great. She's an incredible talent and, even better, she's an incredible person,' said Carter of the England youngster. 'Having someone like her to bring on, I think that we do have depth in our subs and the players that came on today really showed that and made a really big impact. 'I'm really happy that Michelle's in the squad because she's been a great asset for us.' The damage, however, was already done and the scoreline arguably flattered England. Sarina Wiegman's side struggled to get back into the game after Russo's goal had been ruled out for Beth Mead's offside in the build-up, though the margin was a matter of millimetres. What ensued was a series of misplaced passes, sloppy turnovers and squandered chances as the Lionesses struggled to regain a foothold in a game that France dominated. 'We all have days where we're having a bit of a mare on the ball and, unfortunately, today there was more than one player doing that,' reflected Carter. 'We all made a lot of mistakes today that we wouldn't normally make. As much as we need to go over it and make sure we do it better, there's also a lot of mistakes in there that were just uncharacteristic of the players to be making. 'The only thing that we can do is review it and try our best to work on those things in training and do better for the next game.' Doing better is now a must if England are to progress from the group stages. They have arguably the toughest billing of fixtures in the so-called 'group of death' as they face a Netherlands side on Wednesday buoyed by 3-0 victory over Wales. For Carter, though, despite the loss the task remains the same as it always has: win. 'I don't think [the aim] is any different than before the tournament started,' she said. 'We knew that we had to win games and we set out to win every single game and that doesn't change now. 'We go to the Netherlands and we try to win the same way we would have, even if we'd have won tonight.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac fumes Club World Cup pitches are 'more of a GOLF GREEN' as he hits out at conditions after Real Madrid loss
Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac suggested the Club World Cup pitches resemble a golf green in that they would be good for practising your putting, but less so for playing games of football. Dortmund lost 3-2 to Real Madrid on Saturday at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which is where both semi-finals and the final of this tournament will be played. Real will face Paris Saint-Germain in one of those semis, while Chelsea will meet Fluminense. The 2026 World Cup final will also be held here at this stadium. After it was confirmed that his side had exited this competition, Kovac said: 'This pitch and with the pitches we've played on in Cincinnati and also in Atlanta, the grass quality is different in the stadiums. 'It's more a golf green. You can putt here. It's very short. This is not the grass we are used to playing on in the Bundesliga and also the other stadiums. 'As you saw, the watering wasn't good enough, I'd say, because you don't have the licence for that. For high-speed football, you need good conditions and you need also a good pitch, the right pitch. When it's too dry, it's unbelievable, it's sticky, I can't explain it. 'I would like for you to go out and test it and then you will see how it is.' Now out of the Club World Cup, Kovac also suggested the kick-off times could be selected more sensibly. 'We played two times in Cincinnati – the first time, it was 12 o clock, the second time, 3pm. On the pitch we had temperatures of around 45 degrees. If you go out running and the temperature is 45 degrees, this is very hard. Today we had 35 degrees, which is also not much better. 'But OK, this is the tournament we need to play. My suggestion is that the kick-off times should be a little later. As a spectator, you would like to see intensive, aggressive, up-and-down football. When it's too hot, it's difficult to play this kind of football.' Meanwhile, tickets for the first semi-final, which will be played between Chelsea and Fluminense, were set at more than £300 per person. On Friday, the asking price dropped to £32.66 and on Saturday, it became £9.81.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
George Ford marks 100th Test cap by leading England to victory against Argentina
Alex Coles and debutant Seb Atkinson were shown yellow cards by referee Angus Gardner to temporary reduce Steve Borthwick's team to 13 men in La Plata, but after a superb regard defensive action, England were much improved after the break. Tom Roebuck grabbed a first try within two minutes of the restart and added another after Freddie Steward crossed over. Caden Murley concluded the scoring with five minutes left on a night where co-captain Ford showed his class on his 100th appearance for England. Off to a winning start in the Americas 👊#ARGvENG — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 5, 2025 All eyes were on Ford initially, but it was scrum-half Ben Spencer who did most of the kicking early on with a number of box kicks as Argentina dominated territory. Infringements were a regular occurrence from England and Coles was first to be sent to the sin-bin for a head-on-head contact with Facundo Isa. It was followed by rock-solid English defence led by co-captain Jamie George and after Santiago Carreras missed a simple penalty for Argentina, Ford landed a drop goal to conjure memories of his virtuoso display in the 2023 World Cup group stage. Atkinson followed Coles in being shown a yellow following a succession of team offsides, which reduced England to 13 men. 100 caps and counting for @George_Fordy 💯🌹🙌#ARGvENG — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 5, 2025 However, George again starred to keep Argentina at bay and while Ford missed another drop goal effort, it remained 3-0 at half-time. England started the second period with better intent and needed only 65 seconds to score the first try of the match. A fine carry by Ben Curry was followed by quick ball from Ford and Steward, who found Sale wing Roebuck and he crashed over on the right. Ford failed to add the extras, but quickly made amends with a superb pass to release his former Leicester team-mate Steward for England's second try. This time Ford kicked the conversion and the purple patch continued as Roebuck grabbed another in the 49th minute. 49' | DOUBLE TROUBLE 😎 Tom Roebuck has a brace in La Plata 🔥#ARGvENG — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 5, 2025 After being stopped just short of the try-line after a free-flowing move, Roebuck made no mistake second time around to help England move 22-0 ahead. Pablo Matera helped Argentina to produce an instant response and when Pedro Rubiolo finished off a superb team attack minutes later, the momentum had suddenly shifted. Borthwick turned to his bench as Guy Pepper was introduced for his Test debut, but fittingly it was Ford who took charge on his 100th international outing with two inch-perfect penalties – the second from near the halfway line. Harlequins wing Murley entered the fray with eight minutes later and wrapped up the scoring with an excellent finish before Ford kicked his third conversion to help England begin their summer tour in style.
