Can England's haphazard winning machine curtail Spain's Euros party?

The Guardian

4 days ago

Deep down, England always knew it would come to this. They woke on Thursday with their assignment crystal clear: outwit a seemingly invincible Spain if they are to cement their place in history and retain the European Championship title.
A thankless task? It has been billed that way but there were elements of encouragement during a sapping, knife-edge semi-final in Zurich that Spain could easily have lost. For the first time this summer they were taken to the wire and the thought occurred that, if a weakened Germany could run them to within an Aitana Bonmatí masterstroke of the full distance, the Lionesses' haphazard winning machine stands a fighting chance of curtailing the favourites' party.
'I feel like the hard work has paid off,' the Spain manager, Montse Tomé, said after they had edged through. They were tested to the limit by a Germany team that squeezed space and, when opportunities arose, flooded forward. The goalkeeper Cata Coll made a handful of decisive saves and England will spend the coming days poring over the ways in which she can be exposed further.
They will certainly have noted how Germany, happy to give up possession in the first two-thirds of the pitch, caused intermittent havoc on the counter. Lauren Hemp may take particular interest in how Klara Bühl, whose blend of power and trickery deserved greater reward, exposed them repeatedly on Germany's left side. Bühl was never afraid to let fly and worked numerous positions in which to do so, although her best chance came when Spain were caught cold by a long pass by the keeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
Jule Brand, a sparkling presence on the other side, caused headaches of her own. If England can expose the Spain full-backs, Ona Batlle and Olga Carmona, there will be opportunities to make hay. The question is whether Sarina Wiegman would willingly encourage the kind of punchy, sometimes scrappy showing Germany produced to invite them on. Like Spain, the reigning world champions would rather have the ball: they have dominated it in all of their five games, comprehensively in most cases. Do England have it in them to set up for a smash and grab?
Evidence that they may do presented itself in February, when Wiegman's side won 1-0 at Wembley with a triumph of guts over guile. They had 41% of possession but nicked the spoils through Jess Park and could consider the outcome deserved. Two-thirds of the starters from this week's semi-finals also began that game; perhaps the concern is that, since then, England have neither looked similarly solid nor fluent enough to compensate.
Spain appear perfectly aware of that judging by Mariona Caldentey's unprompted acknowledgment during the post-game melee in Zurich that England are yet to truly sparkle. It remains possible that they will not need to. Wiegman may also note the way Germany's midfield of Elisa Senss, Sara Däbritz and Janina Minge set into their counterparts whenever danger threatened.
Bonmatí was, bar a couple of silky incursions, restrained until her angled bolt from the blue; Alexia Putellas was uncharacteristically quiet and few of those little pockets, the half-gaps between the lines, in which Spain love to wreak chaos were made available. If Wiegman wants to take inspiration then the insertion of Grace Clinton, who shone in that Nations League triumph five months ago, alongside Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway could generate a similar energy.
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It may ultimately be lost to time that Spain were breached three times in the group stage, twice by Belgium and via an unexpected Italy opener, but England will have their chances. Balls down the centre-backs' sides also caused occasional trouble on Wednesday night. But for all these shoots of encouragement, they will require a far more clinical edge than Germany proved capable of mustering.
Perhaps, in such a delicate match-up, intangibles come into play. It was clear from the extent of Spain's celebrations that debuting in a continental final, and a first win over Germany, meant the world. 'An infinite joy,' Tomé said. A weight of expectation accompanies that opportunity to make the next step, especially when you have been heavily backed to cruise home. Failure stings, just as seven of Spain's likely starting lineup will remember from Barcelona's Women's Champions League final against Arsenal two months ago, when the English side played the upstart role to perfection.
'This is not over yet,' Bonmatí said. England remain the team that have it all to do. Eyes may burn with the vision of decisively avenging that World Cup final defeat in Sydney two years ago, but the bottom line is that they must improve significantly on that performance. Germany's organised, aggressive and whip-smart offering may just have shown how to go about it.