Five-star Lionesses show their mettle against Dutch

THE FIRST real test of England’s character under Sarina Wiegman was passed with flying colours as they came from behind to emphatically beat the Netherlands 5-1 in their second warm-up game for the European Championship. This was the first time England had trailed under Wiegman, but they did so for just 10 minutes as Lucy Bronze cancelled out Lieke Martens’ opener in the first half. The Lionesses then came to life in the second, as a Beth Mead brace and goals from Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp made it a comfortable victory.

This game had the strange dynamic of two managers going up against their own country, England with their Dutch coach Wiegman and Holland with the English-born Mark Parsons. To add to the confusion, the Lionesses played in their orange away kit while their opponents wore white. England could not blame the colour confusion for their sloppy first-half passing, which resulted in Holland taking the lead in the 22nd minute. Sherida Spitse’s driven corner found Martens, who nodded past Mary Earps. It was a bit of luck that drew them level as Bronze’s cross flew over Dutch keeper Sari van Veenendaal and all the way into the far corner. England’s defending still left a lot to be desired at the start of the second half as Alex Greenwood was penalised for bringing down Danielle van de Donk in the box, following a VAR review. But Spitse, seemingly put off by Earps’ goalline antics, hit the outside of the post. A minute later England were ahead. Hemp raced down the left and crossed for Mead, who slid in at the back post. Toone’s shot went underneath Van Veenendaal for a fortunate third before Hemp’s sublime volley for 4-1 and Mead made it 5-1 with a composed, closerange finish.