Just spectacular... or a spectacle the tournament could do without?
BEFORE the goals came tumbling in and all hell was let loose, Millie Bright shut out the early threat of Ada Hegerberg, one of the continent’s great players, pressing the space with composure and watchfulness. Hegerberg insisted after her team had conceded a solitary goal to Northern Ireland that: ‘We can’t let this happen again.’ There were fears for an England defence whose four starting personnel were all right-footed. If all the dark horses defend like Norway, though, attack will be the only form of defence needed. The notion that Norway have advanced as a side since England beat them 3-0 in the last World Cup was shredded as utterly as their defence was cut away. For a time, as Ellen White advanced screaming down the right touchline for each restart and the dominant children’s voices in the crowd screamed ‘Football’s coming home’, there was only euphoria. In those moments, you remembered Georgia Stanway, an emerging star at the last World Cup, so surprised to be selected to face Japan that Phil Neville told her ‘to pretend you’re in the park, playing with your friends’. And then you watched her here, thrashing home the penalty won by White which was the only remotely dubious part of the whole affair. But it was when the fifth goal went in the match morphed from something spectacular to a spectacle which was not actually serving this tournament as much as it might. For England to have put away part-timers Northern Ireland in such a way would have been one thing. But these were fully professional opponents. Three of Norway’s four starting
defenders play in the WSL, and five in total, for Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
A level of technical deficiency, shocking to behold, removed any competitive interest in a game which was billed as the stand-out fixture of this group. Perhaps a Norway manager with some kind of grip might have made some kind of difference, but Martin Sjogren was a helpless bystander. His players took it upon themselves to sort it out, with a conference in midfield after the fifth goal went in. The further goal that came before half-time show how little difference that made.
Manchester City’s Julie Blakstad should have been put out of her misery at half-time but was not. Sjogren fronted up last night, though he offered no real explanation. ‘We made some very bad mistakes,’ he said. ‘It’s my responsibility.’
Take your pick from the many moments of quite exquisite English attacking play. Beth Mead’s giddying run around the fringe of the six-yard box before despatching the fifth was the finest. Her pace on the ball is something to behold. Sarina Wiegman could afford to make three of her four substitutions and still see her players go on to complete the biggest win in Women’s Euros history. It was an extreme manifestation of a pattern which we have seen in the first week of this tournament, with a fundamental defensive capability missing in teams from which we expected to see something better. Germany hammered Denmark 4-0. France beat Italy 5-1. Spain beating Finland was more expected. Germany and Spain meet tonight in Brentford and the losers are likely to face England here next Wednesday. Wiegman will hope for equally fragile opposition then.
The tournament requires something far, far better.