Riise defiant after defensive blunders cost England
Hege Riise, the interim head coach, insisted England had not fallen behind their rivals despite back-toback friendly defeats by France and Canada. Two defensive howlers led to a ninth loss in 14 games for the Lionesses on a disappointing night in Stoke-on-trent.
Despite the errors, Riise said: “I’m quite happy with how we defended and how the two central midfielders reacted when we lost the ball. We were a bit stressed with the ball and Canada were aggressive with their press. The thing I am most disappointed in is that we didn’t create chances often enough.”
The match was the Lionesses’ last before Riise names her 18-player Great Britain squad for this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, but England were unable to provide a much-needed boost to morale after Friday’s 3-1 loss in France.
A lapse in concentration gifted Canada an early lead. Left-back Demi Stokes intercepted a through ball by Janine Beckie, her Manchester City team-mate, but allowed it to run into the path of Evelyne Viens, who poked the opening goal past goalkeeper Carly Telford.
Lapse in concentration: Evelyne Viens opens the scoring for Canada in the third minute of last night’s friendly against England
The majority of the rest of England’s display was stronger defensively but, in the closing stages, another moment to forget led to them conceding the second goal.
Karen Bardsley, who came on as a half-time substitute for Telford to make her first England appearance since suffering a long-term hamstring injury in the World Cup quarter-final nearly two years ago, took too long to clear Chelsea centreback Millie Bright’s backpass and
allowed Nichelle Prince to tackle her, just a few yards out, and score.
Riise’s side did have their moments. Skilful Arsenal playmaker Jordan Nobbs dipped a superb freekick onto the crossbar and Georgia Stanway’s shot bounced wide after neat link-up play between Fran Kirby and Beth England.
Stanway, who was playing in a deeper midfield role rather than one of her more usual forward positions as Riise looked at different options,
impressed in that holding role and was positive going forward with the ball, but swerved a long-range strike wide as both teams created only a handful of chances.
“It’s frustrating. It’s those fine margins that we’re still talking about,” said Stanway, of Manchester City. “We’re disappointed in ourselves for not finishing off those final balls, but we played good football and I feel like we’re heading in the right direction.”
Canada, managed by former England assistant Bev Priestman, are ranked eighth in the world, two places lower than England.
Asked if England had started to slip behind other countries, Riise said: “Not at all. I am very confident that, next time, we will learn from this and create great opportunities for ourselves.
“I’m happy to have had these two games and to get to see all the players. Moving forward, I’m confident we will perform better.”
Riise will be able to select players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the Olympics, as well as England, but the majority of the 18-strong squad she names next month is expected to come from the Lionesses’ camp.
Casey Stoney, the Manchester United manager and former England captain who was working as a pundit for BBC Sport, said: “It’s not the form you’d want to go into any major tournament with.
“It’s about fine margins, but the fine margins are going against England too often. They did not create nearly enough to win the game tonight.”
England
Canada
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