Shortly before kick-off an unexpectedly strong wind began swirling through Le Havre. Quite apart from taking the edge off a heatwave building in Normandy, it seemed to blow away the nagging doubts about England’s ability to threaten the world’s best sides. Phil Neville had promised that there was much more to come from his Lionesses and, playing as if propelled by an inexorable tailwind, they finally clicked, deservedly earning seats on a flight to Lyon on Friday.
Things will get considerably tougher and will be hotter in France’s gastronomic capital, against either the United States or the host nation in Tuesday’s semi-final, but, with Lucy Bronze outstanding, this was the night when we finally saw England properly gel. At long last, they largely sustained the passages of convincing play that, until now, we had seen only fleetingly.
Ada Hegerberg, Norway’s richly gifted Ballon d’Or winner, may not have been here – the striker is boycotting the tournament over grievances with her country’s FA – but David Beckham and his daughter Harper most certainly were. The cameras were soon capturing images of that pair cheering the Lionesses after the excellent Jill Scott propelled Neville’s side into a very early lead. A virus had left Bronze confined to bed earlier this week but England’s right-back showed no ill effects as she accelerated down the right on the counterattack, dodging her marker before cutting back for Ellen White.
A first-time strike beckoned but instead White completely misjudged it, kicking at thin air. No matter, Scott had made one of her trademark late dashes into the box and was in the right place at the right time to extend a boot and swipe the ball in off a post and beyond Ingrid Hjelmseth.
Bronze’s terrorising of Norway’s left-back, Kristine Minde, was to become one of the night’s most important subplots.
White may claim that it was the most audaciously brilliant, defender-deceiving dummy, but few are likely to believe her. Not that Neville will have cared. His side were not only ahead but closing down Martin Sjögren’s players so assiduously it seemed that Norway were suffocating.
Their collective struggle for breath left little room for attacking manoeuvre as the Lionesses controlled possession. It seemed they were galvanised by that brisk wind roaring in from the Channel, which had the effect of dramatically lowering temperatures that had earlier hit the high 20s celsius. Indeed, it became so vigorous that Beckham placed a blanket around Harper’s shoulders.
Steph Houghton, Neville’s captain – showing no signs of the ankle injury that had at one point left it touch-and-go as to whether she would start the game – supplied Scott with a fine through pass. The midfielder, in turn, cued up Nikita Parris, who responded by cutting in, burning off her minder and curling in a shot that, although only narrowly off target, emphasised that her left foot remains somewhat weaker than her right.
Millie Bright has had a bit of a mixed tournament but the centre-half – another one recovered from illness – second-guessed Caroline Graham Hansen superbly as the fast-breaking Norway winger attempted to sell her a mischievous dummy. Graham Hansen once dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot but she was struggling to shoot Bright down.
Similarly, her teammates could not contain Parris, whose pace and movement was emerging as the evening’s key theme. When Lyon’s new signing lifted a gorgeous ball over the top, White took a steadying touch before lashing the ball goalwards. The trajectory appeared unerring and the ground felt united in disbelief as it somehow rebounded off the inside of a post.
Norway appealed for a penalty when Ingrid Engen’s shot rebounded up off Demi Stokes’s boot and hit the left-back on her arm but, even in this new era, that would have been a very harsh decision and their claims were ignored. Stokes fully justified her selection ahead of Alex Greenwood with a reassuringly impressive performance.
Neville has described White as an amalgam of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alan Shearer and Michael Owen and his centre-forward responded to such lavish praise by scoring her fifth goal in four games. It began with Houghton showing her aptitude for building from the back and spreading play to Bronze who responded with a fine ball for Parris. She, in turn, passed slickly for White to fulfil her new “predator” status by tapping home from a couple of yards. In some ways that goal told the story of the first half, highlighting the extent to which England’s right-sided combination of Bronze and Parris were deconstructing Sjögren’s side.
This continued into the second half. Beth Mead had been on the pitch for only three minutes after replacing Toni Duggan when she directed a free-kick Bronze’s way, leaving the Lyon full-back to smash it first time, and imperiously, high into the net from just outside the area. After a goal he would have relished scoring, there was the sight of Beckham high-fiving Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s head of women’s football.
There was still time for England to reprise a few, now almost obligatory, slapdash defensive moments and Parris to see her penalty saved following a foul on Houghton but they had done enough.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion