UEFA Women's EURO England 2022

[Lineker]

Meant to make this thread days ago but have been utterly sidetracked... this gets underway tonight, with hosts England taking on Austria live on BBC One!

[Colly]

That Natalie Portman intro was weird. I mean fair play for getting her but this is definitely the Euros and it didn't sound like she particularly realised...

[Adam]

The thread title is quite the trip.

[Lineker]

The little cars are back!!!

[Lineker]

The fact that they are playing in this stadium is a joke of a decision from UEFA.

[stokeriño]

Went to Spain vs. Finland on Friday. Spain did the polite thing and allowed Finland to score in the first minute, before utterly dominating them in the remaining 89 and winning 4-1.

The fact that Finland are playing all their group games (aka all their games) in Milton Keynes rather makes me support them by default, even though their doom is inevitable. 😬

[Lineker]

Quote

Sarina Wiegman will miss England’s final group game of the Euros against Northern Ireland on Friday evening after testing positive for Covid.

The Lionesses have secured top spot in Group A with a 1-0 defeat of Austria at Old Trafford and an 8-0 win over Norway in Brighton. The manager’s assistant Arjan Veurink, who was also her No 2 with the Netherlands, winning a home Euros in 2017, will take temporary charge.

Wiegman will remain at the squad’s base camp at the Lensbury Hotel in west London but will stay in remote contact with the players and her staff and will be tested regularly with a view to returning as soon as possible.

The 52-year-old’s chances of being back to full health before England’s quarter-final against the Group B runners-up, likely Spain or Denmark, next Wednesday are good. The centre-back Lotte Wubben-Moy tested positive last Friday before rejoining the group on Tuesday.

England are yet to lose under Wiegman, winning 16 of her 18 games and scoring 93 goals and conceding three.

Wiegman took charge in September, a year after she was announced as the long-term replacement for Phil Neville. She led the Netherlands to a first Euros victory in 2017, a World Cup final in 2019 and managed the team at the Tokyo Olympics, where they suffered a quarter-final defeat by the US.

 

[Adam]

So far, so good again tonight. England have been patient and then put their foot down for the last ten minutes of the first half to establish a solid lead.

[Lineker]

Finish from Stanway!!

[Colly]

I missed most of the first half, but this games been a cracker. The tournament has the same issue that a lot of AFCONs have, where the gulf between the good teams and the poor teams in the groups are enormous, but I think the knockouts should be decent if this is anything to go by.

[DFF]

@Timmoru Suzuki and I have tickets for the Semi-Final at Bramall Lane next week - can't wait!

Also, what a pearler from Stanway! 

[Adam]

They dug in superbly there, the subs made a big difference. What a hit by Stanway!

Hopefully that comeback gives them confidence for the semi-final.

[Jimmy]

I have a ticket for the final! Had tickets to the 8-0 but had to give them up because I've been ill. Honestly thought we were poor yesterday, Spain were the better team for the majority of the game, but great spirit to get back into it. Hopefully Walsh only had cramp at the end because she's been phenomenal, her and Stanway are probably my two favourites.

Would personally be starting Russo over White next game. I know there's an argument that Russo and Toone are incredible options to have off the bench, but Russo was such a handful yesterday when she came on. 

[The Kraig]

Heard people gushing over this tournament, really chuffed to see people out supporting the women's game. I'll probably check out a tournament highlights, but if anyone has specific match recommendations I'd love to hear them (I'm sure others would too). England sound like they are just bossing the whole thing.

[Colly]

Cracking finish that.

[The Lusophone]

That is an outrageous goal for the third.

[Gazz]

Cheekier than a sack of Nandos

[Lineker]

It's coming home!

[DFF]

Went to the game last night. To say the atmosphere was brilliant would be to do it a disservice. Great to see a more diverse crowd at the local stadium. It showed in the reactions too - no booing of the Swedish anthem (from what we could here) and only a smattering of boos all game (for the VAR check and a couple of Swedish fouls). Beyond that it was played in great spirit. 

If we were a little more tighter defensively, it would have probably been even more one-sided. Lost count of the number of times Lucy Bronze was either out of position or gave the ball away with either a lacklustre dribble attempt or a very casual pass. Surprised she wasn't subbed at HT tbh. That being said, fair play on getting a goal. Majority of the team were excellent throughout. Barring a 5 minute or so gap in the 2nd half at 2-0, we looked in control and the hungrier team. Sweden looked more and more shellshocked with each goal. 

[Adam]

Bronze was loose defensively yes but taking her off would have shorn the team of its ability to stretch Sweden in their half and on the counter. Bronze adds so much to the attacking unit, as seen in the first goal, and Wiegman likes her full-backs to play bravely and on the front foot, which is likely why she prefers Daly on the other side to Greenwood.