By Tom Garry, women’s football reporter at the Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
There were many raised eyebrows around the press box at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium when England’s starting team was revealed but nobody was more bamboozled than their opponents. China simply could not cope with an improving England team in their new 3-5-2 formation as Sarina Wiegman reminded rivals why her team are strong contenders at this World Cup.
Wiegman’s decision to switch to a back three proved to be a tactical masterstroke as the attacking qualities of wing-backs Lucy Bronze and Rachel Daly were well-utilised and the new-look strike duo of Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo brought the best out of them, on a night when England truly came out of their shell. Wiegman says her side are “growing into the tournament” – but this was quite some growth spurt.
Having been somewhat unconvincing in their opening two 1-0 victories against lowly ranked Haiti and then Denmark, and with widespread concerns that they would find things difficult against China in the absence of injured Barcelona star Keira Walsh, England arrived in Adelaide with something of a point to prove – and more literally a point required to guarantee their spot in the knockout stages. England fans need not have worried.
“We got a lot of criticism in the first two games but we were not concerned at all,” said captain Millie Bright after the convincing win. “You have to grow into tournaments, you get your momentum. Things start to click and you start to get your rhythm.”
This certainly looked like an England team who have now found their feet Down Under, and the move away from their regular 4-2-3-1 formation seemed to suit Russo perfectly, as she linked with Hemp in slick fashion. Both of them demonstrated excellent off-the-ball movement to expose gaps in China’s defence, while Lauren James – sitting in the No 10 position – had the freedom to illustrate all her skill, poise and emphatic finishing.
“She did special things,” Wiegman said of James. “She flows over the pitch.” Special things, indeed. James scored two superbly taken goals, one a strong strike from range and the other a well-taken volley in the second half.
Before all that, Russo got the rout going early on with a strong, low finish that delivered her first England goal since February and Hemp raced through to meet James’s fine through ball for the game’s second. Substitute Chloe Kelly capitalised on a goalkeeping error to slot in England’s fifth, after James’s classy brace, before Daly rifled in a sixth as England confidence levels soared.
The European champions did concede their first goal of the tournament, however, with the score at 3-0, when Lucy Bronze was adjudged to have handled the ball and Wang Shuang converted from the spot for the Asian Cup champions. Bronze was booked – much to her frustration – and will now need to be cautious as the prospect of a suspension looms if she picks up another yellow card before the quarter-finals. But conceding that goal was a minor blip on an otherwise memorable night for Wiegman’s team, who face Nigeria in the last-16 in Brisbane on Monday.
It is England’s ability to spring tactical surprises that will keep their opponents guessing in the knockout stages. China manager Shui Qingxia admitted her side were caught out by England’s change in formation, saying: “It’s not that we didn’t want to press in the first half, but the line-up of the other side has caused a lot of problems for us. We can see there’s a huge gap between us and the European teams.”
Wiegman, who has still not lost a competitive match in charge of England, added: “We expected China to press high because they had to win to go through. But they just stayed in shape. They didn’t expect us to play this way and they didn’t find a solution.
“I’m very proud of the team. When we discussed we wanted to change like this everyone believed in it straight away and you saw that on the pitch. We want to use the qualities of the squad as optimally as possible. The team showed we are really adaptable. I think we are growing into the tournament. We had a great performance.”
Match details and marks
China (4-5-1) Zhu 4; Li 5 (Wu 5, 75), Sha Wang 6, W Yao 4, Chen 5; Wu 4 (Shen 6, 90+3), L Yao 5 (Dou 6, 90+3), Yang 5, Shu Wang 4 (Gu 6, 75), L Zhang 5; Lou 5 (L Wang 5, 90+11).
Subs not used X Zhang, Xu (gk), Tang, Xiao, Pan (gk), Gao.
England (3-5-2) Earps 7; Carter 7, Bright 7, Greenwood 7; Bronze 6 (Charles 6, 71), Stanway 6 (Coombs 6, 45), James 9 (Toone 6, 81), Zelem 7, Daly 7; Hemp 8 (Kelly 6, 71), Russo 7 (England 6, 71).
Subs not used Nobbs, Hampton (gk), Wubben-Moy, Morgan, Roebuck (gk), Robinson. Booked Bronze.
Referee Casey Reibelt (Australia).
**Attendance ** 13,497.
