China 1-6 England (Wang P 57’ | Russo 4’, Hemp 26’, James 41, 65’, Kelly 77’, Daly 84′)
ADELAIDE – Sarina Wiegman rolled the dice and gambled on the red of China, together with another flurry of Lauren James magic, to send England cruising into the last 16 of the World Cup.
Never before has Wiegman made this many changes in her international career, switching to a back three for the first time as Lionesses boss. The move was never likely to be catastrophic – China manager Shui Qingxia’s prophecy of a “significant gap between us and European teams” has been proven right – but there was a danger a stricken England could rattle into the knockout stages looking unassured.
When James is on such a license to thrill, there can be no such fears. Two more spectacular strikes, an even better one disallowed, and two assists; for a player who did not even start against Haiti in the opener, it is shaping up to be her tournament.
The 21-year-old, the youngest player ever to be involved in five World Cup goals in a single game, oozes swagger. Alessia Russo, on the other hand, needed nerves settling and it took her all of four minutes. It was not the cleanest shot past Zhu Yu into the bottom corner but will have done wonders for her confidence, this her first England goal since February’s 4-0 win over South Korea in the Arnold Clark Cup.
Yet with James in behind Russo and Lauren Hemp, England struck gold.
It was thoroughly justified that Hemp got in on the act herself with a cool finish, Millie Bright shouldering away Wu Chengshu to intercept and James fed the through ball.
Like so many others, the Manchester City winger has welcomed being placed in an unfamiliar role with a smile, and helped bring about a feeling that England can weather whatever is thrown at them at this World Cup.
It says everything about Keira Walsh’s importance that her injury forced such a rejig, Jess Carter asked to provide an extra layer of defence. An obvious choice, not least because she has on occasion played in defensive midfield for Chelsea, making her the best candidate to help Katie Zelem.
That was the thinking, led by caution; in reality, England could afford to loosen the shackles.
On one of David Beckham’s many trips to China as the country’s global football ambassador he was particularly impressed by the ambition of the women’s team to recreate the nation’s golden age. On this evidence, the glory days of the 1990s Steel Roses are long gone and unlikely to return any time soon.
James was totally unmarked for her curling effort from the edge of the box as Alex Greenwood’s free-kick drifted in. Playing on the same day, teams have often not watched their group rivals and so China may not have seen her winner against Denmark live – they cannot have needed many replays to be aware of the dangers of leaving her unattended from that range.
Lessons were not learned. Only a contentious VAR decision for offside against Lucy Bronze chalked off another James wonder goal. Wiegman could only throw her arms up in frustration at one of the great World Cup moments lost to bureaucracy.
Even when Bronze was on the wrong end of another VAR call, this time pushed into a handball by her own teammate Mary Earps, there was little cause for alarm as Wang Shuang hit the penalty straight down the middle.
The consolation was that James was not finished there, lashing Carter’s diagonal in on the volley. Chloe Kelly benefited from a howler from Zhu, way off her line, for the fifth and Rachel Daly proved she does not need to start up front to get on the scoresheet with a brilliant volley around the six-yard box. All the old concerns about lack of goals were long forgotten.
With Georgia Stanway taken off to avoid a suspension, the only other thing that could possibly have gone wrong was another injury. Daly survived a scare, an elbow to the face from Wu, and England breathed a sigh of relief.
Wiegman, of all people, deserves a break. She has remained assured in recent months as she rode the first waves of strife during her reign, missing the spine of her team and forced to defend a misfiring attack.
A goal-fest was exactly what was needed and if last-16 opponents Nigeria had any sneaking suspicion they were playing them at just the right time, they will be thinking twice now.
Quote of the day
“She did special things today. Unfortunately that one goal was cancelled. She flows over the pitch.” – Sarina Wiegman on Lauren James’ performance.
Player of the match: Lauren James
There was a danger James could have been stifled behind Russo and Hemp but she is getting better and better. All three of her finishes (including the one which was disallowed) were exquisite.
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