analysis
After marching through to the quarter-finals, England got drunk on a spectacular performance by their footballers. Norway is down after the 0:8 and has to put everything on one card against Austria.
At the latest when Ellen White unpacked the “glasses”, the German soccer players will have become somewhat restless in their armchairs on TV. The English record goalscorer made it 3-0 and 6-0 in England’s breathtaking 8-0 win over Norway and showed her typical celebration with thumbs and forefingers in circles in front of both eyes.
She copied her goal celebrations from FC striker Anthony Modeste during a visit to Cologne. “I love German football,” says the star striker from Manchester City. Well, not only the DFB team would like to avoid a clash with the “Lionesses” for as long as possible after the gala night in Brighton.
England celebrates a “Gr-eight Night”
“What is going on here?” That’s what went through her mind as things unfolded at Brighton Hove & Albion, England team manager Sarina Wiegman said after the game. As usual, the English media celebrated with exaggerations and neologisms on such occasions.
The BBC ennobled the performance of the tournament favorites as “sensational”, “Metro” fabulated of a “Gr-eight Night”, the “Daily Star” of the “Greightest Show”. The “Independent” reported a “wild wave of white attacks”. The Daily Telegraph wrote: “England not only beat Norway, but beat it up, destroyed it, tore it apart.”
Record under Wiegman: 93:3 goals in 16 games
Germany (4-0 against Denmark) and France (5-1 against Italy) had already set exclamation marks in their opening games. After the close 1-0 win against Austria in the first game, England made more than a statement. The 8:0 was the highest victory in European Championship history. Not one of 16 games under the direction of the successful coach Wiegman was lost, the fabulous goal record under her aegis is now 93:3. England seem to have assembled a complete team with the quality to climb to the throne of Europe.
There were a good eight of 15 shots on target against Norway, and the English women had 64 percent possession. Beth Mead feels “in the best shape of my life” after four EM goals, Ellen White called the victory a “great message” to the assembled competition.
After the game, the team sang and danced with the fans who just didn’t want to go home. Arsenal legend Ian Wright was impressed: “It was brilliant. A fantastic performance from England. I knew it was coming and it was.”
We keep our feet on the ground. We haven’t won anything yet.
Wiegman, who was hired by the English association after the 2017 European Championship victory with the Netherlands to bring the first major title to the island, had every effort to curb the euphoria. “It’s just a game too,” she said. “We’re going to enjoy the moment, but we’re going to keep our feet on the ground. We haven’t won anything yet.”
It’s all about prestige against Northern Ireland
The last group game in Southampton is on Friday (07/15/2022). Because England are the group winners and Northern Ireland are already out, the outcome of the game is sportingly irrelevant for both teams. For prestige alone, the Englishwomen will want to give their calling card to the European Championship debutants from the British provinces again. In the quarter-finals it is then against the second of the German group B
Norway ’embarrassing’ and ‘pathetic’
For Norway, on the other hand, only one win counts against the Austrians on Friday (9 p.m. CEST / live on Erste and on sportschau.de), because the 0: 8 demolished the goal difference after the 4: 1 opening against Northern Ireland. The nightmarish evening was noted with shock in Norway. “It couldn’t be more pathetic,” judged “Aftenposten”. The “Dagbladet” saw “total carnage. Norway delivered one of the most embarrassing performances in history.”
In fact, the Norwegians seemed paralyzed. The world-class storm with Ada Hegerberg, Guro Reit and Caroline Graham Hansen was totally up in the air, the defense around captain Maren Mjelde and Maria Thorisdottir, both under contract with English clubs, was in ruins. And coach Martin Sjøberg found no external means to avert the disaster that befell his team.
Hegerberg: Norway needs to find its pride again
“It’s brutal,” said Hegerberg after the debacle – Norway’s heaviest defeat in a major tournament. As in 2017, the 1995 world champion and two-time European champion is threatened with extinction after the preliminary round. The world footballer of 2018 and her teammates want to prevent that at all costs. “There is no excuse for what happened,” said Hegerberg. “But now we have to find our pride and move on. That’s still possible.”