National coach Sarina Wiegman started the European Championship in his own country on Wednesday with England. The top favorite for the overall victory was on a sold-out Old Trafford with 1-0 too strong for Austria.
Bethany Mead was the celebrated England player. After fifteen minutes of play, the attacker made the only goal in the Manchester United stadium with a nice lobje, where the Wiegman team killed several big opportunities.
With the victory, the Dutch coach has a flawless start to the European Championship. England is the top favorite for the European title. Wiegman was appointed by the English Association last year to become European champions with English women in his own country, after she worked at the Orange Women for 4.5 years. England have never won a title.
With almost 69,000 spectators in the stands of Old Trafford, the opening match of the European Championship in England set a new record. The old record was 41,301 fans at the final of the European Championship of 2013 in Sweden. The new record will still die this European Championship: all 90,000 tickets were sold for the final at Wembley.
For the Netherlands, the European Championship starts next Saturday with a group match against Sweden. The game will be played at 9 p.m. (Dutch time) at the Sheffield United stadium. Wiegman will return to action with England on Monday. Then Norway is the opponent.
Stand in group A
- 1. England 1-3 (1-0)
- 2. Northern Ireland 0-0 (0-0)
- 3. Norway 0-0 (0-0)
- 4. Austria 1-0 (0-1)
Bethany Mead brings Old Trafford into ecstasy with the opening goal.
Bethany Mead brings Old Trafford into ecstasy with the opening goal. Photo: Getty Images
Mead turns Old Trafford upside down
The English women looked forward to the opening game with high expectations and this was reflected in the elated atmosphere at Old Trafford. Thousands of fans made a deafening noise as the players took to the field for the warm-up and later for the emergence. Also the national anthem God Save the Queen was passionately sung.
The pressure seemed to be on the legs of the English players in the opening phase of the game, as it was Austria that started the game much better. England made a nervous impression and barely came out of the visitors.
After more than fifteen minutes of play it was England that took the lead. Francesca Kirby served the detached Mead, who outwit the Austrian goalkeeper with a nice rocker. An Austrian defender cleared the ball through the bottom of the bar, but according to the VAR it had already crossed the goal line: 1-0. It led to euphoric scenes at Old Trafford.
The opening goal clearly gave the English wings, because suddenly Wiegman’s team was stacking chance after chance. Top scorer of all time Ellen White saw a header just beside and Lauren Hemp also failed to decide the game early, so England started to rest with ‘only’ a 1-0 lead.
England faltered in the final phase, but held their ground.
England faltered in the final phase, but held their ground. Photo: Getty Images
England falter in final phase
Even after the interruption, England had the better of the game, but great opportunities were not forthcoming for the ‘Lionesses’ for a long time. Also a triple change from Wiegman after more than an hour of playing did not change that.
As a result, an exciting final phase began for England. Austria managed to shake the English defense with high passes from the side several times, but the number 21 of the FIFA ranking list fored few opportunities. The only big chance, a curling shot to the far corner about ten minutes before the end, was a prey for keeper Mary Earps.
England thus experienced the hoped-for start of the European Championship at Old Trafford, on a night when women’s football put itself on the map. Wiegman hopes to actually write history with the host country on July 31. Then the final is at a sold-out Wembley.
England had the much hoped-for start of the European Championship.
England had the much hoped-for start of the European Championship. Photo: AP