by Kunle Demuren
I will be covering the 2011 Women's World Cup; this match review is part of that coverage.
As one of the few Americans who actually watched France’s victory on penalties (4-3, after it finished 1-1 after extra time) over England, I would like to give my impressions, especially since it was a thrilling game that has largely been overshadowed by the USA’s even more thrilling win over Brazil, and because France is the USA’s next opponent.
Anyone who watched the game would have been thoroughly impressed by the way England held on for dear life to get to penalties, against a clearly more technically able side. By the time ninety minutes of regulation plus thirty minutes extra time had passed, they had three hobbling outfield players (midfielder Jill Scott, striker Kelly Smith, and center-back and captain Faye White), plus goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was nursing an injured shoulder. And yet... a few decisions made a difficult task even more difficult.
Any manager who suspects that her team might concede a late equalizer and go to extra time (as England’s Hope Powell would have been insane not to, the way France had been playing all game), should not use all three of her substitutions by the 84th minute, and lo and behold, Kelly Smith pulled up lame with an ankle injury only a few minutes later, and France scored a great goal to equalize. One could argue that she was trying to win the game in regulation, but one does not use two substitutions on defenders in the 81st minute if one is trying to win a game, instead of trying not to lose. Saving that substitution for stoppage time, when they could have brought on an extra defender or midfielder to batten down the hatches if needed, would have been far more prudent. Some have questioned the wisdom of bringing on two relatively inexperienced full-backs, but both played reasonably well considering England were essentially playing with their backs to the wall for almost all of the time that they were on, although winger Elodie Thomis did get behind left-back Claire Rafferty a few times and created some decent chances.
More importantly, it must be said, England were fortunate to be leading in the first place. Jill Scott got a bit of a lucky bounce that deceived two French defenders, and then caught the French goalkeeper in exactly the wrong position. This is not to take away from a great shot that the keeper would have had to stretch for even if she had been properly positioned, but it really should have not been so easy. Furthermore, that was one of only seven shots that England managed, compared to thirty-three for the French. Despite the valiant manner in which England held on for penalties, it would be hard for an objective fan to say that they deserved to win the game, even if we only consider the eighty-six minutes or so that both sides had eleven fit players. France were passing circles around England, and the Lady Lions repeatedly failed to maintain possession long enough to sustain an attack. Indeed, they seemed to be hitting a lot of long, hopeless balls over the top, which seemed a rather useless strategy against such a strong defensive team like the French. The USA, especially left-back Amy LePeilbet and right-back Ali Krieger, will have to be careful to not give so much space out wide to France where they can send in cross after cross and cut open the defense. Furthermore, Shannon Boxx and Carli Lloyd in the USA’s central midfield will have to play better than they did on Sunday against the very talented French midfield of Louisa Necib, Gaëtane Thiney, and Camille Abily.
And of course, England failed to win yet another penalty shootout at a major tournament (in fact, the last time a senior English team, male or female, did was on home soil against Spain in Euro 96 in the quarter-finals), one that they honestly probably would have won if all of their penalties were on target. Once again Hope Powell has to come in for criticism here, especially after she decried the “cowardice” of her team afterwards because very few volunteered for penalties. She has been an international manager for thirteen years, and yet she didn’t have five penalty takers ready to go? Contrast this with Pia Sundhage, who according to SI’s Grant Wahl had already made sure that five were chosen and prepared for the possibility that they would have to take a PK. Asking for volunteers at that point, when players are already physically and mentally exhausted, is asking for trouble, because then you have players who are not mentally prepared stepping up to take perhaps the biggest shot of their lives... and indeed, two of them missed.
For all of England’s failings, it must be said that France played a good game, but the United States will be heartened by their repeated failure to finish off the game with all of the chances that they created, especially when England were practically down to 10 women for over half-an-hour. The American women have already shown that they have fight in them, and with the greater tournament pedigree and ability, they should be able to beat the French, as long as they maintain their focus and can sustain their passing game after their exertions (a bit of a understatement, really) on Sunday.
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