Wonder goal lifts England close to World Cup playoffs

England forward Lauren James.
Photo: AFP

Lauren James scored a wonder strike in her first Women’s World Cup start to lead England to a 1-0 Group D victory over Denmark on Friday, all but guaranteeing the European champions a spot in the knockout stage.

Coach Sarina Wiegman made two bold changes to Friday’s squad, moving the versatile Rachel Daly back to defence and inserting James into the starting lineup – and the two teamed up to score in the sixth minute at Sydney Football Stadium.

“It was a dream, it was something I’ve been thinking about, but most importantly, just happy to help the team win,” James told the BBC.

“I’m calm all around, on and off the pitch, and I just try to bring that to my game as well. Today I showed that.”

Daly knocked the ball to James, who sped past one defender then curled in a rocket from 22 yards out that goalkeeper Lene Christensen had little chance of stopping.

England’s World Cup hopes suffered a major blow, however, towards the end of the first half when Keira Walsh crumpled to the pitch with what looked like a serious knee injury. The Barcelona midfielder signalled to staff with a hand slash to the throat that she was done.

James’ goal in front of a pro-England crowd of 40,439 also ended her side’s scoring drought from open play after they went four games without one. The 22-year-old Chelsea forward, whose older brother Reece also plays for the club, made her England senior debut in September last year.

“We really, really had to fight for the win, and that’s what we did,” Wiegman told the BBC. “For me it doesn’t matter who scores the goals. They played well, they started well and they got a very useful goal. It’s very nice.”

England had chances to increase their lead, including Alessia Russo’s fierce shot in the 71st minute that sailed just wide.

But Denmark, ranked 13th, were a threat throughout the second half and goalkeeper Mary Earps had to stretch to tip a shot from Katrine Veje over the bar. Bayern Munich forward Pernille Harder almost pulled one back for the Danes in the dying minutes, but her header came back off the post.

Walsh will be tough to replace in an England side already missing captain Leah Williamson, Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner Beth Mead and Fran Kirby to serious knee injuries.

“It did look serious, if you can’t walk off the pitch it looks serious,” Wiegman said of the injury to Walsh, who left the stadium on crutches. “But we just finished the game.”

China beat Haiti

Wang Shuang kept China’s Women’s World Cup campaign alive by converting a penalty in Friday’s 1-0 win over Haiti at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, with the Asian side showing great resolve to claim victory despite Zhang Rui’s red card.

The Steel Roses, who would have been eliminated had they lost the match, face England on Tuesday and have three points from two games in Group D.

“I think confidence plays an important role because even though we were fewer players, we never gave up,” goalscorer Wang said.

“And also we were very confident about the tactics and strategies provided by our coach. Even though we were one person fewer than them, we were still able to win the game.”

China dominated possession from kick-off and almost went ahead in spectacular fashion in the 16th minute when Lou Jiahui managed to direct an acrobatic effort at goal, but the shot was tame and easily saved by Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Theus.

The momentum quickly shifted when Rui was shown a straight red card in the 29th minute for a reckless ‘studs up’ tackle on Sherly Jeudy.

Haiti stepped up the intensity, creating numerous opportunities and having a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime, but China defended resolutely despite being a player short.

With Haiti pressing for an opener, Melchie Dumornay, who impressed against England, came on at halftime and the 19-year-old Olympique Lyonnais midfielder drew an excellent save from Zhu Yu with a side-footed shot.

However, it was China who finally broke the deadlock, after Zhang Linyan was clumsily brought down by Ruthny Mathurin.

Substitute Wang, the 2018 Asian Women’s Footballer of the Year, stepped up to convert the resulting penalty in the 74th minute and give her side the advantage.

Haiti pushed hard in search of an equaliser and had two penalty claims denied in a frantic closing spell, but China held on for the victory.

Haiti coach Nicolas Delepine, who was shown a yellow card for protesting the referee’s decision to not award a penalty when Dumornay went down in the box in stoppage time, said his side had only themselves to blame for the defeat.

“We’re a little bit riled up, if I may say, because it feels like it was snatched from us,” Delepine told reporters.

“But we weren’t on top of our game today and that’s where we lost, we lost because of poor performance. We didn’t lose because of VAR.”

Haiti have no points after two defeats, but can progress to the knockout stage if they beat Denmark and other results go in their favour.

“We have 90 minutes that could lead to a win and maybe to qualification, which would be extraordinary…,” Delepine said.

“I need to make my players understand that the World Cup is the biggest competition in their footballing career, and therefore we can’t throw in the towel just yet.”

Argentina and South Africa contest possession in their FIFA World Cup group game.
Photo: Photosport

Argentina and South Africa draw

Argentina and South Africa settled for an exciting 2-2 draw in their Group G clash at Dunedin Stadium on Friday that kept both teams alive in the tournament but dented their hopes of progressing.

The South Americans had to fight back from 2-0 down after the Africans scored goals through Linda Motlhalo on the half hour mark and Thembi Kgatlana in the 66th minute.

Motlhalo tapped the ball into the net from a Kgatlana pass after the winger had raced onto a long ball with the Argentinian defenders standing still assuming she was offside. VAR confirmed Kgatlana had been behind the last defender.

For all their neat approach work, Argentina looked unable to threaten Kaylin Swart in the South African goal and their first attempts on target did not come until the second half.

In the 74th minute, though, Sophia Braun launched a stunning long-range strike that curled into the corner of the net to cut the deficit in half and Romina Nunez’s header five minutes later levelled up the scores.

The entertaining draw leaves both sides with a single point – South Africa’s first in five World Cup matches — and highly unlikely to progress from a group also containing European powers Sweden and Italy, who play later on Saturday.

“It is about taking our chances,” said South Africa coach Desiree Ellis.

“That’s the problem, we don’t take them, it comes back at us every time. If we had taken our chances we would have had a different conversation.

“It is fantastic we got our first point but three would have been better, it’s like you hand me a chocolate and then take it away, and I love chocolate.”

Argentina will now face Sweden on Wednesday, while South Africa play Italy at the same time with both teams looking for an historic first Round of 16 berth.

“We never gave up and we played our hearts out. We wanted to win but we are happy with this comeback,” midfielder Braun said.

“We are looking forward to playing Sweden. It will be another battle and we are ready for it.”

– Reuters