England boost confidence with victory over archrivals

Sarina Wiegman said England were not playing to “beat the critics” but a victory over world champions Spain will go a long way to restore belief in the Lionesses ahead of the European Championships this summer.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

AT WEMBLEY

It was a 1-0 scoreline in Sydney that won Spain their first Women’s World Cup a little over 18 months ago. At Wembley, England earned a little revenge with another 1-0 win in their first meeting since, but more importantly for them was the significance this brings for the future. The European champions can hold their heads up high again after beating the world champions.

Even though England are a different team to the one that reached the World Cup final, the defensive resilience in the second half will be as pleasing for Wiegman after a year and a half of inconsistent results. “The fight and the togetherness was the most important thing,” Wiegman said. “We showed we can compete with the best, it shows that to ourselves.” England still know how to turn up on the big nights and grind out the result they need. Millie Bright described the win as “proper English” – as the Lionesses enjoyed the fight, in what was their best night since beating Australia in the World Cup semi-finals.

The Lionesses rode their luck at times, benefitting from an offnight from Spain in front of goal and requiring goalkeeper Hannah Hampton to make a string of important saves, but across the pitch England players won their individual battles. England and Spain have developed a special relationship since the World Cup, partly because of what occurred during Spain’s trophy celebrations, but there was a sense that the Lionesses relished the opportunity to frustrate Spain. Kind words were exchanged before kick-off but when the whistle went England showed their visitors no respect.