From Stadium Australia – The contrast in pace between England’s last 16 win over Nigeria and quarter-final success over Colombia was stark – Sarina Wiegman’s side rising to the occasion to reach out the last four. But despite moving through certain gears, the win was far more comfortable.
The atmosphere in Sydney was electric yet it was seldom in England’s favour. Stadium Australia was instead a raucous, cauldron of noise with every touch, press and corner that went in the favour of a Colombia side making their first appearance in the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
It felt as though the Lionesses had been transported to Bogota, Colombia’s capital city, such was the volume of yellow flags and scarves waving in the air. The cheers for the South Americans were deafening and it was an imposing atmosphere if you were of an English persuasion.
But having gone 1-0 down, England showed great character to fight back and get the job done. Lauren Hemp the beneficiary of some very ordinary goalkeeping and Alessia Russo clinical when she needed to be in front of goal. Mary Earps had said prior to the game that the Lionesses had more to give and she was absolutely right.
England were quicker to their opponents than they had been in previous rounds, showing more confidence in their ability to defend from the front. Things finally clicked further forward too, yet they still struggled to take their chances.
Sceptics questioned Wiegman’s decision to stick with a back three, but ultimately the decision proved to be a wise one. England played out from the back well and defensively stoutly despite conceding.
“I think we just try and communicate with each other and work on the things we need to work on and obviously,” Jess Carter said after the game about England’s cohesion.
The goal England did concede, to Leicy Santos, was the first time Earps had conceded the opening goal since playing Spain at Euro 2022. But rather than lay down and feel sorry for themselves, the Lionesses got back into the contest quickly, capitalising on Catalina Perez’s error to draw level through Hemp.
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Russo’s winner was brilliantly taken, fizzed into the far corner from a relatively acute angle. Arsenal’s new signing may take all the headlines after the game but heading into it they were dominated by Lauren James. Her needless red card against Nigeria meant she was ruled out of this game through suspension, and she’ll also be unavailable to face Australia in the semis.
Ella Toone came into the side having been ousted by James earlier in the tournament, but it was Georgia Stanway who really showed her class in the middle. She upped her level and helped England get to grips with a physically demanding game that saw the very best of Colombia’s Linda Caicedo – a mesmerising young 18-year-old blessed with bags of technical ability.
Hemp was good for England too, showing plenty of aggression and pace, and at times Colombia were unable to cope with her bursting runs into the box – the Lionesses’ wastefulness in front of goal the only sour note.
With the pressure building, Russo delivered the goods for England in front of 75,784, staying onside to get the better of Perez. It was a crucial goal at a crucial moment, though you wouldn’t have known it was such a devastating blow such was the verocity of Colombia’s support.
The wall of noise is something England will need to get used to. Australia are next up in the semis, after overcoming France in a nail-biting penalty shootout, and they will need to be at their sharpest to overcome a Matildas side riding the crest of a wave.
They will need to improve in many areas too, with Carter fully aware after the full-time whistle of the work that lays ahead: “I think there were still parts of the game where we would normally do a lot better, and we want to do a lot better in possession,” she said.
“On the out of possession side, the defensive display put aggression to match and we had parts of the game where we were excellent and played through the pitch, but I think we can do that even better.”
“Colombia posed us a new challenge. We knew what to expect in terms of time-wasting in the first half. They looked dangerous on the counterattack,” Beth England added. “Whenever they got the ball they did something well with it. We were obviously not very happy to go one down but again we stayed calm and resilient.”
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