England wakes up too late: France causes defending champions to get off to a bad start

Defending champions England got off to a bad start in the European Championship. The Lionesses were sluggish for a long time against France and woke up too late. The reigning European champions are now under pressure.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto put France on the road to victory with her opening goal. IMAGO/Newspix
France's national coach Laurent Bonadei relied on a younger squad for the duel with the 2022 European champions: goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin was the only player in the starting eleven over the age of 30, and long-time pillars Renard and Le Sommer were not even nominated for the tournament in Switzerland.
Sarina Wiegman took a different approach for the Lionesses: Her starting lineup included ten players who had already won the European Championship at home three years ago, including Munich native Stanway. Only 23-year-old James was a "newcomer."
Russo's tap-in called back - Katoto and Baltimore ice coldThe close-knit approach paid off, as England found their way into the game better and had their first chance after just 40 seconds, through James, who fired over the bar. Even after that, the defending champions remained the more dangerous team in a close game, but failed to capitalize. VAR intervened and disallowed Russo's opening goal with a tap-in – Mead had been ruled offside earlier (16').
Thus, France took control around the half-hour mark. Karchaoui chipped the ball into the side netting following a mistake by Hampton (25'), and shortly afterwards, de Almeida was denied by a save from the English goalkeeper (32'). England now wavered, and Les Bleus struck twice: first, Katoto only had to put out his foot on a counterattack following a misplaced pass from Stanway (36'). Then Baltimore dribbled around the clumsily defending Bronze and Williamsson and fired the ball into the top corner (39').
Toone's volley as a late wake-up callShocked by this double blow within three minutes, the English women slunk to the dressing room. But things didn't improve from England's perspective after the break, with France coming closer to scoring a third: De Almeida cheekily hit the side netting from a tight angle (52'). Two minutes later, Geyoro aimed a shot straight at Hampton, who only managed to catch the ball on the second attempt (54'). Finally, substitute Diani headed wide from a great position (77').


stadium | Letzigrund |
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The Lionesses remained harmless offensively for a long time, and defensively they barely got into any duels. But suddenly, Toone woke the defending champions up with a volley (86'). After the resulting corner, the ball was in the French net, and Walsh fired the poorly cleared ball into the net to tie the game (87'). The closing stages became exciting again: Sombath blocked Agyemang in the six-yard box (90'), while at the other end, Malard stepped over the ball and missed the chance to win the game (90'+2'). And finally, Bacha cleared a mistake by her goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin on the line (90'+5').
Losing is forbidden in the duel of the European championsFrance thus held on to a narrow but deserved victory and cemented their status as one of the favorites. Defending champions England, on the other hand, are already under pressure after their false start, as their next top opponent awaits them next Wednesday (6 p.m.): the 2017 European champions, the Netherlands. Les Bleus will also face Wales on Wednesday (9 p.m.).