European Championship Diaries: Day 3 - A LJ Masterclass and England finally arrive
If you don't rate Lauren James, then I am afraid football might not be for you.
Everything was at contrast to Saturday, from the teams performance to my journey to the ground being a lot less rushed, it just had that different feel to it, even if we were all horrifically nervous before KO.
The day started in our Air BnB back in Mulhouse, doing my write up of the day before of the Germany Denmark game I went to in Basel, a slow morning was needed I think after a day of pretty much being non stop from waking up untill going to bed, we left Mulhouse around 1pm ish for the direct train into Basel, followed by another hour long jaunt into Zurich.
With it being the earlier kick off of 6pm local, we had to factor that into our decisions once we got to Zurich, so we decided to have a quick beer by the station before jumping on a tram and heading down to the Stadium.
There seemed to be a lot more Orange Holland shirts than there did Blue France Shirts on Saturday, but even so as I scanned by ticket through the barrier, the nerves started to creep in that our European Adventure could be all but over in a couple of hours time.
Once inside the ground, I managed to catch my friend Francesca again and we thankfully had a lot more time to catch up than the other night, which was a welcome distraction from the nerves! Fran flys home today, but I have no doubt we will be seeing eachother again once the new WSL Season starts.
I grabbed some food, Sausage and chips to be precise (yes, very British of me) and headed to my seat, which was slightly further back than the France game, which allowed for a better view of the pitch, which as someone with a visual impairment, is very handy!
After rousing National Anthems from both sets of fans, the game got underway and England, albeit nervous in the stands, thankfully didn’t have it translate on the pitch as the players looked hungry, closing down every ball, pressing, harrying and in short, everything they didn’t look like against France.
Our first goal wa a thing of real beauty and something that showcased the pure talent of Lauren James. Keeper, Hannah Hampton pinged out a wonderful pass going a fair old distance to Alessia Russo, who held the ball up for Lauren James, who took on 3/4 Dutch Players, and bent in a delicious left footed effort inside the right hand side who gave England the most special start that they were so badly after.
The Lionesses controlled the first half, and the whole game in truth really, pressing the Dutch visitors all over the park. The decision was vindicated to start Ella Toone, who tenacious as ever dropped in to made a midfield three when England didn’t have the ball, snapping away like a little puppy at the Dutch players ankles and not giving up untill she won the ball back, same with every other midfielder out there.
Jess Carter, who came in for criticism after her performance against France, was swapped and deployed to centre back, with Alex Greenwood taking the left back spot and England automatically looked an awful lot more solid at the back, snuffing out any attacks and anything Holland did going forward.
Georgia Stanway added a second right on half time, drilling in a low effort to give us the breathing space we needed, which relaxed pretty much everybody supporting the English at the break, we knew barring a major collapse that our European title defence would be continuing for a few more days at the very least.
Lauren James got her second and Ella Toone further vindicated Weigman’s decision to start her by adding England’s fourth with just under half an hour to go, blowing the Netherlands away in a way not many people would’ve expected pre game, I know I didn’t!
A final whistle and a rousing rendition of Sweet Caroline from the England faitfhul, sparking memories of wonderful European Championship memories of the previous tournament, knowing that their European Championship adventure, headed to St Gallen and against the Welsh, knowing that a win would seal the Lionesses’ place in the knockouts.
It was a much different journey back to Saturday, everyone in a buoyant mood and once we were back in Mulhouse, we went to our new favourite pub, The Tavern of Tutonic Knights (something like that in English anyway) with some other England fans, Annabel and Rachel who had flown out just for that game! All in all, a very decent Wednesday, and we proceed to St Gallen on Sunday!