what is this eurocopa is going to be more than disputed and that the theoretical favorites are going to find surprises was already very clear in the opening match between England and Austria, where the host, one of the top contenders for the title, suffered tremendously to take the victory against an a priori affordable rival. The 68,871 spectators who filled the stands at Old Trafford, where there was a record attendance for a match in the Women’s Euro Cup, They were able to live ‘in situ’ the emotion of a match where the English team dominated and was superior to its rival but it was difficult for them to find the goal.
In the end, the English took a narrow victory with 1-0 thanks to the goal of Mead and are leaders of Group A. The goal came in the 16th minute when Mead stood in front of the goalkeeper, finished off a good chopped pass from kirby and surpassed the goalkeeper on her way out, not without suspense. In fact, the Spanish referee Marta Huerta had to consult the play with the VAR to certify that the ball had crossed the goal line before a defense touched it to deflect it.
England-Austria, opening match of the Women’s European Championship, in pictures
England showed themselves to be an attacking team, but they were not successful in front of goal and Austria had options in the last minutes of the match to be able to take a point.
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The team coached by sarina wiegman, the Dutch coach who led her team to win the last European Championship, was not the offensive hurricane that has been planted in this European Championship with a record of 84 goals for and only three against. Austria were too hard a bone in defence, so strikers like Lauren Hemp and Ellen White they did not finish concretizing their dangerous plays.
The English were little by little enclosing the Austrians in their area and creating dangerous chances. The first came from Hemp, who headed off a well-placed, accurate cross from Bronze. It was the appetizer of the goal that put the 1-0 on the scoreboard.
The advantage relieved England of pressure, which continued to loosen up in attack and threatened to extend the lead. Thus, White caressed the post with a header when he had everything in his favor to score and Zinsberger had to work hard to deny a target to Hemp on the last play of the first half. After the break the offensive momentum of the English women did not decrease but their clarity did in the final meters. That is why approaches abounded but opportunities were scarce. Austria looked for solutions in the final stretch to disturb the rival area.
Data sheet:
1 – England: Earps; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly; Stanway, Walsh; Mead (Kelly, min.63), Kirby (Toone, min.63), Hemp; and White (Russo, min.63).
0 – Austria: Zinsberger; Wienroither, Wienninger, Schnaderbeck (Georgieva, min.77), Hanshaw; Puntigam; Dunst, Zadrazil, Feiersinger (Höbinger, min.87), Naschenweng (Hickelsberger-Füller, min.58); and billa.
Goal: 1-0, min.17: Mead.
Referee: Marta Huerta de Aza (Spain). No warnings.
Incidents: opening match of Euro 2022 played at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester
Begona Villarrubia
