I’m still not sure if it’s coming home, but Euro 2022 has been excellent so far.
Rabona crosses, spin turns in the channels, the dark arts of defending and some sensational goals. It’s had it all and we’ve seen teams with really different styles and philosophies demanding tactical solutions from each other.
The physicality has been excellent, the intricate play off one and two touches has been a joy to behold and the versatility shown in set plays has been great.
The crowds are growing as the tournament progresses and as it hits the quarter-final stage the big hitters are coming up against each other.
On Wednesday night, England had their first real test in the competition. After cruising through the group stage in no more than third gear, they came up against a versatile Spanish team, who had been dubbed tournament favourites.
Esther Gonzales’ goal in the 54th minute was the first one conceded in the tournament by the hosts and it was also the first time they had to dig out a win. Spain can play different ways. They dominate the ball but pressed and counter-pressed aggressively when they didn’t have it.
They played tiki-taka football, breaking lines with triangle passing patterns, yet scored four of their six goals from headers. But England matched them and found a way to win the game in extra-time courtesy of a fabulous Georgia Stanway strike from outside the box.
Prior to their win over Spain, England had won just one of their previous 11 Euro matches where they had conceded first. It’s a sign of a developing resilience under manager Sarina Wiegman and is a way of winning that will stand to them.
Despite being heavily dominated by Spain, England progress to the semi-final where they will play the winners of Sweden and Belgium.
France against the Netherlands also promises to be a cracker. The Dutch have their talismanic striker Vivienne Miedema back. With 94 goals in 112 international caps, her return from Covid is timely ahead of a clash between two genuine contenders to win this competition.
For France, however, they must recover from losing key striker, Katoto to injury. The PSG forward suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament during their 2-1 win over Belgium and in their subsequent game against Iceland, struggled to find the goals they scored in abundance against Italy in the tournament opener.
The winners of that game face the team that emerges victorious from the Germany v Austria clash.
It has been a great football tournament so far but things will heat up on and off the pitch as it reaches the business end. With games being broadcast all across Europe, there is much more interest, analysis and scrutiny. Players are becoming household names and the lens on their performances is more focused and acute.
With that comes a new level of pressure the players must adjust to. So too, for their coaches. Historically, managers of women’s teams were in their roles many years but that is changing now with a new level of pressure to deliver results.
Female footballers are now reading articles about their performances and have them analysed on TV like never before.
It’s like sitting in a team meeting with the whole country, as their performance is discussed and that can be uncomfortable, particularly for players who have not experienced it before.
In England, the “football’s coming home,” bandwagon has been gaining momentum like a snowball rolling down the side of mountain as the tournament has progressed. The whole country has embraced the potential in their women’s team and, as a squad, they have the quality and depth to drive on and win the tournament.
At half-time against Spain, with the game delicately poised at 0-0, there was a palpable air of reality that hinted the team may not be invincible after all. When England went 1-0 down, I wondered what a post-mortem might look like if the unthinkable happened and they lost, in the quarter-final to the tournament favourites.
Would there be context?
So many people have commented to me in the last few days about how surprised they are at how good the standard is; tactically, physically and technically. It is utterly fantastic that people who haven’t seen these teams play before are seeing how good these women are at playing football and how hard it is to win at the top level of the game.
France, Germany, Sweden and defending champions The Netherlands all have serious aspirations and credentials to win this tournament and if any of them do, it should not be seen as a shock.
The worry would be that if football did not come home on this occasion, how much of a shock would that be on English soil and would the players suffer more than the context should allow?
