July 28 – England closed in on a round-of-16 berth at the Women’s World Cup with an improved performance to defeat Denmark 1-0, a result that was marred by a serious injury to Keira Walsh.
England bounced in style back from their underwhelming opening victory against Haiti with a dominant display against the Danish, taking the lead inside six minutes with a superb strike from outside the box by Lauren James, her second England goal in her thirteenth cap.
James, the sister of Reece James, had licence to roam, brought rhythm to England’s game and found pockets of space when coming in-field. Sarina Wiegman’s team gamble paid off after a lot of fans and media had wanted to see her in the first eleven following her cameo against Haiti.
In a blow to England, Keira Walsh was stretchered off before half-time with a reported knee injury. England arrived at the tournament without Beth Mead, Fran Kirby and Leah Williamson and Walsh’s injury will further complicate team selection. She was the Player of the Match in the Euro 2022 final and move from Manchester City to FC Barcelona for a world-record transfer fee.
The Lionesses overran Denmark, squeezing the life out of the Scandinavians, who found the going much tougher against the European champions after a 1-0 win against Asian champions China. But there were signs of life from the Danish when Rikke Madsen almost equalised with a shot across the face of the goal, turning to make space right under the nose of Alex Greenwood in the 24th minute.
After the break, the English were far less scintillating and laboured to grind out a win. With a penchant for late goals, Denmark almost snatched a draw at the end with a stinging header by substitute Amalie Vansgaard that ricocheted off the woodwork. Vansgaard had scored the 90th-minute winner against China in Denmark’s opening game.
On Thursday, England will wrap up their group stage against China in Adelaide. The Danish travel to Perth to play Haiti, requiring a result to avoid crashing out of the group stage for the first time since 1995.
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