England captain Leah Williamson admitted that Tuesday’s friendly defeat to Australia was her toughest night with the Lionesses. The 2-0 loss ended England’s 30-game unbeaten run and was their first loss under manager Sarina Wiegman. Williamson said the team was hurting as they prepare for the 2023 World Cup.
“The whole team feels really rubbish about losing. It hurts,” Williamson told ITV4. The Arsenal centre-back was at fault for Australia’s opener, as her attempted header back to goalkeeper Mary Earps from a long ball was intercepted by Sam Kerr, the Socceroos striker chipping the visitors in front. Williamson also had an inadvertent role in the second goal, deflecting Charlotte Grant’s header past Earps in the 67th minute. Despite having 71% possession, England were far from their best.
“We looked like we lacked ideas on the ball, and we got punished,” Williamson said. “It was my mistake for the first goal, and they were ruthless on the counter. Sometimes in football you have those games. We weren’t as efficient as we usually are, we need to figure out why.”
When asked whether this was her toughest night in an England shirt, she said: “Yeah. I’m not one for dwelling on personal things, it’s part of the game – I choose to be a professional footballer, to put myself in the position where I need to not do those things.”
England must now regroup as they look ahead to the World Cup. Their opening group stage game comes against Haiti in Brisbane on 22 July. Manager Sarina Wiegman believes England are still in a good place for the tournament, despite below-par showings against World Cup co-hosts Australia and versus Brazil in the Finallissima.
“I’m not worried. I don’t worry very quickly,” Wiegman added. “We know we have to be at the top level when we go into the World Cup. Every game we get warnings. We did against Brazil. We know where we want to go to and what we have to do. I don’t think we’re losing momentum. I think it’s building and this is just a very good learning for us to get to the high level to win these games.”
England midfielder Kiera Walsh was also reflective after the game, saying they had to lose at some point while admitting they did not move the ball quickly enough. “It’s a tough lesson for us but equally an important one, and shows us where we need to improve going into the World Cup,” Walsh said. “It’s been a long run without a loss and we’d rather it happen now than at the World Cup. Although it’s disappointing we’ve still got a lot of work to do before the summer.”
The England players understand that losses are part of football and that they must continue to work hard before the World Cup. “As players we don’t think about it [the unbeaten run], we want to win each game anyway,” Walsh said. “The next loss is always around the corner, you’re not going to go on an unbeaten run forever and we’re aware of that. All of us looked a bit flat in the first half, there wasn’t a lot of movement or ball speed. The message in the second half was to play a lot quicker and I think we did that to an extent, but we still didn’t create a lot of clear-cut opportunities so that’s something to work on.”
England captain Leah Williamson admitted that Tuesday’s friendly defeat to Australia was her toughest night with the Lionesses. After ending their 30-game unbeaten run, England must now regroup ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Williamson said the team was hurting after their loss but that they must learn from their mistakes.
“The whole team feels really rubbish about losing. It hurts,” Williamson told ITV4. Despite having 71% possession, England were far from their best and lacked ideas on the ball which led to their defeat. When asked whether this was her toughest night in an England shirt, she said: “Yeah. I’m not one for dwelling on personal things, it’s part of the game – I choose to be a professional footballer, to put myself in the position where I need to not do those things.”
Manager Sarina Wiegman believes England are still in a good place for the tournament despite their below-par showings against Australia and Brazil. “I’m not worried. I don’t worry very quickly,” Wiegman added. “We know we have to be at the top level when we go into the World Cup. Every game we get warnings. We did against Brazil. We know where we want to go to and what we have to do. I don’t think we’re losing momentum. I think it’s building and this is just a very good learning for us to get to the high level to win these games.”
England midfielder Kiera Walsh was also reflective after the game, saying they had to lose at some point while admitting they did not move the ball quickly enough. “It’s a tough lesson for us but equally an important one, and shows us where we need to improve going into the World Cup,” Walsh said. “All of us looked a bit flat in the first half, there wasn’t a lot of movement or ball speed. The message in the second half was to play a lot quicker and I think we did that to an extent, but we still didn’t create a lot of clear-cut opportunities so that’s something to work on.”
The England players understand that losses are part of football and that they must continue to work hard before the World Cup if they want to be successful at it. They must use this defeat as an opportunity to learn and grow as a team so that they can be ready for their opening group stage game against Haiti in Brisbane on 22 July.