Suzanne Wrack was in Coventry tonight. Here’s her verdict. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Sarina Wiegman gives her verdict to ITV. “The first half was more straightforward … we played well … second half we had some struggle moments … we were a little bit too sloppy … the first half we had sloppy moments too … but we created some chances from corners and open play … we scored a very good goal … the second half we were a little bit sloppy … they are smart in the counter-attack … very fast … that was hard for us … we keep trying … keep playing football … keep playing forward … in transitions they would jump on us … make better decisions … just talk about it and move forward … [Leah Williamson’s goal] was really nice for her … the 50 makes it an even extra something … it’s different when you start and I wanted to see that … Jess [Naz] stretches things … runs in behind … Grace [Clinton] played well … she is tight on the ball, despite a couple of moments … together they were finding the pockets.”
The magnificent Grace Clinton, England’s star player tonight, speaks to ITV. “It was a tough game … we expected them to be a tough team … they have individual quality … to get the win and get a goal was really nice … it is a good night for me … just nice for my confidence … just nice to be out there … Maya Le Tissier’s ball [for her goal] was just amazing … it was hard not to finish … playing tough opposition, the pace was just crazy … obviously we’ll go back and review the game … it’s positive … my personal goal is to get confidence and keep getting goals.”
A curate’s egg for Sarina Wiegman to examine. England attacked well in the first half, with Grace Clinton busy announcing herself as a proper talent on the international stage. Their defence was a ragged mess, though, constantly breached by South Africa captain Thembi Kgatlana, whose ability to pressure the opposition, allied to sheer pace and skill, caused the hosts all sorts of bother. On another, more decisive night, Kgatlana could easily have scored (and/or assisted) three, four, maybe five or six goals. She had that many opportunities. South Africa, the 50th-ranked side in the world, will be happy with their performance, if not the result. As for England, a win’s a win’s a win, and there’s something to be said for grinding out a result when not playing particularly well, but Wiegman has plenty of work to do in repairing her rickety defence. Higher-ranked teams will surely make hay.
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FULL TIME: England 2-1 South Africa
England hold on for the victory. It wasn’t particularly convincing, though.
90 min +5: South Africa clear it easily enough, and pour out in the hope of countering, but things fizzle out after a couple of loose touches and England look to have done enough.
90 min +4: Stanway slaloms elegantly down the inside-left channel before being shoved into Ramalepe by Kgatlana from behind. A free kick for England out on the left. Everyone lines up on the edge of the South Africa box. Greenwood to take.
90 min +2: Kgatlana, who decided against shooting on a couple of first-half occasions when one-on-one with Earps, goes for goal from the best part of 40 yards.
90 min +1: Hemp drives at the visiting defence but can’t get a decent shot away. England have clearly decided that the best form of defence is attack. Given how they’ve defended this evening, you can’t really blame them.
90 min: There will be five additional minutes.
89 min: Le Tissier wins a garden-variety header against Ramalepe, only to concede a free kick for doing so, the left flank having just opened up invitingly. Le Tissier flings her arms open in disgust at the strange decision. This referee has let a lot of physical stuff go without punishment, only to pick up on bugger all at other times. Very strange.
88 min: Ramalepe crosses deep from the right. Earps comes well off her line to claim with supreme confidence. This game is very open, and there could well be a late goal coming. At which end, who knows?
86 min: Greenwood loops the ball in from the left. Hemp tries to steer a header goalwards but it’s always heading wide right. England have taken it up a notch. Better late than never.
85 min: That was a fairly meaty challenge by Mbane, a rake down the achilles, and VAR is going to have a check for a red. But there’s nothing doing. And then the free kick leads to some pinball in the South Africa box, but nothing else.
84 min: Russo turns on the jets to advance down the left, only to be cynically hauled back by Mbane, who goes into the book. Free kick just to the left of the South Africa box.
83 min: Toone attempts to release Kirby with a sliderule pass down the middle, but Kirby’s attempt to trap, turn and advance from the edge of the box doesn’t come off. England have done very little in this second half, but the last couple of minutes have been an improvement.
81 min: Bronze cushions a ball down the inside-right channel for Toone to run onto. Toone welts a first-time shot towards the top right, a proper full-throttle belt. Dlamini parries out for a corner, as good a save as the one made by Earps moments before. Nothing comes of the resulting set piece.
79 min: Kgatlana goes tearing off down the left this time. She zips clear of Bright and opens her body, hoping to shape a shot around Earps and into the bottom right. But the keeper spreads herself while standing strong. Great stop, but England are all over the shop, Kgatlana causing all manner of bother with her positioning and super-speed.
78 min: Holweni comes on for Motau.
77 min: Biyana is booked for a front-on block of Kelly. There didn’t seem much in that, certainly not enough for the first yellow card of the evening. But there it is. Biyana looks nonplussed.
76 min: Nothing comes of the corner, but England are hanging onto their lead by their fingertips.
75 min: Ramalepe dinks a pass down the inside-right channel for the irrepressible Kgatlana, who pearls a low diagonal shot towards the bottom-left corner. Bronze again comes to the rescue, sticking out a leg and deflecting wide for a corner.
74 min: England have been utterly shambolic in defence.
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73 min: Two more changes for England, with Mead and the floundering Williamson hooked for Hemp and Bright. Then, seconds after the restart, Kgatlana is pinged clear down the middle by Magaia. She whistles a rising shot into the top-right corner, a stunning finish, but she was well offside and the flag pops up.
71 min: Stanway’s loose control in the midfield looks to have allowed Kgatlana to embark on yet another dangerous right-wing raid … but Motau needlessly clatters her late, after the ball has long gone, and it’s a get-out-of-jail card for Stanway and England.
69 min: Another mistake by Williamson, whose misjudgement under a high ball on the halfway line allows Kgatlana to power her way down the right. Kgatlana is within her rights to shoot, but opts to cross low for Magaia, free in the middle, 25 yards out. The pass isn’t all that, though, and Magaia is forced to check her run. She still gets a shot away, but Bronze has been able to get back and block bravely.
68 min: Williamson comes haring out from the back to meet a loose ball in the centre circle and handles. For some reason there’s no free kick awarded, much to Motlhalo’s annoyance. It’s been a mixed evening for Williamson all right.
66 min: A little space for Bronze down the right. Not so much time, though, and her low cross-cum-shot is deflected through to Dlamini.
65 min: It looks like Ramalepe is heading towards the bench … but then she comes back on. The South Africa full back doesn’t look particularly comfortable, though.
64 min: Le Tissier smacks into Ramalepe in the no-nonsense style. The South African needs a bit of treatment. She might not be able to continue.
63 min: Stanway ships possession cheaply and is fortunate Kgatlana dithers as she advances towards the England box, with the hosts light on defenders.
62 min: England make a quadruple substitution. Naz, Park, Morgan and the excellent Clinton are replaced by Bronze, Russo, Kirby and Toone.
60 min: England are looking ragged, and Kelly takes matters into her own hands by shifting the ball in from the right and firing a long-distance shot towards the top-right corner. The ball pings off the top of the bar and out. So close to a third for England, because Dlamini wasn’t getting there had it been on target.
59 min: That’s South Africa’s first-ever goal against England. They’re in the mood for number two, as well, with Kgatlana scampering down the left in purposeful fashion. She can’t find anyone in the centre with a low cross, hesitation again her undoing; without it, she could easily be celebrating a hat-trick.
57 min: That’s the least South Africa deserve for their attacking exploits this evening. It’s what England deserve, too; that wasn’t their first sloppy defensive mistake, and they’ve been punished for their carelessness. To repeat: there’s plenty for Sarina Wiegman to sort out.
GOAL! England 2-1 South Africa (Kgatlana 55)
Another England mistake, and this time they pay. Williamson passes across the halfway line towards Stanway. Both players are snoozing, and Kgatlana nips in between, racing off down the middle. She enters the box, draws Earps, and slots across the keeper and into the bottom left.
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53 min: It’s all a bit scrappy right now. Not a great deal going on.
51 min: Clinton is brushed off the ball by Makhubela. It looks innocuous, but a strong arm has tweaked her shoulder. She requires a bit of treatment before getting up, grimacing hard, taking a deep breath, and getting on with it. She’s been England’s star player so far; she won’t want this evening to end earlier than it has to.
49 min: Clinton advances down the right and looks for Kelly just inside the South African box. Kelly attempts to twist her way past a couple of challenges but that doesn’t quite come off either.
47 min: Park, who has been quiet so far, dribbles her way down the inside-left channel and nearly breaks through after one-twoing with Kelly. The return pass doesn’t stick.
South Africa get the second half underway. They’ve made two changes. Swart can’t continue in goal and is replaced by the experienced Dlamini, while Sinoxolo Cesane makes way for Biyana.
Half-time entertainment. It was a good evening for the Lionesses last night at the Ballon d’Or, with Lauren James 13th, Lucy Bronze 20th and Lauren Hemp 28th. You might have not heard any of that news, though, given the sheer volume of the tantrum thrown by Real Madrid’s man-child section. Here’s Rob Smyth’s take on that particular hot-faced nappy-filling meltdown.
HALF TIME: England 2-0 South Africa
England, with Grace Clinton starring, have looked good in attack; they’ve not been so sure of themselves at the back. South Africa’s hesitation over the final pass/shot has cost the visitors at least one goal.
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45 min +3: Noxolo Cesane can’t quite get ahead of Morgan as she chases a long ball down the middle. Earps comes out to claim on the edge of her box. South Africa have caused England quite a few problems, even if they’ve not forced Earps into meaningful action.
45 min +2: That’s the second time this evening that Kgatlana has found herself in exactly that position. She’s declined to shoot on both occasions. Somewhere in the multiverse, she’s backed herself and the scores are level.
45 min: Mead slaps rather than smashes the free kick, and it’s an easy gather for Swart. South Africa immediately counter, Kgatlana getting in ahead of Wiliamson down the right. She should shoot, one on one with Earps, albeit from a tight angle, but hesitates and the chance is gone.
44 min: Sinoxolo Cesane is bamboozled by Clinton, who spins on a sixpence 25 yards out. A late challenge, and it’s a free kick from a central position. Mead fancies the look of this.
42 min: The Cesane sisters are very much in the thick of it right now. Stanway comes clattering into Noxolo and is very fortunate to avoid a booking, especially so when you factor in her earlier high-kicking antics.
41 min: Noxolo’s twin, Sinoxolo Cesane, takes out two of her own team-mates in short order while chasing a loose ball in an overly eager style. Motau then Mbane go down in a hail of friendly fire; thankfully both are up again soon enough.
39 min: Noxolo Cesane spins elegantly down the right touchline to leave Naz in the dust, and is brought down from behind for her trouble. Naz should really go into the book but the referee is in a very laissez-faire mood tonight.
38 min: Swart, who was feeling her back, performs a few stretches and is fine to continue. “Fair enough, South Africa aren’t Germany,” begins Charles Antaki. “They’re giving England huge amount of space and are wasteful with their passes (also they also seem to be more prone to slipping on the turf and having trouble with their boots). But nevertheless it’s great to see the England players get some of their mojo back. Looking good. More please.”
36 min: Swart goes down and requires some treatment. Everyone else takes the opportunity to get themselves a slug of water.
35 min: Clinton hoicks over from long distance. Not her best, but this is a confident display from the 21-year-old Manchester United player, who looks at home at this level.
33 min: England are giving up chances. Kgatlana advances down the middle and floats a diagonal towards Magaia, romping in from the left. Magaia thinks about volleying but attempts to trap instead and doesn’t manage it. A better or more confident team would have punished England by now. Germany, basically, and we saw how that panned out. There’s plenty for Sarina Wiegman to sort out here.
31 min: Ramalepe races down the right and crosses deep. Kgatlana attempts a spectacular overhead kick from 12 yards, but swishes at fresh air. Magaia comes in from behind and bounces a volley goalwards. Easy for Earps to deal with. Kgatlana was only inches away from connecting; such a shame she didn’t manage it, because that could have taken the net off its moorings.
29 min: Kelly turns on the jets and makes good ground down the right. Her cross is deflected out for a corner, a joint effort by Dhlamini and Magaia, but for some reason England aren’t awarded the set piece. Goal kick.
27 min: England feel in total control now. Magaia’s indecision at 1-0 so costly for South Africa.
25 min: England go two up, and their fans are freed from desire. This song is a proper virus.
GOAL! England 2-0 South Africa (Clinton 23)
Clinton gets a different sort of award this time. Le Tissier picks up possession on the right. She waits to time the cross. She delivers perfectly, Clinton racing in from the left and meeting it with a downward header. Into the right-hand corner it goes, Swart again with no chance.
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21 min: Clinton is beginning to dictate matters from the pocket. She plays a smart diagonal pass down the left for Naz, who manages to dig out a cross from the byline. Swart, who has been busy, plucks from the sky.
20 min: Clinton drops deep before shovelling a clever pass down the inside-right channel. Just a bit too much on it for Kelly, rushing into the area, to latch onto. Swart gathers.
18 min: Kgatlana jinks in from the left flank and is upended by the extended leg of Clinton. A free kick just to the side of the England box. South Africa load it … but it’s a waste of their time, because Magaia’s delivery is neither shot nor cross. England clear their lines.
17 min: Another England corner, this time from the right, sent in by Greenwood. Williamson flashes a header over the bar. This isn’t going to end 1-0.
15 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner, but that was yet another England defensive fiasco, coming so soon after all those errors against Germany.
14 min: South Africa should be level. Morgan miskicks a backpass down the right. Kgatlana nips in and she’s one on one with Earps, albeit from a tight angle. Instead of shooting she crosses low for Magaia, who attempts to walk the ball into the net rather than smacking it from six yards out. That allows Clinton the opportunity to arrive from behind and mess with Magaia’s eventual shot, and Morgan makes up for her mistake by hooking the loose ball out for a corner.
GOAL! England 1-0 South Africa (Williamson 12)
… so having said that, Mead pops up on the left this time and earns England another corner. She takes it herself, sending it into the mixer. The visitors fail to clear. Naz, to the right of goal, 12 yards out, rolls a pass to her left for the captain Williamson, who passes confidently into the bottom right. What a way to celebrate her half-century of caps!
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11 min: Clinton wedges down the right flank for Le Tissier, who can’t find room to cross. Makhubela’s clearance isn’t great, and Naz nearly gets in down the channel, but Swart comes to smother at the striker’s feet. England concentrating all of their efforts down this right flank so far.
9 min: Stanway comes clattering into Magaia, a high-kick across the chest. That reads as bad as it was, actually, but it’s early doors in the match, so there’s no booking. Then Ramalepe clips Mead on the old achilles, and the referee might need to establish some order soon.
7 min: Le Tissier rolls a pass down the right wing for Naz, who is clipped on the ankle by a strange almost horizontal two-footed lunge from behind by Makhubela. That reads like a worse challenge than it actually was, to be fair. Anyway, the resulting free kick is swung in by Mead and an easy pluck for Swart.
6 min: South Africa get their first significant moment with the ball, and pass it around the back awhile.
4 min: … Swart claims amid a six-yard box melee. A fast start by England, though.
3 min: Kelly tees up Park for a shot down the inside-right channel. The ball’s blocked, then clumsily put out for a corner. One leads to another, then …
2 min: England spend the first couple of minutes getting a feel of the ball.
Both teams take a knee of love and solidarity – there’s no room for racism – and then England get the ball rolling. A great atmosphere in the Cov Arena.
The teams are out! South Africa’s anthem is one of the great rousing bangers, while England’s, well, we tried our best. Both of the kits pass muster, though, England in purple with red and blue flashes – The Creation in reverse, basically – while South Africa sport pink for their breast-cancer charity. We’ll be off in a minute.
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Leah Williamson clocks up her half-century of appearances for the Lionesses tonight. There’s a lovely surprise printed on the inside of her shirt this evening. Just the 122 more caps to catch up with Fara Williams, then.
South Africa welcome back their captain Thembi Kgatlana, who missed the defeat in Denmark due to visa problems. Their star player is winger Linda Motlhalo, formerly of Glasgow City and now Racing Louisville of the NWSL. Noxolo Cesane and Sinoxolo Cesane, identical twins, start; Sphumelele Shamase and Thubelihle Shamase, identical twins, are on the bench.
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Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV. “We have two friendlies … we’re getting ready for the Euros next summer … it’s an opportunity to try out lots of things … to see many players … that’s what we’re going to see tonight … everyone has a point to prove every night … you want to show consistency … tonight [Mary Earps] is going to do that … [Jessica Naz] is very quick … we want to get runs behind and be a danger for the opponent … we have many players playing well for their club … it’s an opportunity for players to show themselves at international level.”
England ring the changes after the Germany match – as expected, with experimentation in mind. Only three players keep their starting place: Georgia Stanway, Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson. There’s plenty of new blood in the team, in the shape of Spurs forward Jessica Naz (who has just two caps to her name and makes her first start), Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton (three caps) and United defender Maya Le Tissier (five caps), while on the bench, Chelsea striker Aggie Beever-Jones hopes to add to her single cap, while Aston Villa defender Lucy Parker waits to make her debut.
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The teams
England: Earps, Le Tissier, Morgan, Williamson, Greenwood, Park, Clinton, Stanway, Naz, Kelly, Mead.
Subs: Moorhouse, Hampton, Bronze, Bright, Carter, Parker, Walsh, Toone, Kirby, Russo, Hemp, Beever-Jones.
South Africa: Swart, Kgatlana, Dhlamini, Mbane, Makhubela, Magaia, Ramalepe, Cesane, Motau, Motlhalo.
Subs: Dlamini, Magagula, Manenhela, Mhlongo, S Shamase, T Shamase, Mthandi, Holweni, Biyana, Michael, Majiya.
Starting tonight for the #Lionesses! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/QZsEAtMB8f
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) October 29, 2024
This is how we will line up for the encounter against England
— Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) October 29, 2024
📺 Live on @sabc2 at 21h45
🏴vs🇿🇦#LiveTheImpossible #SasolInSport@SasolinSport @SasolSA @Shield_ZA @LeCoqSportif_SA pic.twitter.com/0TdyjzFdTS
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Preamble
The reigning champions of Europe take on the reigning champions of Africa at the CBS Arena in Coventry tonight. It’s a heavyweight clash, though both sides have some heavy weights on their mind: England’s first run-out of the autumn saw them concede three goals in less than 30 minutes against Germany at Wembley last weekend, and though Sarina Wiegman’s side rallied to limit the final damage to a 4-3 defeat, a loss is a loss is a loss. Desiree Ellis’s Banyana Banyana are also coming off the back of a lopsided game, having held Denmark to a goalless first half in Aalborg last Friday, only to ship five goals in the second half. So both teams will be looking to bounce back, though the hosts are realistically the more likely to do so: England are currently ranked second in the world, while South Africa are 50th in Fifa’s official list.
Wiegman is expected to experiment, all the while gaining knowledge against the “different style” of tonight’s opponents. “It will be a little different from the Euros but later on in our journey, towards the World Cup, I think this is great to play a team like South Africa,” says Wiegman. “That will be another learning moment for us. Can we dictate the game?” We’ll begin to find out at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!
