The individual auditions for World Cup places were not always overly convincing and collectively it was a thoroughly underwhelming rehearsal but maybe Phil Neville’s players needed a jolt like this.
Women’s football is, in Neville’s words, on the brink of “boom time” in England and it is perhaps not too bad a thing that the escalating optimism surrounding the national team received something of a slow puncture as Christine Sinclair’s deserved second-half winner for Canada went at least some way to finally healing a long-festering wound. The Lionesses certainly cannot say they have not been reminded of the full scale of the challenge that faces them at France 2019.
It is almost four years since England parked their tanks on Canada’s front lawn in Vancouver. Memories of that sunny Saturday afternoon in front of a record 54,000 crowd at BC Place, where the host nation were beaten 2-1 in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final, still rankle among Friday night’s visitors and it quickly became apparent that Kenneth Heiner-Møller’s side were not in the mood for a jolly.
With their attack led by the veteran Sinclair and with Manchester City’s Janine Beckie in a wide attacking role, Canada – ranked fifth in the world to the hosts’ third – succeeded in pressing England high up the pitch. Neville’s team struggled to click into any sort of slick passing rhythm and were second best for prolonged periods.
When the Lionesses did attack, Lyon’s Kadeisha Buchanan’s impressive defensive pace proved a formidable barrier for Jodie Taylor and company. Neville had named a very attacking lineup – ostensibly 4-2-3-1 that could easily have been interpreted as 4-2-4 – featuring Lucy Bronze, who is widely regarded as the world’s best right-back, in central midfield.
If Bronze’s customary overlapping dynamism was missed at full-back there was a wider sense that slight nerves rather than any real unfamiliarity provoked a litany of misplaced passes and cheap concessions of possession. With Neville due to name his World Cup squad by the end of this month, the tension was at times almost palpable as some players clearly struggled to relax.
One forward not yet certain to be on the plane is Karen Carney, but the Chelsea winger remains one of England’s most gifted individuals and her gorgeous cross for once eluded the Canadian defence only for Nikita Parris to fail to control, permitting Allysha Chapman to intercept. At the other end Canada were not exactly stretching Karen Bardsley – one of six Manchester City players in his starting X1 – in goal, though Steph Houghton had to react smartly to block Nichelle Prince’s shot.
Since 2015 both teams have changed coaches – Heiner-Møller’s Danish understatement replacing John Herdman’s County Durham charisma, and Neville taking over from Mark Sampson – and both are in some ways still in transition. For all their defensive resilience both sides struggled for attacking invention, with England resorting to too many of the long balls they are supposed to be gradually eliminating from their game. How Neville must hope that the Chelsea playmaker Fran Kirby – one creator adept at operating between the lines – recovers from knee trouble in time to make England’s flight to Nice in early June.
Taylor, Euro 2017’s top scorer, often suffered from poor service but showed her quality by dropping deep, seamlessly changing pace and controlling the ball superbly before picking out Parris with a fine pass which resulted in a side-footed shot pushed wide by the diving Stephanie Labbé just as it looked to be stealing into the bottom corner.
Yet bar an earlier cameo also involving Taylor drifting deep and cueing up Toni Duggan with a pass the Barcelona forward could not quite subdue, this was hardly the performance expected from the side who won the prestigious SheBelieves Cup last month. On Thursday Neville said his players hoped to emulate the All Blacks’ all-conquering modus operandi but his half-time remarks presumably served as a reminder that there are still hard yards to be covered before a World Cup can be won.
Perhaps unsurprisingly England re-emerged with renewed poise and a swagger in their step and Duggan and Carney both curled shots narrowly off-target. Canada, too, upped their game and Bardsley reminded Neville of her enduring importance to this team by making a fabulous save to divert Beckie’s shot after Sinclair had confounded the home defence. Canada enjoyed a touch of good fortune when Chapman, who had already been booked, escaped a second yellow card for pulling Parris back. Sensibly, Heiner-Møller immediately withdrew the defender.
Although his side seemed to struggle for a while after switching to three at the back, they finally exerted revenge for four years ago when Prince somehow connected with the fallout from a cross from the right wing and unleashed a volley which Bardsley tipped on to the bar. Sinclair has built a career on being in the right place at the right time and she gleefully swept it into the net. It was the 35-year-old’s 180th international goal.
Neville’s players have a chance to put things right when they face Spain in Swindon on Tuesday. On this evidence there is quite a lot to correct.