Kelly Smith is Sporting Life's star columnist for the Women's Euros

Kelly Smith Women’s Euros column: England could crush Northern Ireland and Germany look ominous

By Kelly Smith

Football

Mon July 25, 2022 · 2y ago

England legend Kelly Smith returns with her latest Women's Euro 2022 column, focusing on England's final group game against Northern Ireland, the knockout stage and golden boot.

'It gave me goosebumps'

How can we start anywhere else other than England thrashing Norway 8-0 in Brighton on Monday to move into the quarter-finals and win the group with a game to spare.

It was the best England performance in my lifetime. From an opening display against Austria that was so cagey and nervous, that all just disappeared. They were just so hungry, motivated and on the front foot from the very first minute and Norway couldn't cope.

The crowd definitely played a part and the penalty, which I'm not sure should have been given, obviously helped start England off but to go on and win 8-0 against a team fancied pre-tournament to go all the way to the final is something else.

They ripped them apart with decisive passing after setting things up through wave after wave of attack and brilliant pressing.

It's amazing to play in front of that many fans on home soil and England thrived off it, both to play their best possible game and to force their opponents to capitulate.

People need to remember that Norway are no pushovers. I expected them to go far in this tournament, they were one of my dark horses.

The way England fed off the crowd and the positivity running through the team genuinely gave me goosebumps afterwards.

Emphatic doesn't do it justice.

Spain or Denmark - who do England want next?

They'll be that confident having just beaten an established team 8-0 I don't think England will be bothered who they play in the quarter-finals. They'll rightly believe they're ready for whoever they face.

England vs. Spain would pit the two pre-tournament favourites against one another and I personally think Spain are a far better side than Denmark.

They bring some real technical quality from individual players and play more as a team, but started slowly in both matches so far, conceding inside a minute against Finland, fighting back to win 4-1, and three minutes against Germany before going on to lose 2-0.

I covered Denmark's 1-0 win over Finland and they just do not look to be at the races. They struggled to break down a tough Finland side, lacking any real quality in the final third with their final pass, needing a late Pernille Harder goal to win.

So I'd be leaning towards wanting England to play Denmark, which would need the Danes to win their final Group B game against Spain.

Should Sarina ring the changes?

With England already through to the quarters, that is obviously a far more important match than the final group game against Northern Ireland, so it's a tough one for Sarina Wiegman to balance between resting players and upsetting momentum.

They'll want to win the game, but I'd be surprised if she doesn't use the chance to rest players.

I'd be keeping the spine of the team the same with Mary Earps in goal, with Millie Bright and Leah Williamson in central defence, and then take a few of the other players out.

Rachel Daly got her foot stuck in the ground against Norway and jarred her knee so she'll probably sit it out, and Lucy Bronze on the other side at right-back I think will do too. Demi Stokes and Jess Carter are probably the ones to come in.

Alessia Russo scored so she might get a start now. Beth England hasn't had any minutes yet, so she's another that might get some involvement too. But already that's sounding like a lot of changes, and too many does pose its own risk.

The girls going for the golden boot

For Beth Mead, whose performance against Norway was the best I've ever seen her play, and Ellen White, it's a difficult one because both are hungry to do well and score goals for England, but it really is all about the team, not the golden boot.

If Mead isn't selected and White is (or vice versa), they'll still be supportive of the other, but there probably is a bit of a contest going on between the two of them because they'll want to win the golden boot.

But Sarina has to make the best decision for the team. No one will care if an England player finished as the tournament top scorer if the team gets to the final.

And who knows, Alessia Russo might come in and force herself into the golden boot race by scoring a few against Northern Ireland. Then we'd have three players fighting for it!

No chance for Northern Ireland

Whatever England team is selected I just cannot see anything other than a comfortable win.

Northern Ireland have done really well as the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, scoring their first ever goal at a Euros, but heading in to this game there has to be a fear factor having just seen what England did to Norway.

They'll try and get rid of that fear, relish the chance to face another home nation, and do everything they can to try and win by making it tough with five at the back and everyone behind the ball.

I just don't see them having any chance at all, though.

For England, I'm hoping they can put in another really good performance to keep that spirit and momentum going into the quarter-finals, whoever they end up facing.

An England v Germany final at Wembley?

We'll talk about this a bit more in our next column previewing the knockout stage, but no one is really talking much about Germany - they have looked really tasty. They probably like it that way right now because they're in a comfortable position.

With them topping Group B and England topping Group A we could be looking at an England-Germany final at a sold-out Wembley.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Or maybe we should a little, England did just win 8-0.

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