It was a nice revenge for England in Saint-Etienne after the 1-2 loss in Newcastle last Friday. France had not lost a competitive game at home in almost five years.
The victory was founded after a very good first half where they went to the break with 2-0 behind.
European Championship qualification football
Magdalena Eriksson on the super early warning against Ireland
Marika Domanski Lyfors on site at Friends Arena – praised by the Swedish players
– I think we played a very good first half and created many chances as well. We knew the second half would be different because they had to try to score. We had to work really hard to win, says England’s Dutch national team captain Sarina Wiegman according to the BBC.
“Was hoping to get a receipt”
England’s first goalkeeper Mary Earps left injured after only eight minutes in Friday’s match. She was replaced yesterday by Hannah Humpton who contributed to the victory. She only conceded one penalty in the middle of the second half, where there was a lot of banging and many players were lying down for treatment.
– We came back strongly in the second half, which was perfect. We pressed a lot and hoped to get an equalizer at the end, but the goalkeeper was fantastic, says Franrike’s national team captain Herve Renard.
If France had won, they would have already qualified for the European Championship play-offs in Switzerland in 2025. They now have nine points and are two ahead of Sweden and England with two games remaining. In the next match on July 12, they face Sweden in Dijon and have everything to play for.
– England got their revenge, but we are still top and have two more points than the other teams. The goal is to qualify and win the group, continues Renard.
Both third and fourth in Sweden’s group go to a playoff to reach the playoffs in Switzerland next year.