The hour mark was approaching when Sarina Wiegman rolled the dice or, perhaps more accurately, reached for the comfort blanket. A salvage operation of this scale had not been part of anyone’s masterplan, but at least Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly knew exactly how to move the dial at a European Championship. They were the history makers at Wembley in England’s most recent appearance on this stage; if it was going to be anyone, it surely had to be them.
There were to be no heroics this time, even if Selma Bacha’s late clearance was ultimately all that came between Wiegman’s players and a draw. That statement is, in itself, illusory because the manager must face questions about her selection here. She had plumped for Lauren James’s explosive gifts in the No 10 position, sticking to the claim that the Chelsea forward was ready to ramp up her recovery from injury, but the call backfired badly. England were misshapen and leggy where it mattered; the game simply got away from them and so, with another ill-conceived step against the Netherlands, could their Euro 2025 campaign.
