England Under-17s must now beat Norway to reach the semi-finals after a narrow defeat to Germany in a high-quality game decided by a first-half penalty.
England Under-17s lost a high-quality game 1-0 to Germany, with Sabine Loderer’s side taking control in the first half before the young Lionesses responded strongly after the interval.
It was a classic game of two halves, with Germany on top before the break and England much improved in the second period. The only goal came from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, when Germany captain Johanna Hebben scored after Zoe Ciccardini had been adjudged by the referee to have fouled Clara Choisy.
This was a game of fine margins, with both sides hitting the woodwork in a physical, high-intensity contest that produced chances at both ends.
Arsenal‘s Mia Dixon, the young winger who has recently been on the bench for the first team, including the Champions League away game against OL Lyonnes, was among those denied.
England also had a late goal disallowed for offside after Arsenal midfielder Bryony Brodie found the net.
After the game, I spoke to Loderer, the Germany manager, and asked how she felt about the result. At that stage, Germany did not yet know they were through as group winners.
“We were going for the three points after the win against Norway,” she said. “We knew it would be a big step towards the semi-finals and of course for Morocco. We have to wait for the next game and we see how Norway will do against Northern Ireland.”
I then asked what had changed in the second half and why Germany had not been as effective after the break.
“We had fifty minutes where we played really well to our offensive style of play,” she said. “Defensively we like to press high but we could not always do it because England played very well. The girls always kept their composure and we were really stable defensively, we went in a low block and the girls did really well.”
We also spoke about the intensity and physicality of the game.
“This is what we want and this is what the girls need to be able to develop, we played good opponents in the Elite Round with Danemark, Sweden and the Irish team whow as a very good team,” she said. “So we are used to it and this is the kind of games we enjoy.”
Germany have now won the group and qualified for the Under-17 World Cup, which will take place in Morocco.
I also spoke to the England manager Kerry Welsh and asked for her view on the result and the overall performance. Like her German counterpart, she saw it as a game of two halves.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, frustrated that we lost the game on a penalty decision,” Welsh said. “I don’t think we were good enough in the first half, we could not get into our rhythm in possession or getting any of our patterns out. We were not tidy enough in transition and we were out of shape.”
England struggled to play through the German press in the first half, found it difficult to get out of their own half and could not consistently connect with their midfield three to control the game. Half-time brought a clear improvement.
“We fixed some things at half-time and I thought we were better, but we did not get that little bit of luck we needed to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Welsh explained what England had changed. “We just knew we needed to remain calm, in the first half we were a bit chaotic we played with our heads down a little bit, we did not connect our pass well enough, we did not sustain possession. We fixed that at half-time and were so much better in the second half.”
Welsh was also clear about what has to come next in the final group game. “We cannot start games like that and expect to win a game of football. That is something we need to fix going into the Norway game.”
She then issued a rallying cry ahead of the final match.
“This game does not define how the rest of the tournament goes, we must rest and recover now, we expanded a lot of energy in that game, credit to Germany,” she said. “We have still one more game to play to one secure a world cup spot and secondly get ourselves into a semi-final.
“We still have a hell of a lot of belief in that changing room, that does not change after this result.”
I also spoke to England captain Katie Scott about the result and the improved second-half performance.
“We came here for the three points, we are disappointed not to get that but we came out really well in the second half,” Scott said.
Scott was excellent in her communication with the referee throughout the game, showing a maturity beyond her years. “It is part of the role having to manage the game as there were a few calls that were not in our favour. It the referee’s job and she did well in the end.”
England now face Norway for a place in the semi-finals and qualification for the Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
“We will focus on the third game, this what we will be looking for, we think we can go through and we can do well.”
England will need to beat Norway to reach the semi-finals. If they fall short, they will finish third and face a World Cup play-off against the third-placed team from Group B.