In an unexpected twist at the Women's European Championship, England's Lionesses made history by becoming the first reigning champions to lose their opening match. Facing a determined French side, the game ended 2-1 as France snapped up two quickfire goals from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore near the end of the first half.
Even though England managed to pull one back through Keira Walsh just three minutes from full time, the comeback fell short. Captain Leah Williamson summed up the mood after the match, saying, "The positive is that I've not seen us like that … for a while. We hold ourselves to higher standards in individual battles and we improved on that throughout the game, which is good."
The defeat also ended England manager Sarina Wiegman's flawless record in the competition, after winning 12 out of 12 games across two tournaments while guiding both the Netherlands and England to success. Wiegman remarked, "We're frustrated because we had such three very good weeks and we trained really well, but that's never a guarantee that of course you win the game."
While France recorded their ninth straight win, their coach Laurent Bonadei was quick to remind everyone that his team remains challengers. He stated, "I won't change my position on our status. At the moment we haven't won anything, we are still challengers with a lot of ambition. We showed a lot of courage tonight and the ability to compete with a very good team. But we just won one match, there are still two left in this group."
Looking ahead, the Lionesses will next face the Netherlands on Wednesday, before taking on Wales in their final group game four days later. In Group D, the Netherlands also registered a 3-0 win against Wales. ⚽🔥
Reference(s):
England become first reigning champion to lose a Women's Euro opener
cgtn.com
