#034 - The World Cup Diaries - Day 24
One-off footballing 'Ashes' on the horizon!
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60/64 games are done. We are into the nervy final four now.
In the final set of quarter-final games we had a host nation borrowed the energy from grass and trees, from people and animals, from inanimate objects and the atmosphere to win the most epic penalty shootout ever against Herve Renard’s France side.
We also saw Colombia electrify the stadium and push England to the limit in a bid to eliminate the European champions and make it to their first ever semi-finals. The Lionesses, however, saw it through as has been the theme and came from behind to win it.
Finally we are going to have a new winner this time with Japan now out of the competition as well. It’s a dawn of a new era!
Let’s break the games down!
Match 59: Australia 0-0 France (Australia win 7-6 on penalties)
A host nation, who beat one of the top contenders in a World Cup year, up against one of the favorites of the tournament in the quarterfinals? France has seen this story before and they didn’t like the ending.
However the tables are turned now. Australia is the host nation peaking in a World Cup year and France is one of the favorites to beat.
Unfortunately, they still hate the ending.
This was one of the most well balanced games of the tournament. The possession was evenly split, the territorial dominance was split in half, the passing accuracies of the two sides was similar and there wasn’t much separating them on underlying numbers either (1.6 xG for Australia compared to 2 for France)
Both sides played a 4-4-2 and did a brilliant job at neutralizing one another. Australia came out with an unchanged lineup as Sam Kerr was named on the bench once again.
French made one change as Maelle Lakrar was back into the lineup to replace right-back Eve Perisset. However, Lakrar wasn’t playing rightback as she has done previously but it was Elisa de Almeida who played on the right side of defence.
Herve Renard’s side understood the assignment. They knew the double pivot of Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross is extremely important for the Matildas and they tried to neutralize them by forming a cage around them. Les Bleues used their front two to screen passes into them while having their own midfield duo ready to close them down by pushing up to them when they received the passes.
This screengrab perfectly encapsulates the French plan. They have almost formed a restrictive cage around the Aussie double pivot during Australia’s buildup phase. Australia tried to use a back three during buildup to disrupt this organization and open up lanes into them by forcing one of the French players to commit as they held the ball between themselves.
Tony Gustavsson’s side did something similar in their off-ball organization. There was a slight tweak in the execution however. They had their front two screen passes into the double pivot but it was their wingers/ wide players who came narrow to mark the double pivot out instead of the midfielders. The near sided midfielder still pushed up at times to deny the midfielder receiver time on the ball.
The result of this approach was evident. Both sides retained a lot of the ball between their centerbacks and were forced to go down the wide route to progress and create anything meaningful.
This particularly forced Australia to go wide or keep possession between their centerbaks. The main source of progression for both sides has been their wide players but it was even more prominent here.
Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley were the top two players for most progressive passes in the game with 14 and 13 respectively while for France it was Selma Bacha with five. Apart from the Australian fullbacks, no other player had more than five progressive passes in the game.
If you look at the deep completion map for both these sides, you can notice the use of wide areas in creating these box entries.
Catley and Carpenter were also top two for deep completions from open-play during the game for Australia. Most in the game you ask? Selma Bacha, France’s wide left player, with 12. Sakina Karchaoui had the fourth most deep completions.
The play was focused down the right and it wasn’t just down to preference but due to the opposition gameplan. In the end there was no breakthrough in normal time thanks to some excellent last ditch defending and goalkeeping performances.
Both goalkeepers were brilliant in the game overall, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin kept France in the game as times with Mary Fowler absolutely transcending everyone on the pitch while McKenzie Arnold firmly established herself in the folklore of Australian football forever with her showing.
This unsure how De Almeida managed to keep this one out. This was the last ditch defending going on!
What happened after the end of added extra time is pure madness that cannot be explained. France opted for a goalkeeping sub and brought on Solene Durand to replace PPM for the penalties. It is best if you wath the video at the end of this newsletter to grasp the insanity of a 20-player penalty shootout.
Fowler was absolutely sensational against France and if not for some of those insane last ditch efforts, she would have easily had a goal to her name. The 20-year-old covered the most ground and put in a clinic on the ball. Her close control in tight spaces, her off-the-ball movements to serve as an outlet and an option in the box was phenomenal. The Man City forward has gone up to another level be it in terms of her performances or consistency.
Seven out of nine attempted take-ons succeded and most of them coming near the touchline and around the box where space is hard to buy speaks volume of her quality.
Another game, another tidy performance from Cooney-Cross who marshalled the midfield very well. The way she evaded pressure from multiple players when pressed is a sight to behold, she just accelerates away from the challenges and into space. She was astute positionally and supported play in every phase. The stocks keep rising!
One of the best sporting rivalries will be relived on the footballing pitch when Australia face England. With the cricketing action ending in a draw on both men’s and women’s side leading to Aussies retaining the Ashes.
Will we see a rerun of it or will the Lionesses tame the Kangaroos on home soil?
Match 60: England 2-1 Colombia
England were staring at a third consecutive semi-final at the FIFA Women’s World Cup while ‘Las Cafeteras’ had plans to cause another upset after hitting the sucker punch to Germany’s campaign earlier in the tournament.
This game showcased two key things:
Teams now understand the assignment to stop England or at least restrict them. Randy Waldrum’s Nigeria stiffled the Lionesses and gave teams the blueprint to work with.
England know how to navigate these situations in game on the back of a renewed solidity in defence. This defensive solidity has been the foundation of their campaign thus far.
England continued with their back three approach and made one forced change to their lineup as Ella Toone came in to replace the suspended Lauren James. The synergy drop in that midfield due to the change was very much evident.
Colombia made one change as well but it was the return of Manuela Vanegas to the lineup to replace the youngster Ana Guzman. It wouldn’t be long however that the youngster will once again be involved in the action, as an injury to right-back Carolina Arias, opened up a spot for her inclusion and this time in her favorable rightback role.
Colombia, like many other teams since the Euros, closely marked Walsh to disrupt England’s builup and force them long. Colombia’s number 10, Leicy Santos, was tasked with following Walsh closely during the game.
Teams have figured out the importance of Walsh now and usually have tight marking assignments for the key players during progression phase (Lauren James and Keira Walsh). Look at the sequence above to see this player assignment in action. Colombia weren’t pressing high up the field and were happy denying the channel through Walsh for progression.
This put the load of progression on the centerbacks and we can see this in the numbers as well. Millie Bright and Alex Greenwood were the two main progressors for Weigman’s side with nine and seven progressive passes made.
Santos is following Walsh while Ramirez (#9 for Colombia) is shadow blocking the passing lane towards her. This is the sort of double assignment teams are okay to commiting given her importance for the European champions.
This pattern of play resulted in turnovers in dagerous areas as well when Colombia were able to execute it properly. Look at the sequence above where Santos follows and quickly closes down Walsh upon receiving and Ramirez collects the loose ball inside the box.
The long standing open-play chance creation problems were only elevated after James missed out due to suspension. The difference in profiles of James and Toone and the lack of synergy didn’t help the team at all.
However defence is important in knockout football and the standout aspect of this game was England’s defensive solidity. The back three of the Lionesses dealt with everything Colombia threw at them.
They attacked by using their combinations and overloads on the right hand side (between Ramirez, Santos, Guzman and Usme) particularly as most of their shots came from interchanges in that area. The shotmap showcases their shot generation from this right hand side.
But there is an important aspect how some of these were blocked while allowing shots from these low value zones are difficult to concede from rather than the ones in the central zones. England did a great job to channel the opposition into this low value zones thus resulting in threat that was easily manageable and hence only conceding 0.5 xG in the game.
The way the wide centerbacks have dealt with 1v1 threat of opposition sides and covered the ground, showed players away from goalmouth while being able deputies on the ball, especially Alex Greenwood, has been incredible to watch.
Let’s talk about Greenwood who has arguably been one of the top two players for the Lionesses at the World Cup.
Greenwood was sensational yet again. With Colombia not coming out with a suffocating press, it allowed the Man City centerback time on the ball to bring it out of defence and play linebreaking passes using her vision. Her execution was largely on point and her technical ability on the ball even in her defensive third under pressure was sublime. She was the most important ball progressor and line breaker from that backline, filling the Leah Williamson shaped void in defence.
The former Manchester United centerback has exhibited her full range of skillset on the ball and has been very solid defensively throughout the tournament.
Hemp was heavily involved in this game, she was an excellent outlet with her movements. With Colombian leftback Vanegas being extremely important during buildup phases, this left some space to exploit behind her as she pushed forward, Hemp was alert to attack those channels and use her pace and take-on ability to create danger.
She was great with her in behind runs again in this game as she regularly presented a direct passing option into space. This formation change has massively benefitted Hemp who is able to utilize her skillset much better this way around.
England have never gone to a World Cup final. Australia have never gone to a World Cup final. So who will win this Ashes?
Highlight of the day
Relive the longest penalty shootout ever at a World Cup and quite honestly the best one I’ve ever seen!
Great post. I think that the England Australia game will be a good one. The rivalry between us in sport is great and really keeps you on your toes. You are so right about Walsh for England and Flowers for Australia and it will be interesting to see the tactics tomorrow for the game.