Australia defeated England 2-0 in their debut match under new coach Sarina Wiegman, ending England’s 30-match winning streak.
It was a performance that belied the sombre atmosphere at the Gtech Community Stadium, as the Lionesses failed to win their final match before the Women’s World Cup roster was revealed after their thrilling Finalissima victory.
Sam Kerr, a great forward for Australia, led the team to victory. Australia had every aspect of England’s game plan figured out.
England skipper Leah Williamson’s error allowed the Matildas captain through to slot home past Mary Earps – although replays showed she was offside.
It was Williamson again involved in Australia’s second.
Charlotte Grant’s header (67) hit the defender on the way through before nestling into the back of the net.
It is the first time England have conceded more than one goal in a game under Wiegman.
The Lionesses never really responded and struggled to break down a well-drilled Matildas side, finding it tough to deal with their aggressiveness that forced plenty of errors.
But Williamson does not view the result as a setback, telling ITV Sport: “Absolutely not a setback. Sometimes you have to take blessings in disguise and I think maybe that’s not the worst thing that could’ve happened to us.
“We wanted to learn this whole time, we wanted to be pushed to our limits and we need to take it up a new level. In the past we won those games, we turned them around but actually, tonight to lose it gives you a bit of fire.”
Wiegman: I’m not worried by defeat
England manager Sarina Wiegman:
“I’m not worried. I don’t worry very quickly. We know we have to be at our top level and that’s when we go into the World Cup too.
“Every game we get some warnings – against Brazil we got some warnings in the Finalissima. We know where we want to go to and what we have to do.
“I don’t think we’re losing momentum, I think it’s building. There’s 100 days to go and everyone’s really excited to go to Australia and this is just a very big learning moment for us that we need to get to a higher level to win these games.”
Questioned about the 30-game unbeaten run being over, Wiegman responded: “I haven’t been focused on that ever.
“We just want to win every next game and you remind us all of the time [about the unbeaten run] but we don’t talk about that in our camp.
“We talk about the next game and we want to improve every game and try to adapt to the opponent.
“I would’ve loved to have had a 31st win but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”