Section:GDN 1N PaGe:52 Edition Date:190830 Edition:03 Zone: Sent at 30/8/2019 0:25 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
••• The Guardian Friday 30 Aug ust 2019(^52) Sport
Football
Parris to the rescue
after England throw
away two-goal lead
Having underwhelmed in her brief
pre-tournament midfield outings ,
Bronze stayed in her more traditional
right-back berth at the World Cup.
But it is an idea that has stuck
with Neville. And, particularly in the
context of a light midfi eld – Jill Scott
was rested and Izzy Christiansen and
Jordan Nobbs are yet to return from
injury – it makes sense. Few in the
England camp play with the confi -
dence and relentless drive of the Lyon
defender.
“The occasion at St George’s Park
when we presented her with the tro-
phy the other day, she had no idea,”
said Neville grinning. “She is not emo-
tional but she was genuinely proud
and so too were all the team .”
England’s fi rst goal came from an
equally exciting source : the 20-year-
old Georgia Stanway, who was playing
in the number 10 role usually occupied
by Fran Kirby (out with injury), where
she was fl eetingly positioned at the
SheBelieves Cup and in France. She
stopped in space on the edge of the Bel-
gium box before slipping a light curling
ball between two defenders and round
a third, inch perfect to the feet of Jodie
Taylor, who could n ot fail to score. It
was a moment of brilliance from the
young Manchester City forward who
seems to be coming of age following
an assured season capped with an FA
Cup fi nal goal.
In a sign that Bronze’s shift could
spell danger at right-back – Rachel Daly
is good , but not European player of the
year good – the Houston Dash player
was left for dead by Elena Dhont,
whose end product was lacking.
Moments after the opener Taylor
turned provider but the hard work
was done by Bronze. Going to ground
under a challenge, she managed to
backheel the ball to Taylor, whose shot
was palmed into the path of an incom-
ing Beth Mead who doubled the lead.
Twelve minutes later Bronze was on
the back post to poke a Heleen Jaques
header from a corner off the line, but
a scramble to recover the ball saw it
ping-pong between Bronze and Carly
Telford and slip painfully over the line
to reduce Belgium’s arrears.
Belgium punished England again
moments before the break. Manches-
ter City’s Tessa Wullaert beat Daly with
ease on the left and swung a cross in.
Ella van Kerkhoven slipped into acres
of space between Steph Houghton and
Abbie McManus and headed home
with ease.
More chaos in the box – a feature of
England’s World Cup campaign and,
worryingly, Neville’s tenure in gen-
eral – gave the hosts the lead. The Red
Devil s broke at pace but with seven
players back Houghton should have
been able to clear. However, she fatally
prodded the ball straight to Van Kerk-
hoven, who fi red in from close range.
The visitors laboured without much
joy until a handball off the arm of Tine
de Caigny gave them the chance to
level. Up stepped Parris to power the
ball high into the net.
Neville was disappointed but philo-
sophical : “We conceded three poor
goals and I feel as though, with the
plan we have for the next three camps,
we might have to suff er some pain a
little bit.”
Defensive chaos led England to give
away a two-goal lead in Belgium before
earning a draw through a Nikita Parris
penalty, thus marring the start of their
run to the 2021 Euros and the night
Lucy Bronze won the Uefa Women’s
Player of the Year award.
It is rare that a friendly will draw
so much attention but, this being the
fi rst outing of Phil Neville’s side since
the World Cup, there was a higher
degree of curiosity. T here was an
added celebratory feel, with Bronze
having beaten her Lyon teammates
Ada Hegerberg and Amandine Henry
to Europe ’s top player prize.
However, two goals from Ella van
Kerkhoven and an own-goal more
than cancelled out England’s two from
Jodie Taylor and Beth Mead before
Parris levelled in a match that add ed
to concerns over England’s defensive
frailty.
Within minutes of the start Bronze
showed a glimpse of why Neville is
so keen to try her engine in the mid-
dle, busting a gut to chase a loose ball.
Suzanne Wrack
Stadion Den Dreef
Belgium 3
Telford 38og, Van Kerkhoven 45 55
England 3
Taylor 22, Mead 26, Parris 75pen
Belgium
4-3-3
Evrard; Deloose
(Missipo 76), Jaques
(Van Velde 79), De
Neve (Vanhaevermaet
66), Philtjens• (Van
Belle 66); Cayman,
Biesmans•, De Caigny;
Dhont (Vanmechelen
ht), Van Kerkhoven,
Wullaert (Van Gorp 87)
England
4-2-1-3
Telford (Earps 63); Daly,
Houghton, McManus•,
Stokes; Bronze, Walsh
(Williamson 87); Stanway
(Williams 56); Parris
(Staniforth 75), Taylor
(England 75), Mead
Referee Riem Hussein (Ger)
▲ Carly Telford cannot prevent Ella Van Kerkhoven putting Belgium 3-2 ahead
MICHAEL ZEMANEK/BPI/SHUTTERSTOCK
Shelvey ‘happy’
despite block
on West Ham
transfer
Louise Taylor
Jonjo Shelvey nearly joined West
Ham this summer before Newcastle
blocked the move. “I was close to
leaving but the club said ‘no’,” the
midfi elder said.
The 27-year-old, who was born in
east-London , is struggling to com-
mand a fi rst-team place under Steve
Bruce but is more than content to
remain on Tyneside. “I’m happy here,
I love living in this city,” he said. “I’ve
never once stated I wanted to leave.”
Shelvey also rejected suggestions he
is “lazy” and a “sulker”, and empha-
sised his commitment to being a team
player.
Shelvey is one of the most gifted
individuals in Bruce’s squad but was
omitted from the fi rst XI by Rafael
Benítez for large chunks of last season
and was an unused substitute during
last Sunday’s win at Tottenham.
“You hear that you’re lazy,” said
Shelvey, who has apologised to
Newcastle fans for missing a penalty
in Wednesday’s League Cup shoot out
defeat at home to Leicester.
“I get labelled lazy maybe because
of my body language; I’m quite laid-
back. People can say what they want.
But I’m the one who goes out there
and trains every day as hard as I can.
I’m playing for another contract at this
club and I need to keep performing. I
understand football’s changing and
I’m evolving with it but stats are stats.
You can run 15km if you like but I’m a
footballer.”
Yet despite impressing against
Leicester he believes he will be on the
bench once more at home to Watford
tomorrow. “I don’t expect to play,”
Shelvey said. “If I was a manager, I
wouldn’t change the team that won
at Tottenham. It’ll be a big game and,
if I’m called on, I’ll be ready. I just want
to be part of the squad. I get labelled
I’m a sulker and not part of this team.
But I am part of this team. I’ll do what
the manager tells me to.”
As he waits to be summoned from
the bench, Shelvey hopes sceptical
fans will give Bruce the benefi t of the
doubt. “Defensively we look sound,”
he said, praising the manager’s deci-
sion to revert to the 3-4-3 formation
that served Benítez so well.
“We’ve had playing that way in that
formation instilled in us by Rafa. The
gaff er has picked up on it and it seems
to be working. We need to work on what
we do off ensively but that will come .”
▲ Jonjo Shelvey, born in east London,
was close to leaving Newcastle recently
▼ Beth Mead scores
England’s second goal
MICHAEL ZEMANEK/BPI/
SHUTTERSTOCK
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