England’s women team put six past the Croatian goalkeeper as England qualified for the Euro Cup coming up in the summer this year. Captain Rachel Unitt who was playing her hundredth game for the country managed to out her name on the scoreboard as the Group 6’s bottom team, Croatia, was blown away by the cyclonic force of England.
England finished off the game in the first half itself when Rachel Williams and Jes Clarke scored a goal a piece in the first eighteen minutes itself. Rachel Unitt too scored in a matter of minutes to put England up three goals to one with more than three quarters of the match still left to play. Ellen White and Steph Houghton then added two more goals before the whistle blew for half time thus assuring their victory. Houghton then went on to score another goal in the sixty eight minute of the game to secure their six goal lead, nit that it was needed anyway.
Rachel Unitt’s partner Karen Carney was one of the chief architects of the English side as she replaced the injured Kelly Smith for the game. It was her to set up the first three goals of the match for Lincoln striker Clarke, Birmingham striker Williams and Unitt herself. Williams then provided the crucial assist in the thirty fifth minute for Arsenal striker White to score the fourth goal of the game. But the English side wasn’t done yet. Carney crossed the ball for Arsenal defender Houghton to score the fifth goal seconds before the whistle blew signaling the end of the first half of the match.
Hope Powell replaced Carney along with Fara Williams from Everton as both the players were on a yellow card and the coach did not want to take any chances whatsoever. If they had picked up another card then they would have been ruled out of the important qualifier against Netherlands. Though a six goal victory was more than enough, England let a lot of chances slip by as they failed to capitalize on their opportunities.
This victory over Croatia takes England to just two points behind their group leaders Netherlands whom they face in the upcoming fixture. A win over the Dutch side would assure England of a place in the Euro Cup. England manager recognized the importance of the tie as she remarked that the team could not focus all its energies on the Dutch side as they will try their best to secure a win and assure themselves of a spot in the Euro Cup.
Leave a Reply