England were scintillating and ruthless as they tore apart Luxembourg in final World Cup qualifier
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England waved over Luxembourg like an orange sea as the European champions showed their class and ruthlessness to a carnival-ready Stoke crowd.
Sarina Wiegman’s side were welcomed by a sell-out bet365 Stadium for their 10th and final World Cup qualifier, arriving with a record of nine wins from the first nine and just a month after they had captured the nation’s imagination with their success in the Euros – and emphatically going on to complete a perfect campaign.
They were irresistible right through the evening, scoring five in the first half through Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Stanway again, Rachel Daly and Beth Mead.
LIVE: Reaction from the bet365 Stadium
The fun didn’t stop in the second half as Bethany England, Nikita Parris, Ella Toone, Laurent Hemp and England again ran riot to make it 10-0. Ten.
England simply dominated possession and just kept forcing their way into the final third, pulling back for the next player on the conveyor belt to get onto the scoresheet. Luxembourg keeper Lucie Schlime also made a couple of point-blank saves and more often than not she had 10 outfield players within about 20 yards defending as fiercely as they could.
Luxembourg had only once before faced a team in the top 10 of the world rankings – and that was when they lost 10-0 to England in the reverse fixture. Merciless. Ten qualifiers, 10 wins, 80 goals scored and none conceded.
It was all lapped up by an attendance of 24,174. Stoke had been desperate to bring the Lionesses to the Potteries but a game against Canada had to be played behind closed doors and a game against Zambia was called off because of the pandemic. Brilliant, then, that third time lucky meant that they arrived with such good timing.
The likes of mesmeric Mead and Toone are familiar names now to this audience and cheered wildly whenever they got on the ball or went to take a corner. There was a standing ovation too for Wiegman when she collected the Uefa coach of the year award on the pitch and at full-time when she gathered players on the pitch for final words of wisdom.
St George’s flags were waved, vuvuzelas blown, drums whacked and Mexican waves rolled in a party atmosphere, although it was a shame that too many people had far too big a struggle to get into the ground in the first place.
Perhaps it was ambitious to hold a game with a 7.30pm kick-off at a stadium that has been haunted by traffic problems since it was opened 25 years ago last month. When Stoke were in the Premier League, for example, they moved kick-offs to 8pm just to give supporters a chance to navigate the perils of the post-tea A500 and A50.
This time it took some fans an hour and a half just to get from junction 16 of the M6 to anywhere near the stadium. Meanwhile there will be angry calls from people who thought they were doing the sensible thing by using the official park and ride service from Trentham and still missed the start, dumbstruck by a lack of buses.
They could do worse than ask Wiegman to put in charge of logistics. She had wanted to put on a show for the Potteries and she and her team delivered. This was a scintillating performance, regardless of the standard of the opposition, who collapsed to their knees devastated when it reached double figures.
England will take on the United States next in a Wembley friendly and another chance to prove their credentials among the best around before heading to the World Cup next summer in Australia and New Zealand. They will travel south among the favourites – and Luxembourg will probably still be thinking they are not far enough away.
It would be nice if they can make it back to Stoke as world champions.
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