Hope Powell admitted that it had been a tough second half for England in their 1-0 victory against Spain.
The win puts England in the driving seat in their World Cup qualifying group but, with a tough return match to come with Spain in June, the England Head Coach was not getting carried away.
“In the first half we played well and it would have been nice to score more chances that we created,” she said. “In the second half, Spain were the better side – they are technically very efficient but we were resilient and the girls worked very hard.
“Credit to Spain, they took the game to us and you’re just counting the clock down. We didn’t play our best football in the second half but it’s job done, we now have to move on.
“We can’t take anything for granted. We’ve been in a similar position before where we beat them at home and found it really tough over there so we’ve got to maintain what we set out to do and that is to top the group.”Hope Powell’s England take on Austria at Loftus Road tomorrow night in the first of two must-win World Cup qualifiers. England are currently second in their group with wins against Malta and Turkey and play Spain next week, who currently top the group having played more matches. Only one team will gain automatic qualification and, with Spain having set the pace, the pressure is on.
“Obviously they’re two massive games for us so that brings an element of pressure,” said Powell. “We’re expected to beat Austria, I think that’s quite clear, but their recent results prove they’ve come on quite a bit. We’ve had them looked at three times now and from when we played them last time they’ve clearly improved so we just have to be mindful of that. It’s a tough qualification process, you have to finish top of the group, second isn’t going to cut it.”
After losing out to Germany in the final of the European Championship last year, Powell admits it has been hard to regroup and get the team motivated for a new campaign for the 2011 World Cup. England’s form has been near faultless so far, putting eight goals past Malta and three past Turkey in their first two qualifiers, but Powell feels that the disappointment of losing such a high-profile final takes its toll.
“I certainly haven’t got over it. I don’t think I’ll ever bloody get over that. It’s hard having done so well [at the Euros]. I’ve experienced it myself where you’ve been in major tournaments and you almost get a hangover and then before you know it you’re starting again. It’s quite hard to get yourself going again. But you learn to manage it. Hopefully it inspires you to go one better. It’s the turning silver into gold, that’s what I say to them.”
The England and Arsenal captain, Faye White, says England’s new status as European Championship finalists has changed the way their opponents see them. “We’ve really noticed the difference since,” said White, “even when Switzerland drew against us, in the Cyprus Cup, they were celebrating like they’d just won. It’s good to see other teams getting like that, it gives us confidence for qualifying for this tournament and hopefully beyond.”
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