As Bronze glitters Houghton is a cool head at the heart of England
‘Steph drives the players and polices the dressing room’
brass band might put it, that this is a team that can go all the way?
The England manager had spoken at length during the tournament about what he wants this England to be. Neville said he wanted his team to be ambitious, progressive, bold; not just winners, but purveyors of proper football. That, he has continually insisted, is not negotiable. For him, pragmatism is not an option; playing well is the only way. And, embodied by the brilliant Lucy Bronze, dribbling at every opportunity, creating goals for others, not to mention scoring with a shot of such power Kim Jong-un must have watched on in awe wondering where he could get a projectile of that sort of explosive intent – at times they were close to being what he hoped they might become.
More to the point they did it with perfect timing. This was a big moment for England. Fail at this stage and the questions heading in their direction would have been substantial. All that investment, all that expectation, all that hope turned to nothing. But from the off, the good news was Bronze was not alone in her determination that there would be no backward step. A goal up within two minutes, another before half time, a glorious third in the second, allowing the luxury of a missed penalty: ruthless was the word Neville used after the game to describe this performance. Brave was another. Not to mention entertaining.
This was an effort that had the entire 21,111 gathered in the stadium (including a delighted looking Harper Beckham, who had brought her dad along to show him what proper footballers look like) clapping along as the band started up Whole Again, the Atomic Kitten song popularised in Russia last summer. The entire stadium clapping along to the England band rather than wishing they would swallow their instruments and shut up: it was that kind of night.
But perhaps the most significant thing was that England never for a moment looked as though they were going to do anything other than win. A team who had spent much of the qualifying group giving the ball away at every opportunity looked to have gone up several gears. Fresh and confident after Neville’s judicious rotation policy had given opportunity to ensure limbs did not weary in the early stages, everything was in full working order. Karen Bardsley saved everything that came her way, Fran Kirby dazzled, the ace poacher Ellen White scored her fifth goal. Plus, perhaps most significantly of all, at the back, England were close to indomitable.
This, after all, was no minor league opponent. The Norwegians had some eye-catching talent. Yet as playmaker Caroline Graham Hansen beetled into an inviting space, zigging and zagging, she found herself outpaced and dispossessed by Millie Bright. And when the Barcelona-bound player broke through on goal, she was tracked and tackled by the impeccably cool Steph Houghton. And when Bardsley was beaten, it was Houghton there again to clear the ball from the line.
That’s the very same Bright and Houghton whose presence we were told by Neville the day before was in doubt for this game. Here they were providing the ballast, the backbone, the bedrock of the team. Alarming the nation that his centre back pairing might both be out when they were going to play all along: you have to wonder from whom Neville learned that sort of managerial mind game.
And Houghton had looked absolutely up for the challenge as she lined up in the tunnel before kick-off. Gimlet-eyed and determined, Bobby Moore like in her reading of the game, everything she did oozed ease and control. “She’s irreplaceable, Steph, her influence on and off the field,” said Neville. “Every minute of every training session she plays at 110 per cent. She drives the players, the policing of the dressing room is Steph, then she goes out and produces a performance like that. She is my captain.”
As they celebrated in front of the England fans, relishing their moment, savouring the fact they had matched their performance of four years ago, Houghton’s smile lit up the emptying stadium. This was a chance to celebrate. But Neville insisted she woould be back at work tomorrow ensuring that no one believes reaching the semifinal is the end of the trip. That is not the reason they came here. The next stage is now the one that really matters. This is a team with their collective eye on gold.