England boss Sarina Wiegman remains “concerned” about injured Keira Walsh after the midfielder was stretchered off in the Lionesses’ 1-0 World Cup Group D victory over Denmark in Sydney.
Walsh, a 2023 Champions League winner with Barcelona, started every game of England’s triumphant Euro 2022 campaign and could clearly be seen telling the team’s medical staff “I’ve done my knee” after sliding to collect the ball late in the first half.
The worrying scene dampened the elated atmosphere that followed Lauren James’ sixth-minute opener, a maiden World Cup goal for the 21-year-old Chelsea forward.
Wiegman said: “Of course I’m concerned because she couldn’t walk off the pitch, but we don’t know yet, so we can’t take any assumptions. Let’s just wait until we really have a diagnosis and then we can tell you.
“You saw what we did, (Georgia) Stanway dropped back and Laura (Coombs) came in. Yes, of course we had to find our feet a little bit.
“You saw different stages. We really dominated the first half. Then Keira went out and we had to adapt to the situation.
“In the second half, Denmark also had such a direct style of play. We also showed we can fight. The team showed real resilience. We kept it to 1-0 so it was really good and I’m really proud of the team.”
Walsh later appeared on crutches, with ex-England striker-turned-pundit Ellen White telling the BBC: “(At the 2022 Euros) Everything came through Keira. There wasn’t a plan B.
“I dreaded to think of the idea of us ever losing her because she was one of our best players. Beth Mead was scoring all the goals but all of our play came through Keira. She was the key cog, everything moved through her.
“I just don’t know who England are going to have now in that six (defensive midfield position), or even potential double six, role.”
Asked about White’s comments, Wiegman simply restated: “You saw the plan B. Georgia Stanway drops back and Laura Coombs comes in.”
An update on Walsh is not expected until Saturday at the earliest.
Wiegman fielded the same starting XI for every match of the Euros, but made two changes for the world number-four Lionesses’ second World Cup encounter against 13th-ranked Denmark.
James replaced Lauren Hemp on the left wing while Rachel Daly returned to the familiar left-back role she occupied for every match of the European Championship, and Alex Greenwood shifted to centre-back.
Wiegman’s decisions were almost instantly justified when Daly slipped the ball to James, who curled past Denmark goalkeeper Lene Christensen for what ultimately proved enough to settle the result after Amalie Vangsgaard’s header for a last-gasp equaliser clipped the post.
Wiegman likes to stress football is a full-squad endeavour, but did say of James, younger sister of fellow England international Reece James: “She has done really well but it is a team effort too and we were very careful with her.
“She is a very young, talented player. And yes, we were happy with the performance and she was ready today, so that was really good.
“Of course the approach of this game, we know that Denmark was dropping a little deeper, that they have a very tight, defensive block and we really thought we needed to play it in the pockets.
“That’s where she came a lot together also with Stanway and (Ella) Toone, and that worked really well. They really struggled with that, and yes, she made indeed a very nice goal.”
Denmark boss Lars Sondergaard extended his condolences to Walsh, and felt that while her absence perhaps led to a second-half surge from his side as England adjusted, the threat from players like James highlights how difficult it is to come up against the Lionesses.
He said: “After Keira Walsh, that’s always if you have to close one down, there’s another player. I think England has such a good team, they have always players that if you give too much notice on one player, other players will come up.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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