Hope Powell assesses her side's victory over South Africa in the Cyprus Cup.
England |
1-0 |
South Africa |
Scott 5 |
|
|
The Cyprus Cup
International Friendly Tournament
Wednesday 24 February 2010
Larnaca, Cyprus
After watching her side record a narrow 1-0 victory over South Africa in the Cyprus Cup, the England Women’s Head Coach, Hope Powell, admitted she would be looking for an improved performance in their second game, against Canada tomorrow.
A fifth-minute goal from Jill Scott allowed England to get their Cyprus Cup defence off to a winning start, but Powell believes South Africa were unlucky to not to get at least a draw after their industrious display.
“We didn’t play our best football yesterday, we recognise that, and there’s obviously room for improvement,” said Powell. “Even though we scored early on, we didn’t perform in the first half. Our goal was a bit lucky really, it took a big deflection off their defender and Jill was there to knock it over the line.
“Credit must go to South Africa. They perhaps saw that we weren’t at our best and they tried to take advantage of that. They have improved dramatically since last year and they made it very difficult for us. They put us under immense pressure every time we were in possession of the ball and we couldn’t quite cope with it.
“They were very physical, aggressive and direct and to be honest, they were unlucky not to come away with a point.”
Despite South Africa’s pressure England did pick up after the break and they created a few opportunities to extend the lead, but were unable to convert. Powell can take heart from the second-half showing and says the players realise the necessity to improve.
“The players know that it wasn’t good enough. If we want to do well in the next game, we have to improve significantly. But, to be fair, we improved greatly in the second half, we just found it difficult at times to break them down.
“Had our finishing been better we would have scored more goals, but, in saying that, had their finishing been better they would also have got something from the game.
“It was not our best performance but we can build on it.”
England
1 Rachel Brown (21 Siobhan Chamberlain, 46), 18 Dunia Susi, 3 Casey Stoney, 20 Dani Buet (6 Laura Bassett, 58), 5 Faye White (C) (14 Rachel Unitt, 67), 12 Lindsay Johnson, 7 Jess Clarke (17 Rachel Yankey, 76), 8 Jill Scott, 19 Emily Westwood, 15 Jody Handley, 11 Sue Smith.