‘Concerned’ Sarina Wiegman sweating on fitness of England midfielder Keira Walsh
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.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Stonewall hopes Jordan Henderson speaks out about LGBTQ+ rights after Saudi move Joe Root takes stunning catch but Australia stifle England in fifth Ashes Test Riyad Mahrez becomes latest Premier League star to complete Saudi Arabia move
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We want drama – Mark Bonner ready for another exciting season at Cambridge
There is a strange twist of fate about the fact it was a trip to New York that saw Mark Bonner recharge after another rollercoaster season with Cambridge. If events last September had gone differently, Bonner would have called Rotherham’s New York Stadium home but after he turned down their approach, the 37-year-old embarked on the latest dramatic chapter in his story with boyhood club Cambridge. Seven points from safety ahead of an April Fools’ Day trip to Port Vale, no one was laughing but the U’s won five of their last nine League One matches to pull off a great escape despite having one of the lowest budgets in the division. So, ahead of his fifth season in charge of Cambridge, would League One’s longest-serving head coach accept a drama-free upcoming campaign? Bonner told the PA news agency: “We don’t want it to be dull! We want drama because that is what it is all about. We want our support base to keep growing and people to keep engaging with the club. We’ve done a great job with that over the last three-and-a-half years. “We have created some unbelievable moments and we want to try create that again this season. We certainly want a smooth and successful season, but I don’t want it to be a dull one, that’s for sure.” Whether it is Bonner or the Cambridge way, they don’t do straightforward. Bonner first coached at the club in 2002 and 18 years later – after nine seasons in non-league – he took over the first-team on an interim basis with relegation out of the English Football League a possibility. Four straight wins allayed those fears and he was handed the job permanently in March 2020, but within a week the coronavirus outbreak had turned into a pandemic and he waited six months to take charge of his first official match. No one is human if they say they have no doubts because that is a natural thing when it is going against you, but we had good players and brilliant togetherness and spirit within the team Mark Bonner What followed was drama of the best kind with promotion secured on the final day after a 3-0 win over Grimsby with supporters gathered outside the Abbey Stadium to celebrate due to it being the behind-closed-doors era. More than 6,000 turned up to watch Cambridge host rivals Oxford in their first match back in the third tier since 2002 and the U’s finished in 14th along with producing an FA Cup giant-killing with a 1-0 win at Eddie Howe’s Newcastle. Last season produced more challenges and despite good performances, a run of one win in 15 league matches saw Bonner’s men destined for relegation. Cambridge bucked the trend to keep faith with their manager, who responded with 13 points from 24 before a final-day victory over Forest Green, coupled with Morecambe and MK Dons’ failure to win, secured survival in the most dramatic of circumstances. “If you could write how you stay up, if that is what you’re fighting for, you would do it like that,” Bonner reflected. “The game itself was fairly comfortable. Atmosphere first half was amazing, all four sides of the stadium full of Cambridge fans, unbelievable support. But second half no one is singing or watching our game, they are watching their phones seeing what is happening elsewhere. That includes the whole of our dugout. “It is completely out of your hands and a horrible situation to be in. Our game finished and there was a long time left in one of the other games, but once that finished and it went for us, it was a nice moment of relief. “It was the end of a cycle because a lot of our players moved on, but the majority of them played their part in an incredible era in our club’s history and I think their story deserved to end like that.” Bonner’s own journey with Cambridge shows no sign of stopping soon. The former U’s season-ticket holder admitted doubts crept in last season, but he retained belief in the squad and repaid the backing of owner Paul Barry and sporting director Ben Strang. And the trio alongside other key local figures involved at Cambridge are keen to build a lasting legacy, with the Abbey Stadium bought back while work has started on a new training base alongside desires to become a top-half team. “No one is human if they say they have no doubts because that’s a natural thing when it is going against you, but we had good players and brilliant togetherness and spirit within the team,” Bonner insisted. “So, that (belief) was shook but never broken. The wheels would have fallen off quite a few other clubs in the sense of not being able to recover from those results or just huge change, managerial changes, staff changes, you see all that every season at clubs. “But the stability we’ve built and togetherness we’ve built just shone through in that period. “I would like to hope we get some respect for setting a bit of a different precedent and if more clubs were like that, maybe the ability to build something over time would become more common. “There is a perception in football that one person is responsible for everything, one person builds a team, but we’re a bit different. “Three seasons at this level for the first time in decades, most successful team we’ve had for decades, that is not a fluke firstly but it is also not down to one person, it is down to a whole host of people. We have a lot of Cambridge people driving the club and hopefully that pays off for us. “It has certainly been really unique and a big contributor to us in the last three years, but we want it to be that way for another three years. We know how tough that is but that’s the motivation we have all got.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Boss John Eustace accepts success will take time at Birmingham 2026 Rugby League World Cup to be hosted in southern hemisphere Marcus Stewart thinks former clubs Sunderland and Ipswich can push for promotion
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