England’s Carter decided to shut out Norway’s formidable front three | England’s women’s soccer team
JAce Carter knows what happens if Norwegian forward Caroline Graham Hansen gets too much time and space. In the Champions League final 2021, the English player was part of the Chelsea defense, which was torn apart by Graham Hansen’s Barcelona, who were 4-0 within 36 minutes.
The Lions will host Norway in their second group stage match at the European Championships in Brighton on Monday night and keeping away a formidable third from Graham Hansen, Champions League record scorer Ada Hegerberg and Chelsea forward Guro Reiten will be crucial to England’s hopes in the top group A.
“She’s obviously one of the best players I’ve ever met,” Carter said of Graham Hansen. “If I were to face her again I would be tighter, more aggressive and do my best to keep her as wide as possible. We have a lot of experience in the squad as well and we are good enough defensively to handle her. We are well aware about what her strengths are. ”
Carter is obviously very familiar with Reiten’s strengths as well, and those of another Chelsea teammate who will wear a Norway shirt on Monday night, defender Maren Mjelde.
“They are both incredible players. Guro is fantastic on the ball, she has a wonderful left foot and she will be a threat going forward, but in my opinion she is nothing that our English team can not handle as well,” said Carter with a grin.
“We have shared our best tips about her and hopefully the girls take it into the match and defend themselves as best they can. Same thing with Maren, she is a phenomenal player, she has obviously not come back from injury and played so many matches so for us it may be a small advantage, that she may not be as good as others from an agility perspective, but she is a top., top person and player. “
Many invoice the match with Norway as the group’s match, not least Norway’s manager, Martin Sjögren, who said that England were “definitely” the favorites. But Carter said: “Every match is great, it doesn’t matter what opposition you play, every match is great. We have the same job, we have to win all three, and in the end we will only do our best to do it. “
Sjögren hopes for some nerves from England. “There is always pressure on the home nations and especially a team like England,” he said. “For our sake, hopefully there will still be some nerves, but I think we will see a different England than what we saw in their first match.”
Sarina Wiegman removed the talk that her team were favorites under pressure. “It’s nice that they’re trying to put pressure on us,” said the England coach. “We are just working on our game. We want to win the match and they want to win the match. If they want to be underdog it is good. I think they have a very strong squad and so do we.”
Wiegman only has Lotte Wubben-Moy missing in his squad, where the defender has tested positive for Covid, and Carter will be an important defensive alternative.
Carter’s journey to a first major international tournament with England has been long in many ways, but fast in others. After a long season at Chelsea, she did not feel ready for the summer.
The defender described “when I first came in after the end of the season” as the worst experience in an English shirt so far. “Of course I was really disappointed that I did not feel ready and maybe part of me felt that it would affect my chances of going to the European Championships,” she said. “I was really quite worried about it. But in the end, as I see it, I needed to be as honest as I could to help the team win.
“It was no idea for me to come in and push and push and push and then get hurt by it. I could have been quiet and just moved on. But I don’t think it would have really benefited me or the girls.
Carter instead trained separately on an individual program before returning to the group. “This has probably been the first season where I have played consistently at such a high level and it is also my first tournament,” she said.
“I think we just wanted to take care of myself in the right way, make sure I was as fresh as possible. I felt that I was still struggling to handle consistent matches that I had had and I felt that the best way to be in the best position to help the team move forward is to try to recover a little more.
“Many of the girls in the group have a lot of experience playing at this level. It was my first taste of it. I felt I needed, not take a step back, I just had a slightly different program. The staff has been good at Sarina is a winner, she knows that everyone has to be treated individually so that we can do our best. They have been fantastic, the team has been good. I had a few days with a slightly different schedule but ever since I have been back with team and trained as usual. ”