- Aggie Beever-Jones scored a hat-trick in her first start for the Lionesses
- England cruised to victory in their first game since Mary Earps’ shock retirement
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A game of football can go a long way to heal your wounds, as Sarina Wiegman learnt to her great delight at Wembley tonight.
Less than twenty-four hours prior, the England boss had been sitting in front of the media, visibly shaken by the sudden disruption to her European Championship plans caused by the unexpected retirement of one of her stalwarts, Mary Earps.
‘It’s emotional … but we have to move on,’ she said, as she fended off a flurry of questions about the cause of her goalkeeper’s snub, five weeks before England’s title defence begins.
Taking to the touchline before kick-off against Portugal, the two-time Euros-winning manager stood there with her arms crossed, giving nothing away.
But as goal after goal found its way into the back of the Portugal net, the Dutch coach moved from a smile, to a grin, to, finally, a punch of the air.
Amidst all the noise surrounding a team in chaos, Wiegman’s players stood tall and let the football do the talking – albeit against a well below-par Portugal side.
England cruised to victory at Wembley thanks to Aggie Beever-Jones’ hat-trick
Sarina Wiegman’s plans for the Euros had been disrupted by the sudden retirement of Mary Earps
They face a sterner task in their next Nations League game against Spain on Tuesday, but as Euros warm-ups go, this six-goal thumping certainly went a long way to lift the spirits.
Aggie Beever-Jones, who started in the central nine position in place of the injured Alessia Russo, stole the show. The 21-year-old Chelsea forward has gone from strength to strength under the guidance of Sonia Bompastor this season.
And in just her sixth appearance for the Lionesses, Beever-Jones managed to quadruple her overall goal tally under the famous arch where this team has found so much success in recent years – becoming just the third women’s player to net a hat-trick here after Italy’s Carolina Morace and Beth Mead.
Wiegman is set to announce the squad she will take with her to Switzerland on Thursday, and the young forward made sure her call-up was signed and sealed with this emphatic display tonight.
So much of the spotlight had been on how Hannah Hampton’s night between the sticks would play out, but the Portuguese failed to register a shot on target all game, and the goalkeeper left happy with a clean sheet to add to her 14th cap.
Beever-Jones got the scoring underway in the third minute, cutting through the Portugal defence before her shot took a deflection and trickled into the back of the net.
There was a welcome return for Lauren Hemp, who was making her first appearance since last October.
She helped set up England’s second, firing the ball into the penalty area where Lucy Bronze managed to head home a rebounded shot from Beth Mead.
Bronze then returned the favour, her ball into the middle of the area picking out her Chelsea teammate Beever-Jones to treble England’s lead.
The goals continued to pour in, as Beth Mead scored the fourth before Beever-Jones’ hat-trick was sealed just after the half-hour mark had passed, giving England a five-goal advantage going into the break.
Things calmed down somewhat in the second half, and there were further welcome reintroductions for Georgia Stanway and Alex Greenwood after many months away with their respective injuries.
And Chloe Kelly, a force since returning to Arsenal in January and fresh off helping the Gunners lift the Champions League at the weekend, all but confirmed her place in the travelling squad with England’s sixth – netting just four minutes after coming off the bench.
England now travel to Barcelona, where Tuesday’s winner will book a direct spot in the Nations League knockout stages.
