Above: The Young Lionesses last year. Image: Andy Wicks.
By Rachel Gore (27/02/24)
For their first international break of 2024, England’s under-23s joined the Senior Lionesses in Spain for a warm weather training camp.
Emma Coates, the head coach of the U23s, selected a 24-player squad to travel to Andalusia.
This squad included some key players who are becoming fan favourites in the clubs that they play for and the leagues that they play in. One of these players is Missy Bo Kearns who became the youngest player to captain Liverpool at just 20 years old and led out the U23s Lionesses in both of their matches in Spain.
The team’s first game of the year came on February 22 when they took on Spain at Marbella Football Centre. The Spanish side was strong and came out with a 3-1 victory.
While the Lionesses ended up losing the match, they dominated the first half of the game. Only 3 minutes in, England were awarded a corner which was taken by Freya Gregory. Skeels took a shot from this corner, but it came off the bar, denying the team of an early lead.
At 17 minutes, Fran Stenson made her first save of the game. Stenson was called up as a replacement for Kayla Rendell who withdrew from the camp due to injury. The fact that Stenson was not included in the original squad that Coates selected made her place in the starting eleven of the girls’ first game surprising; her performance, however, proved how deserving she was of being in this position.
In the 42nd minute Aggie Beever-Jones scored England’s first, and only, goal of the match. The striker was assisted by Naz who took a misplaced pass from the Spanish goalkeeper.
Beever-Jones’ goal saw England take a 1-0 lead, although this did not last for long. Spain were soon awarded a corner and used this opportunity to score. This Spanish goal brought the score to 1-1 at halftime.
Stenson made a crucial save at 52 minutes; Spain was awarded a penalty following a handball by Silcock. This save by Stenson served as a further reminder of why she was chosen by Coates.
After this penalty the game fell in favour of Spain. The home team scored in the 66th and 81st minutes, securing their victory.
The U23s second game came under a week later on February 26. The squad drew 1-1 to the Netherlands in this European League match.
Towards the beginning of the game strong attack from the England players caused Netherlands goalkeeper Danielle de Jong to make a trio of quick saves; Skeels took a shot at the goal after receiving the ball from Bever-Jones’ corner, Silcock then headed Bo Kearns’ corner towards the net, and Mace’s rebound was also saved.
The shots at goal were frequent, it was in the 37th minute that Silcock managed to hit the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. At half time the score was 1-0 to England.
In the second half defenders from both sides showcased their skills with blocks preventing further goals. The U23s kept on pushing and at 71 minutes Beever-Jones headed a strong ball from Pattinson onto the crossbar.
It seemed like England were going to take the victory, this was until the second minute of injury-time when the Netherlands managed to equalise.
The performance from the under-23s during this camp was a disappointment for fans; their game against Spain was their first defeat in over a year and they missed out on victory against the Netherlands in the final moments.
However, the February camp was still an extraordinary experience for the under-23s as they were in the same space as the senior Lionesses. The joint camp provides evidence of the strength that the England talent pathway has; the girls currently playing in the youth England teams are being provided with support and experience that will help them reach the senior squad.
Both games played by the under-23ss were watched by Wiegman, her staff, and players from the senior Lionesses’ team.
There were numerous interactions between the two squads during this camp. U23s players Naomi Layzell, Aggie Beever-Jones, Laura Blinkilde Brown, and Jessica Naz were given the opportunity to train with the Lionesses under Wiegman.
In addition to this, Aggie Beever-Jones received a late call-up by Wiegman to join the senior’s match day squad for their first game of the camp. She came into the squad a day after the U23s first match, in which she scored, to replace Chloe Kelly who was unavailable. Beever-Jones has become a well-known player this season due to the talent she’s shown when playing for Chelsea.
As well as getting a look at what camp for the senior Lionesses is like the U23s also took part in media that typically only the senior players would participate in. The girls were interviewed and appeared frequently on the Lionesses’ social media.
While this first international break was not as successful for the England women’s under-23s as they would have liked it to be, it was an example of how great the England talent pathway is. The players coming up through these national youth teams have years of experience playing internationally and some have even had the opportunity to train with the senior Lionesses prior to their first senior call ups.
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