England must learn to problem solve when facing top-quality teams, says Karen Carney; England play Colombia in the quarter-finals on Saturday; former Lionesses captain has teamed up with Powerleague to provide free football training for girls throughout the Women's World Cup
Thursday 10 August 2023 15:35, UK
"Will it be easy? No. Will we play the same way and be as free-flowing as we were in the Euros? No."
Winning the World Cup is less about style and more about substance, for former England midfielder Karen Carney.
Sarina Wiegman's side went from a 6-1 thrashing of China in their final group game, to an unconvincing last-16 match against Nigeria in which England's place in the quarter-finals was eventually secured through penalties.
This has led to debate around not only the team's tactics, but also their chances of lifting the World Cup trophy.
But Carney believes those underestimating England are actually underestimating the quality of the opposition at this Women's World Cup.
"[England against Nigeria] were excellent," Carney told Sky Sports.
"I know a lot of people will probably sit back and say 'why?', and the reason behind that is because I thought Nigeria were brilliant. That's where the women's games gone now, the level of competitiveness has gone through the roof.
"[Nigeria] went player for player, so they went 'we'll have that individual battle', where as sometimes England are not up against that. We have two vs ones, and we'll have superiority in numbers in different ways and we just couldn't get our best players free. It's a lesson of how to try and get away from that and problem solve."
Carney added: "The objective is to get to the end of the tournament, winning seven games and we're one step closer to that."
After shock exits from the likes of Germany and Brazil in the group stage, and then the USA in the round of 16, England are now favourites to win the tournament.
As 2022 European champions the team have experience of performing under the pressure of an expectant nation, but Carney believes they cannot rely on the same crowd-pleasing style of football at this World Cup.
"We're going to have to do it a different way. We've shown that already throughout the tournament. The teams that get to the semi-finals, as cliche as it is, they're the top teams, the teams that are left are incredible," says Carney.
"Will it be easy? No. Will we play the same way and be as free-flowing as we were in the Euros? No."
Colombia present a new challenge for England, an attacking-minded team with immense fan support who have already beat Germany and Jamaica on route to the quarter-finals.
"They're organised, they're tenacious, they're physical, tactically they're good and they've got individual players," Carney explains.
"[Colombia] are not to be underestimated, they've had success, they got to the under-17s World Cup finals [last year]. A very, very good side I've been very impressed with them."
But what does the England legend make of their chances against Colombia and if they can go all the way in this tournament?
"I'm an ex-Lioness, I'm gonna say they're going to win it, I'll always back them."
This World Cup is showcasing the immense quality of women's football, and with it inspiring the next generation.
"There's so many eyes now on women's football at this specific moment in time. There's the Lionesses, but I think there's so many teams that have been unbelievable. This competition has been breathtaking, honestly, it's blown me away," says Carney.
Carney is teaming up with Powerleague to provide free football training session for girls throughout the tournament, with the small-sided venues also offering an additional 100 hours of free playing time to grassroots girls' youth clubs across the country.
"It's a great opportunity when the spotlight is on the sport to say 'hey, here's an opportunity, here's some free playing time, get involved and make new friends, be healthy, be happy,'" she said.
The initiative comes after Powerleague research found that although four out of five girls were inspired by England's success at the Euros, half don't feel they have access to sufficient facilities to play football in their area.
"It is difficult and challenging to find facilities, so something like this is really, really important. There's 41 venues now for Powerleague, opportunities for young girls to go and play for free," says Carney.
"If we get more girls involved that's like me winning the World Cup."
Karen Carney is hosting a series of free football training sessions for girls at Powerleague Shepherds Bush on Wednesday August 16. You can find out more on the Powerleague website here
