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There are obvious positives for England - but the USA can take heart from Sophia Smith

Tolga Akdeniz
There are obvious positives for England - but the USA can take heart from Sophia Smith
There are obvious positives for England - but the USA can take heart from Sophia SmithProfimedia
England beat the USA 2-1 in an exhilarating friendly in front of a packed Wembley Stadium on Friday night, but both sides will unquestionably come out of the clash with some positives.

The Lionesses' victory over the world champions will have given them a huge morale boost ahead of the World Cup next year, despite the odd shaky moment at the back. But when captain Leah Williamson returns from injury, she will undoubtedly add much-needed reassurance in the heart of defence.

England dominated the game for large portions, and will be pleased with how they were able to carve through a team as good as the USA on a number of occasions.

One of the standout performers on the night was striker Lauren Hemp, who came in for the injured Alessio Russo, who was due to play the match.

The retirement of Ellen White following their phenomenal Euro 2022 victory left a gaping hole in the number nine position, and Hemp won't have done any harm to her chances of filling that void following her poacher's goal.

She also looked to have taken up almost a free role up front, which manager Sarina Wiegman spoke about. 

"She's played there before. I've seen that, working in the Netherlands, when she played for Bristol (City). She played there at Under-20s, so we knew she could do that. But lately, she hasn't played there very much," she said.

"We wanted to give her freedom to play... and she really took that and really understood what we wanted.

"I think she really enjoyed herself."

However, Wiegman was keen to keen to let people know that this win doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, and the target is to succeed at the World Cup next year.

"We don't win a World Cup now but it's really good to have this game in this environment, with all the crowd cheering us.

"You're the best team in the world when you win the World Cup. We haven't. We're in a good place. It's so tight. We have to keep working. We've seen our team grow very much and that's exciting to be part of but we also take things we can do better."

However, the United States are in a different place to England. Whilst the European champions seem raring to go, the Americans are still building to Australia and New Zealand.

But one massive positive for them will be Sophia Smith. She was superb against England, and was arguably the best player on the pitch. 

Smith has been in exquisite form for the national team, and manager Vlatko Andonovski was full of praise for his player.

"I thought Soph was very good. She made a name for herself, but we cannot forget, she is 21," he said. "To come into an environment like this, be a difference maker, score a goal. I thought she had another incredible assist for the goal that was called back

"It just shows the potential that she has, and I think we haven't seen the best of her.

"These games will expedite Soph's development and I'm excited to see what she looks like six months from now."

England will be ecstatic with the result, but will also be aware that winning the World Cup is their primary target. They come out of Friday night's contest with bags of confidence, but the United States won't be feeling too bad either, knowing that they caused many issues for England - led by Smith.

There is a good chance that these two nations come up against each other in the World Cup final, and if we have a clash as compelling and dramatic as this one, then we are going to be in for a thrilling ride. 

See stats from the match at Flashscore.