On the morning after England’s previous Euro 2025 qualifying double-header, Sarina Wiegman was dealt a blow. Rachel Daly, full-back but also back-up centre-forward, announced she was retiring from international duty. Coming at the relatively early age of 32, and so suddenly after a match, it was a shock and a setback.
Daly’s versatility became a running joke and probably held back her international career. But this was a player who had finished as the Women’s Super League’s top goalscorer in 2022-23 with 22 goals in 22 games. She also scored in consecutive matches against Austria and Italy in February. And it left Wiegman without serious depth up front, a particular problem considering first-choice No 9 Alessia Russo hadn’t quite pushed on as expected after her move to Arsenal last summer.
But since Daly’s retirement, Russo has played perhaps the best football of her career. She returned to Arsenal and banged in five goals in four games, ending the campaign with her best WSL goals return so far. Russo has always appeared a confidence player: when she’s out of sorts she struggles to influence games, but when she’s performing well, she completely dominates.
In both matches against France this week, a 2-1 defeat in Newcastle and then a 2-1 victory in Saint-Etienne,…
