England Women’s U20s head coach Mo Marley believes her team are “unbreakable” after they sailed through to the quarter finals of the World Cup with a 6-1 defeat of Mexico.
Marley’s team went into the break 1-0 down in their final Group B game in Saint-Malo, so knew they had to come out and score in the second half to qualify for the knockout stages.
The Young Lionesses responded by scoring five goals in 19 second-half minutes before Lauren Hemp completed her hat-trick with ten minutes left to secure progress in style.
And Marley was in a buoyant mood after the game, as she praised her squad’s togetherness in the tournament so far.
“Over the last three games I think it’s evident that you can see the connection between the players playing, the bench and the staff,” she said.
“Once we have that unity I actually believe that we are unbreakable.”
Marley explained how her team executed such a turnaround after the break.
“We spoke about one thing, and that was being better with the ball,” she added.
“That’s the only thing we spoke about and the players actually instigated that. We give our players a lot of ownership.”
Marley now has five days to prepare her side to face the Netherlands in their quarter-final tie in Vannes, and knows that she needs her players fit and ready for the crucial game.
Hemp, the player of the match, was instrumental in the dramatic change of fortunes in the second period and Marley spoke glowingly about the young Manchester City forward, who only turned 18 this week.
She said: “If I told you that this is the first tournament she’s played with this particular age group you would probably be quite astounded.
“She’s come from our U19s, come straight into this tournament and I think it epitomises about what we are trying to do from an English perspective, playing free, expressing yourself and bringing what you’ve got.”
