England v Mexico Match of the Day

Hello, welcome to the start of England's World Cup campaign. Hope

Powell's women kicked off their Group B matches this afternoon

against Mexico. Two players with plenty of England experience Joe

Potter and Sue Smith will be with me and lending their expertise

throughout the tournament. Now let's bring you up to speed with

how the tournament works. There are If England top their group, they

would be likely to avoid Germany in the quarter finals. We're with

England all the way on the red button for their matches. Let's get

on with the action from Wolfsburg. Your commentators are Lucy Ward and

Guy Mowbray. Hard to believe it's nearly four

years since we followed England's roller coaster ride to the quarter

finals in China. That was a fantastic World Cup and from what

we've seen in Germany so far, a wonderful opening day yesterday,

this one might yet surpass it. Massive interest, marvellous

stadiums, we're hopeful too that England can go at least one better.

Semi-finals has to be the aim, then who knows, one thing's for certain,

there has never been an England women's team better prepared or

more ready than this one. Let's more ready than this one. Let's

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 71 seconds

Dominguez has been leading the line wars in her career. She has worked

so hard to be back in contention for a place at this World Cup and

ultimately to lead the team out in that the bulk of the neutral

support has gone to Mexico. I guess we can expect that in Germany.

Are you surprised at her inclusion, we thought Ellen White might start?

Annie plays in the States. She gets tremendous experience playing at

the pro level. I think Hope's thought, let me put in the players

used to big games, used to tournament football. It's a tough

group. Tougher than people suggest, any way.

England aren't even the seeds in this group. That honour has gone to

Japan, who are ranked fourth in the world. I think that will help

England. The spotlight is not on them. We're expecting them to go

through, but because they're not seeded, the spotlight is often off

see there why Faye White is so important and her experience is

unbelievable in terms of how she deal was a player's experience of

Dominguez. She stood her ground and made sure she didn't get a clear

foirs have played in a men's World Cup and then coached in a women's.

Played for Mexico in 1978. They there. They're a small team. We

have quite a few players above 5'10" in the England team. She's a

bit concerned there, but I think some magic from somewhere. That was

not far away. Kelly Smith with her first shot of the 2011 World Cup. A

really good try. She had the keeper worried. She scrambled across. Not

on target, but the first of many I would suspect. It's going to be

difficult for England not to get frustrated here. Mexico is putting

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 71 seconds

a lot of bodies behind the ball, Kelly Smith had space in front of

her, but just too much on it. Good approach play by England. I can see

a few nerves out there, but they her first effort. She will be a bit

trying to do then. Aluko was screamling, she does scream for the

ball. She saw the sight of goal and running at the 2011 World Cup. It's

Fara Williams with goal number one for England. Brilliant. What an

excellent corner. Fara's not known for her headers. I don't know where

the keeper was. Great finishing. Great time to score for England.

She just got the loop in it. I don't know what the keeper was

doing. I think Rachel Yankey went across the keeper. She got a bit of

a touch as well. If you're 5'2" you're not going to get near that

with your head. The keeper didn't react aat all. It was a cracking

corner from Karen Carney. Williams got in front of Lydia Nayeli Rangel

and force another goal. That's what Santiago was wise to it. She did

well with the corner and I don't think Yankey meant to put everybody

behind surprise. That's better goal After two years in the States.

can really see the difference in Karen Carney after playing in the

States. Fara Williams on target. The more she does that in a game,

the closer she'll get to scoring, their World Cup campaign off to a

winning start today. That was a good try. Super goal. Mexico are

level, and it's a brilliant strike from Monica Ocampo. From England's

point of view, Karen Bardsley will not want to see that again. She did

not get to it. It was a good strike, she should have been able to stop

it from going in. It was an excellent shot, though. She needed

to be able to get to that, it was long enough in the air. It has to

be saved. It was just a speculative effort, really, from Ocampo. The

goalkeeper actually got there. The first thing really the England

keeper has had to do in the game and she hasn't done it very well.

This is a test now for Karen Bardsley. At this level, you can't

make mistakes like that. And that was an effort from Aluko. Salmon

Santiago new way which one that was going. She just could not wrap her

foot around it to get it in the There's nothing like a goal to gee

your team up, and that is what has happened. England made a meal of

clearing that one. It was interesting, the Mexican, Garza,

did not even hesitate before shooting. They have seen

nervousness in the England keeper. Gabbling I still look at England

and think that they're more capable of scoring. Kelly Smith took a

knock and son. Wherein to time it minutes. It started so brightly for

England, thanks to the headed goal from Fara Williams. Then it was a

shot from right out of the blue from Monica Ocampo, and the England

keeper could have done better. There's plenty of youthful

enthusiasm and pace on the bench for England. Williams got that one

wrong. Cut out by Ocampo. On the like handball from Jill Scott,

ended his. Great position for that when you're about one metre

England. It was hit by Dominguez. That was a good strike. She chose

stays like this what Hope Powell decides to do in terms of

substitutions. She has got Jess Clarke on the bench, there's a lot

of strength on the bench. The ball comes in from Rachel Yankey, and

Aluko could not make contact. It just needed a touch. England so

close to retaking the lead. We know Kelly Smith is a good player, we

need to see it a bit more. Aluko went for goal. You would expect

that of a strike. But it wasn't a Stoney coming to the rescue for

England. Brilliant, Casey Stoney. She just defends well, she does

what she is there to do. She puts there. Nothing will come of it.

is a difficult one to give, but there was definitely a clash.

has been enthralling, but not entirely comfortable for England

back pass. It was all very tight. Mexico pressing now. It just

creates the jitters are a little bit. Alex Scott is an extremely

experienced player, in a normal game, she probably would have

always going over. And she has looked a very useful number 10,

position, but she has not made the most of it. Chances like that in

big World Cup games have to be taken. Yes, I really thought Kelly

Smith was going to go for it herself, but she was unselfish.

Eniola Aluko just did not get a stoppage time to find a winner.

That was a good ball in from Rachel Unitt, that was the first time she

had got that far forward in the Garciamendez? The referee's far too

laid back to be giving yellow cards for that. You're right, it has been

attack. The keeper got there, didn't think she was going to for a

minute. Good goalkeeping. She did extremely well under pressure.

Kelly Smith, a moment of magic Right across the face of, from

Ellen White. Now, Eniola Aluko. Ellen White did extremely well on

the right home side, but she's the goes past the defender easily.

Yankey was in support, and White is brought down. That had to be a free

kick. It is the first yellow card of the match, and the recipient is

Garciamendez. Great feet, she wasn't bothered. I did not think

she was going to give that, the referee. This is a really good

opportunity for England. Set pieces are important, and England have

been practising these. This is the time to deliver. Kelly Smith has

pulled rank. This is all about England's record goalscorer. Can

she add to her 43 goals for her country? It was always clearing the

a bit of time left. A few nice touches, but it has not quite been

heard game today. Another card here. That's the first mistake: has made

in this game. She chose to step over the ball, and she ended up

losing it. She had to do something about it, and she ended up fouling.

No question about that one. Mexico have got themselves in a good

position here. The substitute, Lopez, has her eye on goal. But the

shot came in from Ocampo, and that Lopez. That was better. Yankey to

Williams. That was a miskick, just when England needed a good ball out

to Alex Scott. Alex Scott now struggling to get back. The effort

came in from Noyola, but it was blocked. And Mexico might get the

last good chance of the game. the England players looked tired,

but it was an excellent block by Ocampo. Come into the box... It was

missed by Garciamendez, and Mayor heard the shot. Good block by Ellen

White, centre forward, playing centre-back. Yes, that's how you do

not concede. Well done, Ellen White. Mexico in no great hurry, it tells

you want to one will do them quite nicely. -- 1-1. The longer this

half has gone on, Mexico have noticed the tiredness of England.

It is all over in Wolfsburg, and England start their 2011 World Cup

campaign with a draw. It was a game they had targeted to win. But they

will have to be content with just one point. Fara Williams's face

tells the story. The Mexico goal came out of the blue. Your thoughts,

Lucy Ward? England will be disappointed, but I think Mexico

could cause problems to other teams in the group, so it is going to go

right to the last game. But they have got a point. I don't think the

girls will be particularly pleased Another World Cup, it's always

enthralling, but never that easy. This is what it means to Group B.

This is what it means to Group B. Japan beat New Zealand earlier

This group is wide-open. Japan were the favourites in terms of seeding.

England would have expected to be in control of this match more than

they were today, and therefore go into the second match with a win.

It changes the complexion of the group. We're into that come on

England, you've got to get a win against New Zealand. Yeah I think

so. They'll be nervous now. They so. They'll be nervous now. They

expected to probably win this game. Even though we said Mexico are an

unknown team. They haven't played them too many times. They struggled

at times, England. Perhaps we should have read a bit more into

the defeat by Australia last week. England lost 2-0. Mexico scored two

goals against them. They've hit their form quicker. They've

probably hit their form at the right time. It's a bit of an

unknown quantity. England would have expected to get a result today

and would be very disappointed not to, but I think the Mexicans can

take massive amount of confidence from that game. They're going to

shape this group in many ways. Let's have a look at the good, the

bad an the ugly. Fara Williams was the good. She must have thought

with her form and this goal, it was going to be plain sailing.

started off very well. This was just, this is Fara, getting in on

the edge of the box and late runs. She did really well to steer that

into the top corner. It's typical Fara. A great start for England.

All the way through the first half, she got on the ball and made things

happen. Second half, Mexico tried to stifle that. They did that

pretty well. If the first half, England in control, Fara Williams

goal, looking good. England pressing, attacking, with the

positivity. Then Ocampo pops up with a longer range shot. Suddenly

it's all change. It was all England, majority of the possession. Then

the Mexico goal comes from nothing really. Ocampo picks it up on the

left. She comes inside and has a great shot with her right foot. I

think she's actually left footed. To take on this shot with such

confidence, I mean, it just goes to show the ability of the Mexicans.

When you see it from that angle, you feel for Bardsley. At that

point she'd hardly been tested. At halftime you felt she could have

been better. That's when concentration comes in. 30 minutes

of not doing much. You have to stay concentrated for the whole 45

minutes, 90 minutes. I know she'll reassess and focus for the next

game. Peruvian referee was rather kind to England perhaps on two

different occasions. In the first half, it was White and Dominguez.

When we looked at it closely, White lucky. Yeah, very lucky. She does

well to get back and recover. As she dives in there, Dominguez lifts

the ball over her leg. We're very lucky not to concede a penalty

there. Initially Initially we thought what a great challenge.

Dominguez does a nice flick over Faye's legs. Mexico will not be

happy they didn't get a penalty. This is more blatant than the Faye

White one. We're very lucky here... Unitt taking out Garciamendez there.

Garciamendez gets a yellow later on. She got nothing from that. She must

feel agrieved. That's a penalty for me. Dominguez had a great free kick

early on in the second half. Let's have a look. This player scored in

the World Cup in '99 for Mexico. She has a wealth of experience and

This is a play they're looking to. She's experienced. It shows the

confidence. It was the first runner. Definitely. That's Ocampo with the

free kick, who you mentioned a minute ago, from the second half.

We have seen her score with her right foot. She's talented.

initially thought she was right footed. She scored with the right

foot and takes it with her left foot there. Definitely talented and

two footed. Great effort on goal. We talked about whether or not

Aluko was lucky to start. Ellen White had been fancied by many. She

did start. In the second half, really good chances fell to her and

it looked like it wasn't her game today. Yeah, she's another player

who will be disappointed today, especially second half. She does

really well to get into positions. She's got fantastic opportunities.

Creating again there. Rachel Yankey didn't get on the ball too much,

but that was a lovely cross. It's like she took her eye off the ball

at the last minute. She might have thought she'd scored before she hit

the ball. She was thinking of a celebration I think. I'm sure she

was. Kelly creating. She picks it up in the middle of the park.

was not on a plate, but it's the lack of power. It sits up really

well for her there. She was pretty fatigued coming into the end of the

game. This is the third attempt. Initially the build up play was

really G she does a step over here to Kelly, gets it, nice little ball.

It's just that final shot. Just the end product, weren't there for them.

Mexico's confidence building throughout the half. Casey Stoney

with fantastic blocks. She saved Glenn's bacon more than once today.

Yes she did. She made just one mistake and got booked for it. All

day she was blocking shots and putting her body on the line. We

thought she had a great game today. Ellen White who came on to score

England's winner, ended up being the player who saved us in the last

minute of the game. Yeah, I've played with Ellen at Leeds. This is

what she will do. She will put her head on the line. It doesn't matter

if she's scoring a goal or defending a goal. Here she gets

whacked in the face, but she saved England's bacon. Do you think

she'll earn a place in the starting line-up? She'll be pushing hard for

a place. She came on and proved herself. She works hard. She

created a free kick at the end of the game. Let's get reaction now

from the England camp. Kelly, a point in the opening game isn't too

bad. But are you disappointed not to take three? We wanted to open

the group with three points on the table, but it wasn't meant to be.

We're grateful to get a point. We didn't lose the game, which is the

most important thing. That goal for Mexico came at a time when it

seemed you were in control of the game? Yeah, we were pushing for the

second goal and Ocampo pulls one out of the bag from a lang distance.

It was a great strike. We're a bit disappointed. We move on now. That

game's in the past. We have New Zealand now. Are the players

frustrated by that performance? bit disappointed. In the first half,

we had quite a lot of the ball and going 1-0 up. We knew they would do

long shuts and we should have got to it quicker. They're a good side,

so I think coming off a point is a good thing. Was it quite a warm

occasion? As you can tell! It's been raining ought week and the one

day we play, it's roasting hot. It's quite hot and difficult. But

no excuses. You have to deal with it and play the game. We didn't get

the win, but we carry on now. Zealand next, that's a must-win

game. Yeah definitely. We have to go into that game with three points.

If we get one point, we have a third game to get three on. We'll

be concentrated on between now and the New Zealand game. Are you

satisfied with that performance? I'm glad we didn't lose. That's the

main thing. If I look at the possession, we probably had more of

the possession, but a great strike from them brought them back into

the game. I think we'll be disappointed we didn't win the game,

but pleased we didn't lose it. Some work to do. We go again for the

next one. Could we have done better with the opening goal? Really we

would have expected her to save that. She's bitterly disappointed.

As I said, that brought them straight back into the game. Up

until that point we dominated, but it is all about scoring goals. One

apiece we go with the points. Powell, Sue, really honest, just

glad we didn't lose. There were last gasp saves, blocks, chances

for Mexico. One point on reflection, good. On reflection she's probably

thought job done. We have one point. We'll move on and hopefully

progress. It changes the complexion of the group somewhat. It gives the

sense that England have to get a win against New Zealand. It does.

They would have wanted three points from this game to go into the New

Zealand game more comfortable. But now they have to go into the New

Zealand game winning all three points. Still as confident?

Definitely. It's never an easy ride watching England. Check out the

website. We have regular tournament updates for you. On Friday, England

play New Zealand, a crucial match now. We'll be on the red button

from 5pm and on BBC Two with highlights at 11.55pm. England with