England will use the experience of defeat by the world's top-ranked team Germany when they face France in their Women's World Cup opener on Tuesday, says boss Mark Sampson.
England were outclassed in a 3-0 loss in November and face a French team who beat them by that score at Euro 2013.
France are ranked third in the world, three places above Sampson's side.
"We learnt some big lessons and since then the team has evolved," he said of the Germany match.
Women’s World Cup 2015: England primed to find new level against France
England’s women are sharing accommodation with France and preparing to do battle in the bilingual city of Moncton in their World Cup opener
By a quirk of fate – or was it Fifa deciding to test the Entente Cordiale? – England and France have been billeted in the same downtown Moncton hotel before Tuesday’s all important World Cup Group F opener.
Common civilities have been scrupulously observed but, so far, the relationship is mainly about furtive glances and that certain awkwardness which makes eye contact almost taboo.
“We’re on different floors, although we eat meals on the same level,” says Lucy Bronze, the England defender. “But there’s not been much interaction – none of us know any of the French players and I don’t think anyone in our squad speaks French.”
The language barrier rather sets Mark Sampson’s Lionesses apart in Canada’s first officially bilingual city where inhabitants regularly switch from one language to the other mid-sentence.
Moncton’s composition dictates that a sell-out 13,000 crowd is likely to be divided along 50-50 lines with residents of the city’s predominantly French-speaking suburb of Dieppe attempting to outsing the England supporters from Riverview on the other side of town.
“Moncton’s the best venue for England v France you could possibly have in a tournament,” says Bronze. “The atmosphere’s going to be nice.”
The game also offers locals some light relief in the wake of the first anniversary of the Moncton shootings. On 4 June, 2014, this small, close-knit community in the Atlantic province of New Brunswick were devastated by the murders of three members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who were shot dead while attempting to apprehend an armed man on the run.
Only hours before England flew into the city’s tiny airport from Toronto, Mounties and locals had marched down Main Street on a day of commemoration for the fallen. Any visitor reading the local paper, the Times and Transcript, swiftly learns that Moncton is still coming to terms with the unprecedented events of a year ago.
While locals hope the World Cup will boost a tourism industry damaged in the wake of the shootings, Bronze trusts the France match will showcase England’s potential.
After breezing through qualifying, Sampson’s side have lost friendlies to the USA, Germany and Canada, thereby prompting concerns they may struggle to achieve their aim of getting beyond the quarter-finals.
Bronze, though, believes not too much should be read into the 1-0 defeat by Canada late last month. “We’d only been over here for a few days and had jet lag,” says the Manchester City defender who has just returned to action following knee surgery. “It was all about getting the cobwebs out of our system.
“Since then training’s been going very well and everyone’s really fit. A lot of people think this could be France’s tournament, they’re one of the top five teams in the world and they’re very good – but I don’t think we’re too far behind.”
England’s cause is perhaps helped by the fact that Bronze is – along with the captain Steph Houghton, goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, Toni Duggan and Jill Scott – one of five City players in the squad. That quintet benefit from regular coaching sessions from Rodolfo Borrell, City’s global technical director who during a prolonged stint at Barcelona helped develop Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta. “He’s brilliant,” she says. “I’ve learnt a lot.”
Considered dark horses to reach the final in Vancouver on 5 July, France arrive as a form side, albeit one who have traditionally struggled in major tournaments. Even so, they eliminated England on penalties in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in Germany in 2011. Two years later they thrashed Hope Powell’s team 3-0 as England finished bottom of their group at Euro 2013 in Sweden. “You can’t compare now to then, though,” Bronze says. “There’s a bit more pressure on France here.”
Whatever happens against France, England fans should not expect their 32-year-old Welsh coach to name unchanged sides in the subsequent Group F games against Mexico and Colombia. Sampson’s addiction to rotation remains controversial but Bronze is a believer.
“I don’t think any of our starting XIs in this World Cup will be the same,” says the 23-year-old from north Northumberland whose early childhood was spent on Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, among a 200 strong community joined to the mainland by a tidal causeway. “Mark’s saying ‘it’s a squad game’ and you’re not going to win a World Cup with the same team’. That’s the big difference between Mark and Hope Powell.
“I think every single player in this squad will play a part in the tournament; Mark’s rotation means you’re always being pushed for your positions; you always have to perform.”
There have been fears that such tinkering would become a necessity given the unforgiving artificial surfaces at Canada 2015 but Bronze has been pleasantly surprised.
“Players aren’t coming down with training injuries,” she says. “Although I’ve got a burn mark on my thigh after a sliding tackle I don’t think anyone will be doing knee slides, not that I’d be doing them anyway with my knees.”
Somewhat ironically Fifa regulations dictated that the grass at Moncton stadium has had to be replaced by artificial turf but Bronze is focused on France rather than the pitch. “If we could beat them it would send out a strong message,” she says. “It would cause a bit of an uproar in the tournament.”
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