Credit: Getty Images/Naomi Baker
There was a moment against Haiti when Millie Bright realized what we all knew already: she had a bad game. Not a shock, nothing catastrophic, but enough to make the newly appointed England captain feel a little embarrassed.
There was no point in trying to pretend everything was fine. After four months without injury, during her first competitive appearance since injuring her knee while playing for Chelsea, Bright looked unsettlingly out of sorts at times.
There were bad passes, too many of them. There were several missed headers, the kind that she usually hits cleanly, taking part of the attacker with her. Her position was wrong, as was her timing when she tried to catch the ball in the tackle.
There was even a horrendous volley attempt in the second half, when an unmarked midcourt ball fell perfectly from the cold Queensland sky to let her fly past the goalkeeper. Her body position was so wrong and her balance so off-balance that she instead threw it high into the stands.
Bright screamed in frustration at that time, but the moment she realized what the others had already come to, it was that for the second time in a row in a few minutes she tried to make a relatively simple pass from behind the defense, only to be interrupted by a slightly frightened player from Haiti.
At times, Bright looked very out of pace in Brisbane. Photo: AP Photo/Tertius Pickard. ready to punish him.
That was indeed the theme of the evening. England wasn't in the best shape, but Haiti wasn't good enough to capitalize on their many mistakes.
Bright was clearly unhappy with herself after that second wayward pass. Her head dropped, and so did her eyes. It was as if she was trying to avoid her teammates' gaze, but she knew that wasn't enough either.
She raised her single hand in the air, indicating that it was her fault; that it was her fault and she's sorry she jeopardized England's first group match victory with such a belated, crappy game.
A lot is said about Bright's strength of mind by the fact that after that she became much better. Something clicked mentally. Transmission has become clearer, faster and more accurate. She didn't risk it. She won her headlines. He did it simply, kept it clean, minimized the risks. The England captain shook off her mental illness.
Even if there was bound to be rust after such a long break, even if she would naturally be a little less confident without the naturally more skilled Leah Williamson by her side, she should be better. It wasn't good enough of her, and even without the armband she would have felt the same way.
It wasn't Bright's fault that England were out of sorts against Haiti, but that didn't help either. When your leader makes mistakes, it tends to spread to the entire team.
Bright was the obvious choice to replace Williamson as captain, but things didn't start well when she arrived late to the team's pre-match meeting.
Being the captain of your country at the World Cup is a huge honor, but it can also be a big distraction. There is additional pressure, more focus on you and more media attention before and after the games. Bright didn't say much at her pre-match press conference. Answers to questions are usually so short that a comma is not needed when writing.
She doesn't seem like a natural speaker, but that doesn't matter. She is respected by her teammates and leads by example — at least she usually does. No one takes liberties with Millie, they wouldn't dare.
Nevertheless, if she can be direct in her answers, then so should we. It wasn't good enough on her part or the team.
England won't win the World Cup by making so many unforced errors. But they know it. Once Bright realized she needed to pull herself together, by the end the team got better and looked a lot less rusty.
Brite will need more games to pick up speed to regain her edge and rhythm. However, even when she was so visibly lacking in her best form, she found a way to win. She will be stronger for it. We must hope that England can do the same.
It was a job, not a very good one, but it was enough. The Lionesses were no better when they beat Austria in the first leg of the European Championship last summer, and we all know how that ended a few weeks later. Nothing to worry about yet.
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