England’s 3–0 victory over Australia in a friendly at Pride Park on Tuesday was overshadowed by a serious-looking knee injury to forward Michelle Agyemang, leaving coach Sarina Wiegman “not feeling very positive” about the youngster’s condition.
Goals from Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze, and Georgia Stanway helped the Lionesses bounce back from their 2–1 defeat to Brazil on Saturday. But celebrations were muted after Agyemang, 19, went down in visible pain midway through the second half with no contact involved.
The Brighton loanee, on loan from Arsenal, slammed the turf in agony before being attended to by medical staff. She was later stretchered off and seen leaving the stadium on crutches.
“That was an awful moment,” said Wiegman after the match. “It doesn’t look good. We don’t know the extent of it yet — she needs to be assessed — but I’m not feeling very positive.”
Teammates were visibly shaken. “It’s never nice when anyone comes off on a stretcher, let alone a teammate,” said Beever-Jones, who opened the scoring for England. “I don’t know what she’s done, but I’ll be praying she’s OK.”
Agyemang, who scored just 41 seconds into her senior England debut against Belgium earlier this year, has been one of the national team’s brightest emerging talents. She also played a pivotal role in England’s Euro campaign last summer, scoring dramatic late equalisers against both Sweden and Italy to take those matches into extra time.
Her injury took some gloss off an otherwise commanding performance by England, who dominated after Alanna Kennedy’s early red card reduced the Matildas to ten players.
Wiegman admitted the dismissal affected the intensity of the contest: “That was disappointing. In a qualifier I wouldn’t mind, but in a friendly you want 11 v 11 because that provides more challenges. We had to adapt quickly — they dropped deeper, spaces became tighter — but we still managed to execute parts of our game well.”
As England look ahead to next month’s fixtures, attention will turn to Agyemang’s medical reports. For now, the victory at Derby may offer short-term satisfaction, but the image of the teenager’s anguish remains the defining moment of the night.
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