HERAKLION, Greece -- After the full-time whistle went, Leah Williamson and Sarina Wiegman stood talking on the pitch. The England players clapped the few fans in the stadium, spoke to one another, waved at their families and headed off to the changing rooms having secured the 3-1 victory over Greece at Stadio Pankritio.
Still Williamson and Wiegman talked, long after the pitch had cleared.
They were trying to make sense of this match. Ultimately England got the job done -- this was a step closer to securing their place in Brazil.
They're in charge ahead of the playoff second leg on Tuesday. They dominated possession and, in a match that was played out in front of a sparse crowd and felt subdued, they got the job done.
But as you walked away from the stadium on the banks of the Aegean Sea, you still felt like the Lionesses weren't as conclusive as they would have hoped to be. England wanted to dominate this playoff match they desperately wanted to avoid having to play. They could and should have scored more.
So, as you attempted to make head or tail of what happened, you needed to talk it through, as ultimately, England's subdued celebrations after each of their three goals summed up the general mood.
Heraklion is a lovely place to visit. The food is wonderful, the people welcoming and the sights beautiful. The beaches aren't too busy with the tourist season just passed, but the weather remains an idyllic temperature -- which at halftime was great, because there was little up to that point in England's performance against Greece to linger long in the memory.
It was 1-0 at the break, a half where England had a goal disallowed and Greece struck the bar. Eventually Georgia Stanway scored their opener, but England were finding it awkward, unable to turn possession into clear-cut chances. The final ball was frequently loose.
Then came a more fluid performance in the second half, Beth Mead's half-time introduction gave them more penetration up front and England clicked. But the defence looked shaky and while they managed to dodge this banana skin, Wiegman will likely have some robust feedback for the team.
Ultimately, the Lionesses got the win. At this stage of the pesky playoffs, it's a case of getting through these unwanted hurdles and securing the spot in next year's World Cup in Brazil.
This place is known for its sturdy defences -- the Venetian Fort at the old port is testament to Heraklion's endurance. It felt like it was going to be a long night for England for the first 40 or so minutes until Stanway scored.
But all of this was played out against a backdrop of England trying a new system -- switching between a back four and three, operating with Lauren James pressing as a No. 9 9 up front with Alessia Russo, and Maya Le Tissier playing so high at times that she was more a right-winger, than a right-back.
There was more fluidity about England's positional play -- players switching in and out, constantly rotating in and out of position, and attempting to carve open Greece through darts into the box off the wing or flicks through the middle.
Le Tissier played well as did Stanway. James was a constant threat whenever she got the ball. These matches must be tricky games to navigate as favourites. You're in a no-win situation, really -- win the game by a fair few goals and it's expected but come through with a couple or even worse a draw, and criticism would be expected. A level-par score pre-match put this at around the five-goal mark.
James thought she got the opener when she deliciously chipped Fafailia Petaloti from 30 yards out, but that effort was ruled out for offside. Greece then hit the bar after the outstanding Ioanna Papatheodorou broke through England's scrambling defence and crashed in an effort from the edge of the box. But eventually it was Stanway who got the breakthrough, sliding home the opener after a neat layoff from Russo.
The second half started well with Mead's introduction at the break for Laura Blindkilde Brown giving England more impetus and the goals came: Le Tissier smashed home their second in the 63rd minute and Russo finished well four minutes later.
The celebrations were muted, symbolic of the occasion where the stadium was barely a 10th full. Tickets had been handed out for free and 500 or so Lionesses fans travelled, with Greek fans packing out a third of the far side opposite the tunnel. The hosts' goal in the 77th minute was well received, and rightly so. It was a wonderfully worked effort. Papatheodorou held the ball up well and found Kallisti Brouksair who shot back across Hannah Hampton on the angle and into the bottom corner.
England looked far happier with the ball than without. They looked vulnerable on the counter-attack and Greece had England's defence backpedalling. Mistakes were too glaring, and had Greece had a little more confidence and precision up front, the result could have been far nervier for England.
But England did look comfortable, overall. They had 74% possession, and had 58 touches in inside the opposition box compared to Greece's two. It was controlling, but not a performance of complete domination.
Ultimately though, this was never about putting in an all-court, statement, complete performance. This was about ticking a box. And England did it, in a match they really never wanted to be part of.