HERAKLION, Greece -- It is incredibly tranquil where the Lionesses are staying in Crete. The beach at the bottom of the hill beneath their hotel has families paddling in and out of the sea, while local cafes serve coffees and mid-afternoon bottled beverages to tourists and locals, some lounging back and embracing an afternoon snooze.
The noise barely rises above the hubbub of occasional laughter, and three-inch high waves breaking on toes and the pebbled beach. It's peaceful.
Some of the Lionesses took a stroll along the beach on Thursday between training sessions. But this was no holiday. There's a business feel about the England players who mingled with those sunning themselves.
Sarina Wiegman's group have been together long enough to know the possible perils of relaxation. When the Lionesses face Greece in Heraklion on Friday night, they will be overwhelming favourites.
It's the reigning European Champions against a team who have never qualified for a major tournament. But England will likely be frustrated at times; patience will be incredibly important on the banks of the Aegean Sea.
This is the part of the ancient empire where Greek mythology originated. England don't want to become a new legend in this country's rich folklore.
The last time this group came together was back in June. England travelled to Mallorca knowing a point would likely be enough to guarantee automatic qualification, but they ran into an inspired Spain with Alexia Putellas the star.
She scored in either half, with Patri Guijarro and Clàudia Pina also contributing as they routed Wiegman's side 4-0. England were pinned inside their own half for so much of the match and struggled to stay compact out of possession in what was Wiegman's heaviest defeat as England manager.
- UEFA playoffs for 2027 Women's World Cup: Format, matchups, top teams
"It hurts," Wiegman said afterwards, and challenged the team to respond against Ukraine.
They won that 3-0 at Everton with Jess Carter, Georgia Stanway and Beth Mead all scoring, but results elsewhere meant they'd need to go through these pesky playoffs.
Gone was any room to experiment; England had more business to handle.
Wiegman was disappointed that England's tally of 15 points from a possible 18 was not enough for automatic qualification to the World Cup, but said at the time she was "very positive" they'd qualify anyway.
But still any joy taken from the 3-0 victory over Ukraine was tempered by the recent memories of the debacle in Mallorca. By the time the team met again earlier this week ahead of these two playoff matches against Greece, the 2026-27 WSL season was five rounds old.
Manchester City's crew journeyed to England's base at St George's Park with five wins from five, but with uncertainty hanging over the organisation after the club had been found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules.
Arsenal's contingent had started the season poorly, pressure already ringing in Renée Slegers' ears. Manchester United's lot had showed signs of regrouping after a slow start, while other players were struggling for match time.
It wasn't as if everyone rode into England's base on waves of good feeling and form.
"When the players come in, you know they can't just park things," Wiegman said. "So it's just OK, we have a little chat. They want to be here. This is our England environment, but we also give them opportunity in the moments where we have some rest, we have a chat they can just share and then we continue."
When the squad was named back in September, Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly were two high-profile omissions from the squad, with Wiegman saying the main reason behind that call was because their levels of form "weren't what I expected."
Lotte Wubben-Moy, Taylor Hinds, Ellie Roebuck and Aggie Beever-Jones were also missing. Wiegman had put those players on notice: reputation and credit in the bank is not enough.
By the time the team travelled to Crete, Toone was back, a late injury replacement for Lucy Bronze.
Toone's response to Wiegman's decision impressed the England coach -- both on the field in Manchester United's win over Liverpool and how she spoke post-match too.
"I thought that was really good. Well done, I would say," Wiegman said.
Among the familiarity of so many names, there are new faces in the mix who have their young eyes on a World Cup spot. Chelsea's Lexi Potter, 20, and Erica Meg Parkinson, 18, are both hoping to win their first England caps against Greece.
Parkinson -- who is named after Eric Cantona and speaks four languages -- missed the England Under-20 World Cup campaign to focus on her NWSL side North Carolina Courage.
Potter has already played in four of Chelsea's WSL matches and in both Champions League games this campaign and has been handed the nickname "baller" by her teammate Keira Walsh.
They are adjusting to life in the senior squad and could get game time either in Heraklion or in Leicester in the second leg on Tuesday. But for now, the team is focused on getting the job done.
"We are expecting [Greece] to try and lock up their own box and possibly play a lower defensive style of football," Parkinson said. "For us, that means that we just want to dominate with our performance, keeping possession, trying to unlock their box, and then get chances."
That word "dominate" was reiterated by Wiegman at the team's hotel on Thursday, but central to the gameplan for Friday is finding that sweet spot between perseverance and urgency.
When asked by ESPN about the mindset of staying patient against a team set out to defend, Wiegman said: "That is very important. We want to dominate the game, so we have to move the ball very quickly. We want to play very dynamically, but we also have to be patient because when you have the ball and you are quick, you hope the opponent needs to run a lot and then you create spaces.
"So that's of course what we're going to try to do tomorrow and be really tight on the ball and wait until we get the chance to go forward and score."
England will have plenty of the ball on Friday night, but they haven't always found it easy to get the breakthrough in these instances. At the start of Wiegman's tenure, there were games where England were frustrated -- the low block stunted momentum, the opposition marked Keira Walsh out of the game, and England froze.
- Wiegman: Toone's attitude forced her way back into England squad
But they're more comfortable at overcoming that now. "It's just persistence and trying not to get drawn into being frustrated by the opposition," Esme Morgan said. "I think a really good example of it was the away game we played against Ukraine in Turkey.
"We couldn't seem to break through in the first half but the messaging at halftime among the players and when Sarina came and spoke to us was just to keep continuing because we were creating opportunities -- so not to start snatching, sort of taking pop shots from distance, just trusting in the style of play we have and our ability to keep finding gaps in and around the defence.
"So I think we came out for the second half after that and scored really, really quickly. So just sticking to the game plan, trusting in what we do, trusting in the patterns that we believe can occupy spaces, and yeah, just being patient to try and find a way through, not rushing."
The goals will surely come against Greece in what England hope will be a step forward in their journey to next summer's World Cup in Brazil.
But patience could well be key if England are to avoid the pitfalls of becoming yet another famous tale from this part of the world.