England’s third consecutive major tournament final – and Sarina Wiegman’s fifth – will see the Lionesses face a familiar opponent as they look to retain their UEFA Women’s Euro title at Base...
England’s third consecutive major tournament final – and Sarina Wiegman’s fifth – will see the Lionesses face a familiar opponent as they look to retain their UEFA Women’s Euro title at Basel’s St Jakob-Park.
The Dutchwoman has a fully fit squad to choose from, confirming in her pre-match press conference on Saturday that “we had 23 players on the pitch today and everyone came through. If everyone recovers well then we have 23 players available for tomorrow. We have many players that can impact and we know she [Lauren James] can have an impact so that will be nice.”
Leah Williamson looked to sustain an ankle injury during England’s quarter-final win but recovered in time for the semi-final victory against Italy, and Wiegman also emphasised that she is “very happy” her captain will be able to play on Sunday. “Leah has a big role in the team, so it’s really nice to have her on the pitch,” the 55-year-old explained.
It has often been suggested that the best teams peak at the right time in major tournaments, and with England not having had the easiest start to life in Switzerland, Wiegman suggested “it shows what the competition is, and has been, over this tournament. I think the women’s game is improving so much, and it’s so competitive. Every game is a hard game, and I’m just really glad that we made it through. And I know we could have done it a little bit earlier, but it’s also when you are in some scenarios or in some situations. You hope you can turn it around with some subs, little shape changes, but the most important thing is that the players believe that we can win, and we can change the game.”
Compared to their final on home soil in 2022, England find themselves in a rather different position this time around. Three years ago, there was debate as to whether the Lionesses had what it takes to get over the line, and there were questions as to whether England could end the nation’s trophy drought. They did – and Wiegman feels no pressure now.
“I think every tournament, of course, you want to perform, and there’s expectations, but you also have expectations for yourself. I just know that going into finals is already very, very special. There’s only two teams that can make the final. So if you talk about pressure, that’s not really a pressure, it’s very special. And when you go to the final, you really want to win it, too. So that’s how I mean this. We’re happy to be in the final, and really want to win it and do everything to make that happen.”
Spain have become familiar opponents for England in recent years. La Roja saw off the Lionesses in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final, kickstarting a dramatic rivalry that will only heat up further in Basel. They’ve met twice over the course of the last six months, too, and Wiegman says “you always have learnings” from those games.
“They will have learned from us, and we will learn from them in the games we’ve played and tomorrow’s a new situation where, well, we have an opportunity to hopefully take out their strengths, and exploit some of the weaknesses we think they have too.”
“We want to be the best prepared. We’re trying to prepare what can happen in the game, or what do we need? And that’s also how the squad is built. So on the 5th of June, we had a squad announcement, and then we figured out, okay, what player we might need in certain circumstances if we want to change things. And that’s what we talk about all the time, and that’s how we prepare for a game. So we have spoken through the scenarios, but then during the game, then it’s a sense of what we feel we think is necessary. And of course, there’s continuous contact with the technical staff on the bench, but also with the staff in the stands who inform us about everything. So what we want to do is, when we want to change, we can make a decision very quickly.”
Category: General Sports
