Sarina Wiegman wants her England players to keep their cool in tournament opener
And while England have pulled out all the stops to ensure their players are navigating the blazing conditions, Wiegman insists she will not 'think of managing the heat' when it comes to her substitutions.
She said: 'Of course we have protocols in place, strategies, which players who have been around longer are familiar with that because they've played in circumstances like this – for other players, they get to for the first time.
'We could already practice it in the first week of our training camp because in England it was really hot too, so we have these cold vests, we have [an] ice box, ice drinks they can drink before training session they could also cool down a bit, get your temperature a little bit lower with slushies.
'We have ice cold towels at the rest moment in the training sessions, they get the towels if they want to. So we make sure we are hydrated. Take another rest, don't go in and out all the time, for recovery, and do those things to keep your body temperature low.'
Wiegman added: 'It's really nice to have the support from the federation too, if you see now the training pitch, all the things we need to do, the gym, the strategies we have to cool down, we have ice, we have cryo, all the things that help getting prepared for the tournament so it's not just one thing.'
New surroundings, same focus ⏳ pic.twitter.com/qwycbCyGfK
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 2, 2025
The Lionesses are looking to secure their second major trophy after lifting their first on home soil three summers ago.
Come Saturday, Wiegman – who will be gunning for a third straight European trophy, having also lifted it as Netherlands boss in 2017 – says her focus will be far away from the weather.
She added: 'What we do now is get prepared for Saturday, for France and we're going to do everything to win that game, when we sub we do it because it's necessary to change the game or to sub someone who gave everything that needs to go out.
'I will not think of managing the heat at that point – after that game, we recover and then we come together as a team with the medical, technical, how does everyone come out of this game and then we move forward to the next game against the Netherlands.'
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