England one of world's most adaptive teams

BBC News

2 days ago

England's flexibility in their approach to games will stand them in good stead when they take on world champions Spain on Tuesday (18:00 BST), says Lucy Bronze.Victory for the Lionesses will see them finish top of their Women's Nations League group and book their place in the semi-finals.However, Spain, who lead Group A3 by two points from England, only need to avoid defeat at Espanyol's RCDE Stadium in Barcelona to finish top."We know how to beat Spain and they know how to beat us. It's two top teams going head-to-head," said right-back Bronze."We are probably one of the most adaptive teams in the world and have a style where we can possess the ball, can counter-attack and play in behind. "We have fast players and technical players. It's something we have been working on for a number of years."You have to turn up for every moment because so many teams are capable of so many different things. "We are growing as a team and it's something we speak about a lot, how we can adapt in games and change things against different teams."
Wiegman 'pretty close' to deciding Euros squad
Spain beat England 1-0 in the 2023 World Cup final, but England reversed that scoreline to win the last match between the sides, at Wembley in February.And they go into Tuesday's game with good momentum after an impressive display in their 6-0 win over Portugal on Friday.Aggie Beever-Jones caught the eye with her hat-trick but will face competition for a starting place with Arsenal striker Alessia Russo returning from injury. Manager Sarina Wiegman has a strong squad to choose from with Ella Toone also back from injury, as well as Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood continuing their returns to full fitness.Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton will miss out through suspension."There are top players coming back and doing well this season. Both teams are in similar positions going into the [Euros]," said Bronze, referring to Euro 2025, which kicks off on 2 July in Switzerland."You are looking at maybe England, Spain, Germany and France – there are probably a handful of teams who are in the same position. "But we saw in the last Euros and in the World Cup that there were close games to reach the final. We can outperform any team but equally so can those other teams."It is the last match before Wiegman names her 23-player squad for the Euros on Thursday, 5 June and she admits she is "pretty close" to making a decision."You still want to go to the game [on Tuesday] and make the final decisions but we are pretty close," said Wiegman."Of course that's hard, because you come close to squad selection and at the same time, we're just playing a game again."Short-term, we're trying to win that game, and a little longer-term, it's preparation for the Euros, which, of course, is the bigger picture."
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