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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
England will lose Euro 2025 final if Sarina Wiegman does not change
This England team does not know when it is beaten, even when everyone else has given up on them. No matter how badly they play, no matter how much luck they have to ride, they find a way to win. It is remarkable fortitude, incredible strength of character and it displays the very best of this nation's indomitable spirit. They are Lionesses indeed. A pack of predators, at their most ruthless and deadly when they are wounded. The country should be proud of them and we are, but this was a victory wrapped in the worries of what will happen in the final on Sunday. Either Spain or Germany await and if they play as badly as this again, England will surely lose against that class of opposition. Flawed team with a shaky defence If Sarina Wiegman does not reflect on this performance, if she does not analyse the game and recognise the mistakes in team selection, formation and tactics that she has been making all tournament, this will almost certainly all be in vain. Amid the euphoria and joy of their incredible comeback win over a dogged and dangerous Italy, there are so many reasons to be critical. It was, once again, a largely turgid, predictable and infuriating performance until desperation took over and the chaos began. England are a team that supposedly wants control, but thrives when they dispense with game plan and play on instinct, fuelled by desperation. The point is this: England have been playing like this for two years and they have kept on doing so, even as they have scratched and clawed their way through the group stage and knockout rounds. The same problems exist, the same weaknesses are being exploited. Either Wiegman has no solutions or she is refusing to accept she needs to do anything differently. Either way, England are a flawed team, with no pace in midfield, an isolated centre-forward and a defence that plays like an arsonist handles matches. A mystery how England have reached the final England lost their first group game against France with a terrible performance. They looked, in the words of Wiegman, to have lost their quarter-final against Sweden 'four or five times' before winning on penalties in an equally scrappy and error-strewn display. And they were less than 60 seconds from losing their semi-final to Italy until Michelle Agyemang scored an equaliser that looked like it would never come during the 96 repetitive minutes of England play that had preceded it. England are into their third consecutive final at a major tournament. It is an unparalleled era of success in English football. Whatever happens it should be lauded. Wiegman has been to five tournaments with the Netherlands and England as a manager, and has taken a team to the final of every single one. She has been a brilliant appointment by the Football Association by one single, pivotal metric. Football is, and always will be, about the end result not how you play to secure it. Just ask Sweden or Italy, who have thought they had England beaten, who were ready to celebrate their success – the Italy bench had already started to do so in stoppage time in Geneva – only to end shedding the tears of the defeated. But quite how England have reached the final in Basel is a riddle. It is like a puzzle without a picture – almost impossible to work out. Yet, here we are, the reigning champions are somehow, inexplicably, 90 minutes away from retaining their crown. Wiegman's thinking did not make sense Wiegman, though, needs to do something to improve the team before they are chasing a game, relying on their guts, their fitness and their good fortune to get out of trouble. The formation looks wrong. The midfield looks unbalanced and far too easy to play through. Alessia Russo looks like the loneliest of lone strikers. The defence, despite the personnel changes and shifts in position, resembles a flimsy wooden fence blowing in the wind. It could collapse at any moment. Against Italy, England were so bad, so predictable, so slow, they made it easy for their opponents to defend their one-goal lead. Yet, Wiegman watched and waited. You might suggest she froze, the pressure of the moment too much for the brain to work, but this was not a rare occurrence. This is what she does. With Beth Mead on at half-time for the injured Lauren James, she persevered with an isolated centre-forward who was marked by three centre-backs. She kept Ella Toone on the pitch, a No 10 who was too slow to keep up with the team's attacking play. In fact, she may as well have been over the border in France so far away she was from her friend in attack. England sent cross after cross into the box and Italy's defenders cleared them with ease. There was no pressure on them, no disruption, no danger of an England forward getting on the end of anything or a midfielder pouncing on the second ball. Yet, Wiegman waited until the 85th minute to make another change. She waited until England were five minutes, plus injury time, away from defeat, to put two strikers on the pitch at the same time. Nine minutes later and Mead's run into the box distracted the goalkeeper and, finally England had someone to capitalise inside the box. Agyemang did the rest. It was impossible to work out what Wiegman's thinking was. None of it made sense, but then maybe nothing about this England team does. Maybe it does not have to, but you suspect they will find out what the consequences are if they do the same on Sunday.
Malay Mail
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Late Chloe Kelly goal sends England into Women's Euro final after dramatic comeback against Italy
GENEVA, July 23 — England coach Sarina Wiegman said she felt 'many emotions' after her team produced another dramatic comeback to beat Italy in extra time yesterday and reach the final of the Women's Euro 2025. 'I have many emotions again. I feel relief, I feel happy—it feels a bit surreal but we are here and we are going to the final,' Wiegman said following the 2-1 win in Geneva, secured thanks to a Chloe Kelly goal in the 119th minute. Italy were seconds away from a shock victory over the defending champions and a place in the final as they led deep into injury time thanks to Barbara Bonansea's 33rd-minute goal. But substitute Michelle Agyemang equalised for England in the sixth minute of stoppage time to force the extra period, before Kelly—who had also come off the bench—followed in to score the deciding goal after her penalty had been saved, just as another shoot-out loomed. 'It does feel like a movie. When it finishes like that I am enjoying it but it was a little bit dramatic,' smiled Wiegman. Her team had already produced a stunning comeback against Sweden in the quarter-finals, when they trailed 2-0 before two goals by Lucy Bronze and Agyemang in the space of three minutes late on forced extra time and they eventually advanced on penalties. 'We know with the players we have in the squad that we can always score more because we have shown that multiple times,' Wiegman added. 'At the end we did it and then we got extra time, and then we got the penalty. We were a bit lucky to score it in the second stage but we are through.' • Three in a row England, who saw winger Lauren James come off at half-time with an ankle injury, will now go to Basel for the final on Sunday against either Spain or Germany—they meet in their last-four clash on Wednesday. It will be a third consecutive major tournament final for the Lionesses, who beat Germany in extra time in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley and then lost to Spain in the deciding game at the following year's World Cup in Sydney. 'That is what happens when a great team comes together and makes things happen—three consecutive finals playing under an unbelievable manager in Sarina,' said Kelly, the Arsenal forward who got the winner in the 2022 Euro final. 'It is incredible to be part of this special team. I am so proud.' She added: 'I can't believe what has just happened. The belief in the squad, the resilience and the togetherness in this group is just so special.' Meanwhile, Italy coach Andrea Soncin said he was proud of his team despite the agony of seeing the Azzurre fall just short of reaching a first final since the 1997 Euros. 'It hurts but we are very proud for all that we have done,' said Soncin, who took charge of the team in 2023 and is now eyeing the 2027 World Cup. 'The fact we were just a minute away from the final can be encouraging for us. 'We will need a few days to get over this bitter moment but we will keep growing, and our future goal is to go to the World Cup in Brazil so we are already looking forward.' — AFP
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
England Women player ratings vs Italy: Hampton the hero as substitutes deliver
England are through to a second successive European Championship final after coming from behind to beat Italy 2-1 after extra time. Who struggled and who shone on another dramatic night in Switzerland?
Telegraph
a day ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Lionesses' never-say-die attitude driven by new approach to team bonding
Before the start of Euro 2025, England manager Sarina Wiegman asked each of her players to share a personal story about their journey in football. For some, it was about the lack of opportunities to play when they were growing up. For others, there were more emotional anecdotes of some of the hardships and struggles they have faced along the way. Wiegman's aim was to bring her players closer together before heading to Switzerland to defend their European Championship title and, as they prepare to take on Italy in Tuesday's semi-final, it is a tactic that appears to have paid dividends. This week defender Jess Carter opened up on how she has been inundated with racist abuse on social media throughout the tournament. England's players released a joint statement condemning the 'online poison' and have decided they will no longer take the knee before matches. Carter, who has stepped away from social media as a result, has received the full support and backing from her team-mates. 'I think if anything it's probably brought us together as a team,' Georgia Stanway said. 'We've made ourselves very vulnerable' Being vulnerable and sharing experiences is something Wiegman has actively encouraged. Beth Mead and Ella Toone have spoken openly about their shared grief over losing a parent. Mead's mother, June, died from ovarian cancer in 2023 while Toone's father, Nick, passed away from prostate cancer last year. Before the tournament, Lucy Bronze opened up for the first time about her autism and ADHD diagnoses while Chloe Kelly spoke out about her unhappiness and struggles with mental health during her time at Manchester City. 'I think we've made ourselves very vulnerable, whether it's individually, Sarina herself has made herself really vulnerable, staff, players,' Mead told the BBC. 'I think that gives us so much more togetherness, so much more trust in each other, that we're willing to share really tough moments with each other and how can we help each other. 'I'm super proud of how we've dealt with that as a squad. In the past I think teams I've been a part of might not have been able to do that so positively and quickly in hard moments. 'I think Sarina has really instilled that into us as a team. She's got our back, we've got her back. You can see that in the way we've come back in performances when it's not gone quite right but we still give that proper England attitude.' 'It brings the group so much closer together' The Lionesses had to come back from two goals down against Sweden and then through a chaotic penalty shoot-out to reach the semi-final stage. Wiegman said after the game that it was a sign that her team are 'never done' and players have put a large part of that never-say-die attitude down to the team spirit they have fostered. 'I think being vulnerable is probably one of the most important things because it brings the group so much closer together,' Stanway said. 'I think when times are tough on the pitch, you want to be able to rely on your team-mates and you want to be able to look at them in both good and bad and understand that you're both on the right journey and you're both on the right path to exactly what you want at the end, which is to win.
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
We have the weapons to beat England, says Italy's Soncin
GENEVA :Italy scraped through the group stage and needed a last-minute goal to beat Norway in the last eight, but coach Andrea Soncin believes his side have what it takes to beat reigning champions England in their Women's Euro 2025 semi-final on Tuesday. Soncin and his squad have spoken of their big dreams at this tournament and how overcoming adversity has brought them closer together, and they are confident they can beat Sarina Wiegman's side and secure a first appearance in the final since 1997. "We have done very well in this event. There is a lot of courage, awareness and serenity. That is what has accompanied us throughout the whole event," Soncin told reporters on Monday. "We are convinced that we have the weapons to win the game, and we have the utmost respect for the quality of the English players and their international experience." England survived a heart-stopping penalty shootout that saw only five of 14 spot-kicks scored as they beat Sweden 3-2 in their quarter-final, and Soncin said that it was virtually impossible to replicate the pressure of a shootout in training. "I don't believe that there is a specific way to train the penalties in a training session because there is the emotional aspect and also the physical aspect that come into play, but especially the emotional aspect which is not the same during a training session," he explained. "Of course we, like everybody, we try to ... also train penalties so that we're ready for everything, our objective is to reach the final." Soncin and Italy defender Cecilia Salvai, who also attended the media conference, offered their support to England's Jess Carter, who has withdrawn from social media due to the racial abuse she has received during the tournament. "It is a cultural campaign (against racism), a cultural battle we have to fight all together. I don't know whether taking the knee is enough to change this, but for sure there is maximum solidarity from our side, we are ready to take part in any campaign to avoid this abuse," Soncin said. "I hope she can play this game 100 per cent because this is a semi-final, so I hope she can try to detach a bit from this episode. Of course, she's not the first one who's been victim of this abuse and we have the greatest solidarity for her," Salvai added.
