Latest news with #LaurenHemp
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Lauren Hemp insists England ‘have respect' for Spain but will be ready for tough pre-Euros test against world champions
LAUREN HEMP reckons England are ready to go toe-to-toe with Spain after their six-goal Nations League pummelling of Portugal. Following her international comeback yesterday evening the fit-again forward admitted she missed playing in front of Lionesses fans. 4 4 4 Before her side's pivotal pre- Euros duel with Spain the Lioness, 24, made a successful return to England action for the first time since last October. Their 6-0 humbling of Portugal involved four different players scoring for the reigning European champions. They include Chelsea's Aggie Beever-Jones who registered her first international hat-trick Defeat of their Nations League group A3 rivals would put England in the contest's finals. It would also fire a warning to their foes' at this year's Euros, with World Cup winners Spain likely to be one of the biggest threats. Before their Tuesday duel in Barcelona, Hemp said: "The confidence (in the squad) is high. "We've got a lot of respect for Spain and we've had so many great games against them. "We're going to make sure we're ready and rested for that game and we'll make sure we start that match as we did this one (against Portugal)." Hemp's England shift at Wembley last night was her first in seven months and follows her recovery from a knee injury. Her last Lioness game before then was a 2-1 friendly defeat of South Africa last October. A match that was followed by Hemp undergoing a knee op a month later that would leave her sidelined until her Man City return in April. In front of a 48,531-strong crowd, it looked as if she had never been away as she, Beever-Jones and Beth Mead terrorised Portugal's woeful defence. Hemp added: "It's been a long journey and there have been times when I've thought, 'when am I actually getting back on the pitch' after having a few setbacks. "But it's great to be back in an England shirt and doing what I love doing. Hopefully there is still more to come.' "It's been a long seven months but coming back felt great. "The fans are great and they're always great and I've missed that as well with not being in the mix for a little while (due to injury)." Defeat of Spain would see England register their second victory over the World Cup winners in the Nations League this year. The last duel between the sides resulted in 1-0 win for Sarina Wiegman's players at Wembley in February. On whether victory would serve as a warning to the Lionesses Euros' rivals, Hemp said: 'There's still a little while to go. "It's important that we still put in the performances leading up to the Euros. "But at the moment we feel we're in a great place." With Beever-Jones notching her first senior England hat-trick and Mead and Chloe Kelly scoring, Sarina Wiegman feels she has a Euros selection headache with her forwards. On June 5 the England boss, 55, will announce who has made it into her 23-player squad for the tournament that starts on July 2 in Switzerland. Wiegman has backed Lauren James to battle her way into contention with the Chelsea forward's recovery from a hamstring injury progressing. She said: "We have so many options up front in the England squad right now. 4 "What we also hope for is LJ (Lauren James) coming back too. She's still in rehab and doing good. "I hope every striker will be fit including those who we have now in the squad with LJ added to that. "Then it's going to be really hard for me to make decisions for the Euros squad."
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Five talking points from England's win over Portugal
The week leading up to the Nations League win over Portugal was dominated by the news of Mary Earps's retirement from international football 39 days before the European champions begin their title defence. The supremely talented Hannah Hampton had slowly moved into pole position for the starting spot in Switzerland, with Sarina Wiegman having said the Chelsea keeper was a little ahead of Earps, the Euro 2022 and 2023 World Cup No 1. Hampton has performed well when given the chance to start, but how she will cope with the pressure of being first choice long-term? Portugal were perfect opponents to ease her way in, England's utter domination in the 6-0 win leaving her very little to do. Spain will offer a far greater test on Tuesday but Hampton, whose distribution is superior, was preferred to Earps against the world champions in February. The sight of Lauren Hemp in the starting XI against Portugal was welcome. As was that of Alex Greenwood and Georgia Stanway, who were on the bench, coming on. All three have been in a race against time to be fit for the Euros and they showed what England has been missing this year. Hemp was electric on the left and her teammate Grace Clinton said: 'Out of possession, in possession, she's an unbelievable player. She's got one-v-one, she's got dribbling, she's got pace with her runs in behind, she's got everything.' Wiegman said: 'It's really nice to see them back. They have worked so hard to get to where they are … if you haven't put all the work into getting to this point then you cannot put in the performance they showed tonight. Wiegman is a winner and she wanted a big victory against Portugal, a team England have struggled against having drawn 1-1 in the reverse fixture in February and held to a 0-0 draw in a friendly on the eve of the 2023 World Cup. Aggie Beever-Jones said: 'As cliched as it sounds, Sarina said: 'It's a new kit, new England today. Go out there and put a graft in.' I think her words were 'destroy them', in her Dutch accent.' That edge and hunger to win aren't always positive, Wiegman's reaction to Earps's retirement reportedly having been a very angry one, but when it comes to putting together winning formulas on the pitch there are few better managers. England have had limited attacking options since Euro 2022, with Beth Mead injuring an anterior cruciate ligament and Lauren James more recently having hamstring problems, while Chloe Kelly was frozen out at Manchester City in the first half of this season. However, things seem to be coming together at the right time: Mead is looking closer to her best, she and Kelly – after a loan move – are Champions League winners with Arsenal and Hemp is well and truly back. Throw in the youngsters Beever-Jones, who scored a hat-trick against Portugal, and Michelle Agyemang, who scored 41 seconds into her debut against Belgium last month, and the forward choices look strong. 'We have so many options,' said Wiegman. 'What we also hope for is LJ [Lauren James] coming back too. She's still in rehab and doing good.' Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion Wiegman said the five Arsenal Champions League winners had brought energy to the England camp. 'They were so happy. It was absolutely brilliant they won it. I just get goosebumps thinking about it. It's incredible and they came in that way too. They got a little bit longer break to celebrate and it was very enjoyable with them.' Kelly, Mead, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Alessia Russo weren't the only ones with shiny new medals: add in Chelsea's unbeaten treble-winners and Jess Carter, who won the Concacaf Champions Cup with Gotham FC last Sunday, and England are stacked with domestic and continental victors.
The Sun
13-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Sarina Wiegman hoping for ‘headaches and big decisions' from return of England stars Hemp, Greenwood and Stanway
SARINA WIEGMAN hopes to have an England selection headache from Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway and Alex Greenwood returning to fitness. The Lioness boss, 55, reckons Hemp has built enough credit to be in contention despite the forward yet to play a full 90 minutes this year. 4 4 4 The squad returns of Hemp, 24, Stanway, 26, and Greenwood, 31, comes at a pivotal time with the start of England's Euros title defence less than two months away. Before then the team will take on Portugal in the Nations League at Wembley on May 30. And they also face a stern test against World Cup holders Spain in Barcelona on June 3. Wiegman's fit again trio had contended with knee injuries with Hemp and defender Greenwood making their returns to match action for Manchester City earlier this month. Bayern Munich midfielder Stanway is the only member of the three yet to return to club duty since recovering from a lateral ligament tear sustained in January. Wiegman said: "Georgia is in training. She still needs to build. "What we know is she can come into camp and continue building with us. "Hopefully towards the Euros she can be healthy and can handle the training loads to recover. "She has to be healthy and recover from training sessions then we can see where she's at. "She has to be performing at the highest level – at her highest level – to compete for the position just like everyone else." Hemp's squad return comes 16 days after her first game for Man City this year. The 61-capped Lioness played in a competitive game for the first time this year on April 27 with a cameo appearance in City's 1-0 defeat of Leicester. While Hemp did not play a full match for City in the second half of the season, she could potentially be in line for game time at the World Sevens tournament if selected to play. Man City are one of two WSL sides competing in the seven-a-side contest taking place in Estoril, Portugal from May 21-23. On whether it is a concerned that Hemp has so far not played a 90-minute this year, Wiegman added: 'Of course it is. "But we still have two months – almost. We have to keep building on that and manage it well to keep them fit. "We want to keep building and see what she is able to do. "She has to perform at her highest level too, but she has shown so many things before her injury that she has built some credit. "When everyone is fit we have big decisions to make because we have many options up front and within the team in other lines we have options too. "I hope everyone does really well and it's really nice to have this opportunity to train before the Nations League. "I hope I'll get a lot of headaches because that means everyone is performing at the highest level and we'll have decisions to make." Wiegman, 55, is waiting to see how far Lauren James, 23, can go in her fitness race, before the Euros with the forward battling to recover from injury. I know Lauren is absolutely working really hard to get there. Let's see how far she gets. Sarina Wiegman on Lauren James' push to return to fitness before the 2025 Women's Euros In their upcoming clashes with Portugal and Spain the team will be without the services of James who was among England's standout performers at the 2023 World Cup. The Chelsea star came off during England's 5-0 Nations League trouncing of Belgium due to a hamstring concern. Wiegman said: "She's a special player who has moments in the game where she can be decisive. "Let's see how far she gets and what she can bring us. I know she's absolutely working really hard to get there." Wiegman's latest squad selection has included Arsenal's Michelle Agyemang, 19, keeping her place and a first senior call-up for Tottenham defender Ella Morris. Agyemang's return follows her netting a stunning goal on her senior international debut volleying home during the Lionesses' 3-2 away loss to Belgium While the England boss hopes the striker can become a little bit calmer in duels, she believes Agyemang has much potential. Wiegman said: "Michelle is a very high-potential talent. "She is very powerful and as we have seen, she can score goals. 4 "In duels she needs to calm down a little and we've spoken about that already. "Hopefully she can manage a bit when we play in the duels. "You don't want to almost destroy your opponent."
Powys County Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway and Alex Greenwood return to England squad
Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood are back in the England squad for the final Nations League group stage matches against Portugal and Spain. Tottenham defender Ella Morris earns a first senior call-up and joins the experienced trio, all returning from long-term injuries, but Chelsea forward Lauren James remains sidelined with a hamstring issue. The upcoming encounters against Portugal and Spain will be the final chance for players to impress England boss Sarina Wiegman before she names the women who will defend the Lionesses' European title in Switzerland this July. Here it is…🤩 The #Lionesses squad named for our #UWNL group stage finale! 👊 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 13, 2025 Wiegman said: 'These are another two important games for us in a big year. Naturally we are preparing for the summer ahead. 'We saw in February that both Portugal and Spain will provide a big challenge and that excites us. These are the levels we need to compete against to make sure we are the best possible version of ourselves on 5 July when our Euro begins. 'At the same time, it is important that we focus first on what is right in front of us and ending the Nations League campaign in the best possible way. 'We have the possibility of seeing 27 players in our environment and that's a real positive. It will give us more good information to make important decisions in the near future. 'Also naming the squad 12 days before the window begins gives all the players clarity as the season ends for some and carries on for others. The hard work continues from the moment we arrive at St George's Park on Monday 26 May.' Brighton's Michelle Agyemang, on loan from Arsenal, retains her place in the Dutch boss' squad after scoring 41 seconds into her debut in England's 3-2 loss to Belgium in April. There is a recall for Aston Villa's Missy Bo Kearns. England sit second behind World Cup holders Spain in group A3 with two wins, a draw and a defeat. They host Portugal at Wembley on May 30 before travelling to play Spain on June 3.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway and Alex Greenwood return to Sarina Wiegman's England squad but one big star misses out in build-up to Women's Euros
Sarina Wiegman has named her penultimate England squad ahead of this summer's European Women's Championship. Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Georgia Stanway have all returned after missing previous camps through injury. Manchester City duo Hemp and Greenwood both returned to action in recent weeks, while Stanway was forced to miss out on the end of Bayern Munich 's season and is yet to have any proper game time under her belt before this camp. Lauren James continues to miss out after suffering a hamstring injury during the last international break last month. England will host Portugal on May 30 before travelling to Barcelona to take on world champions Spain on June 3 in their Nations League double header. Elsewhere Michelle Agyemang, the 19-year-old Arsenal forward, currently on loan at Brighton, also retained her place after impressing in the previous camp – where she scored 41 seconds after making her debut against Belgium last month. Agyemang's Brighton teammates Nikita Parris and Fran Kirby have also been called up again. Tottenham defender Ella Morris, 22, has been rewarded with a first senior call-up to the senior squad. Manchester United's Millie Turner misses out, despite her and her centre-back teammate Maya Le Tissier having one of the defensive records in the top-flight this season – second behind only Chelsea. Le Tissier retained her spot in the squad. Wiegman said: 'These are another two important games for us in a big year. Naturally we are preparing for the summer ahead. We saw in February that both Portugal and Spain will provide a big challenge and that excites us. 'These are the levels we need to compete against to make sure we are the best possible version of ourselves on 5 July when our EURO begins. 'We have the possibility of seeing 27-players in our environment and that's a real positive. It will give us more good information to make important decisions in the near future. 'Also naming the squad 12 days before the window begins gives all the players clarity as the season ends for some and carries on for others.' England will set out to defend their Euros title in July, beginning with their first game against group D rivals France in Zurich on July 5, before they will hope to make it to make it to the showpiece final on July 27.
