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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Aside from a sense of manifest destiny, what exactly is Wiegman-ball?
'This is a movie,' Sarina Wiegman said, and as England celebrated their heist in Geneva that sense of unreality seemed to have infused her players too. 'Goodness me,' sighed Esme Morgan as she returned to the dressing room after the 2-1 extra-time win over Italy, blowing out her cheeks in relief. Meanwhile, the captain, Leah Williamson, was trying to explain just how England manage to keep going behind but pulling out victories at the very end. 'Whilst there are seconds on the clock, there are seconds that we're just waiting,' she said. 'It's less 'if' and more 'how'. I don't know how to explain it, I don't know how we do it.' And frankly, this was the sort of victory that defied rational explanation. By the dying minutes of this game Beth Mead was playing in central midfield as part of a double pivot behind Ella Toone and the strike duo of Michelle Agyemang and Aggie Beever-Jones. Lauren Hemp, who started the last World Cup final as a second striker, was now left-back. And England were basically just pumping long balls into the area hoping something would happen. The formation: like, 2-6-2? 3-2-1-4? In a way, it scarcely mattered. This is after all tournament football, where the usual logic does not always apply, where the result is the result, however you get it. The new plan is no plan. Just go at it. 'Everybody's fighting and everybody wants to win and everybody feels like they can win,' Lucy Bronze said afterwards and frankly her stirring performances in this tournament suggest that ultimately it may be no more complicated than that. For Wiegman, however, all this represents a certain tectonic shift. When she arrived as England coach in 2021 she was presented not simply as a great leader but a sharp tactician, a coach raised in the Cruyff persuasion, who met the great man at the age of 13 on a television show, who had absorbed his principles of dynamic possession and won Euro 2017 with the Netherlands playing the classic Dutch 4-3-3. Who above all had a philosophy, a defined style of playing. These days, that style is a little harder to discern. England have switched freely between a back four and a back three, often in the same tournament, sometimes even in the same half. Passing principles have been blooded, adopted and then junked in the face of trouble. So what exactly is the philosophy? Four years into the reign of the most successful coach in the history of English women's football, what exactly is Wiegman-ball? And how is it possible that days before a European Championship final, we don't even know the answer? Wiegman may be a coach of the Dutch school, but perhaps her formative experience as a footballer was playing at a Fifa invitational tournament in China in 1988. There she met the US national team coach Anson Dorrance, who was impressed with the young defensive midfielder and invited her to train at the University of North Carolina the following year. That year with the Tar Heels opened a world of possibility. 'It was a soccer paradise,' she later said. She worked with Dorrance, played with all-time greats such as Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly, trained at world-class facilities, returned to the Netherlands with a creed that would shape her. Creating success in women's football was not purely a theoretical exercise. It was about building a culture, being professional, showing ambition, exhibiting an elite mentality. Whatever it takes, you do it. Perhaps in retrospect this helps to explain why so many of Wiegman's triumphs with England have felt vaguely American in character: that sense of manifest destiny, the superior physicality, a cold confidence in getting the job done, a belief above all that trophies are won through sheer force of will. It is by now no coincidence that England have compiled a litany of major tournament wins undeserved on the simple run of play. Spain in 2022. Colombia and Nigeria in 2023. Sweden and now Italy in 2025: victory as an extension of identity. And of course the fumble by Laura Giuliani for Agyemang's opening goal and the crucial late miss by Emma Severini and the extra-time foul by the same player are not mistakes that happen in a vacuum, but mistakes induced by pressure. Perhaps Wiegman's greatest achievement is to build a culture in which England's players can navigate their own way through adversity, never get disheartened, never relinquish their desire to take the thing they do not deserve. This is what sees you through the tough moments, against more limited and tiring opponents. England's ability to produce a swell of pressure in the closing minutes remains unparalleled. It may well be the closest thing England have to an actual ideology, the 'proper England' of which so many in the camp have spoken. 'You can never write the English off,' Kelly said afterwards. 'I don't think you'll find a team in world football with more fight and more resilience,' Bronze said. 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 The fact that this can be read as deeply disrespectful to the beaten Italians – what, did they simply not fight as hard? – is beside the point. Wiegman's focus on culture – the underrated skill of binding 23 players for a month – is what gets England through the big moments. England do not lie down. England stay united right until the end. Then some things happen, and it's best not trying to analyse those too much. There are of course similarities here with the other great England coach of this era. Gareth Southgate was also a culture guy rather than a tactics guy, a healer rather than a technician, a man whose gift – and it really was a gift – was not to micro-manage or theorise but simply to create the right environment for gifted athletes to thrive for four weeks. To make the chore of international football feel fun. To find the right emotional blend. What is Southgate's tactical identity? Beyond a weird predilection for playing right-footers at left-back, it's hard to pin down. The caveat is that while this is a reliable way of progressing in tournaments, it is an extremely unreliable way of winning tournaments. Teams that are tactically inchoate but blessed with gifted individuals and an unshakeable mentality can win big pots in the absence of a genuinely great alternative. We think of the USA in 2019, Portugal in the men's European Championship of 2016, arguably England in 2022. Meanwhile England's habit of grimacing their way through knockout football almost won them the biggest prize of all in 2023, only for Spain to outclass them in the final. It's instructive revisiting the post-mortem of that match, a spirited and honourable defeat, and yet one in which pretty much nobody in England gear was capable of explaining. But hang on. If victories are all about fight and resilience and spirit and never giving up, then do defeats mean you didn't try hard enough? That you didn't want it enough? That you gave up? Of course not. 'If we put the ball in the back of the net, it's game on,' said Millie Bright. Georgia Stanway thought England were 'unlucky'. Wiegman, having watched Mary Earps save Jenni Hermoso's penalty in the 70th minute, was convinced that the momentum of the game would inevitably lead to a goal. 'Now we are going to get to 1-1,' she said afterwards. 'But we didn't.' Perhaps it was no surprise that, as England shuffle towards their next final, nobody really seems to be able to put their finger on why they lost the last. Doing so, of course, would involve acknowledging England's technical inferiority, their inability to take and recycle the ball under pressure, the lack of sophisticated passers being produced by the English game, the basic absence of process. Better by far to file it away as a twist of fate, bad luck, a random bounce of the ball, just something that happens. And if true, then England – one of the best-resourced and most talented squads in world football – have a puncher's chance of lifting the trophy on Sunday night. Perhaps ultimately this is all they want, all they ever required. The TV ratings will be good either way. Perhaps Wiegman's description of England's Euro 2025 as a movie was more apposite than she realised. After all, when you're watching a movie, you're not really involved. You're just sitting there, waiting for the plot to unfold in front of you.
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
England 2-1 Italy: Women's Euro 2025 semi-final player ratings
Hannah Hampton Looked strong aerially and made a crucial save on 86 minutes, keeping England alive. 7/10 Lucy Bronze Made good runs but lacked a decisive pass. Had a header cleared off the line. 6 Leah Williamson Defended some awkward bouncing balls well. Sacrificed when England went for the jugular late in normal time. 6 Esme Morgan Looked very composed, did well to halt several Italy breaks and fully justified her inclusion. 7 Alex Greenwood Beaten for Italy's opener. Did not find her passing range. Defended well in extra time. 6 Keira Walsh Tried and tried to get England going, spreading the ball wide in the second half whenever she could. 6 Georgia Stanway Tougher and more energetic in the second half after a relatively quiet first half. 6 Ella Toone Plenty of good movement, again. Adventurous in attack but lacked that killer final ball. 6 Lauren James Had a good chance saved. Never quite found top gear. Withdrawn with an injury. 6 Alessia Russo Not afforded any room by Italy's three centre-backs. Perhaps tired after playing 120 minutes last time. 6 Lauren Hemp Found space but could not find her crossing range. Lacked composure in front of goal. 5 Substitutes Beth Mead (James h-t) Did well despite being asked to switch inside and play out of position in midfield again, 6; Chloe Kelly (Stanway 77) Should have been brought on a lot sooner, 8; Michelle Agyemang (Williamson 85) Is 19 years of age too young to receive a damehood? She was simply outstanding, 9; Aggie Beever-Jones (Russo 85) Headed wide at the end of second-half stoppage time but it was merely a half-chance, 6; Grace Clinton (Walsh 106) 6; Jess Carter (Greenwood 120) 6. Laura Giuliani Saved well from James early on. Dealt well with England's crosses. Parried the late penalty. 7 Elisabetta Oliviero Looked very quick over 10 yards. Defended well against Hemp when they battled one-on-one. 7 Martina Lenzini A decent performance to help frustrate England before she was replaced after 89 minutes. 6 Cecilia Salvai Looked strong for the first 80 minutes but she was outperformed by Agyemang after the striker's introduction. 6 Elena Linari Showed good strength and anticipation for an hour. Poor foul meant she was deservedly booked. 7 Lucia Di Guglielmo Had a very good game initially but was powerless to stop Kelly's mazy runs. 7 Sofia Cantore Skilful player. Denied by a second-half Hampton save, although it was straight at the keeper. 7 Arianna Caruso A terrific player who had a very impressive tournament. Good signing for Bayern Munich. 7 Manuela Giugliano Helped to stop England's midfield clicking into gear for much of the contest. Clever, technical player. 7 Barbara Bonansea Took her goal superbly. Italy were notably weaker once she was taken off in the 73rd minute. 7 Cristiana Girelli Linked play superbly. Looked heartbroken to go off injured, which changed the game. 7 Substitutes Martina Piemonte (Girelli 64) Put herself about, headed over with a half-chance, 7; Michela Cambiaghi (Cantore 73) 6; Emma Severini (Bonansea 73) 6; Julie Piga (Lenzini 89) 6; Giada Greggi (Giugliano 89) 6.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
England have nothing to prove after booking Euro 2025 final spot
Lucy Bronze insisted England had nothing to prove after booking their place in the Euro 2025 final with a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Italy in Geneva. The defending champions were the heavy favourites in the semi-final, but it took another tournament-saving late equaliser from 19-year-old substitute Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly's extra-time winner to ensure England would fight on. The Lionesses' never-say-die attitude has elicited plenty of deserved praise, but opening their tournament with a loss to France, then twice eking out knockout victories from the brink of elimination, has also sparked concern about England's ability to overcome their toughest challenge yet – a meeting with either Spain or Germany for the title. 'I think people from the outside think teams have to win every single game,' defender Bronze said. 'I think people talk about consistency with this England team, we've done six consecutive semi-finals, three consecutive finals, who else has done that? Nobody. 'You know, Spain and Germany are fantastic teams, even they haven't managed that feat. 'It's hard to stay at the top in international football, so many teams, they have performances, then it's up and down, they develop, but this team just keeps fighting until the end. 'I feel like we didn't have anything to prove because we've been there, we've done it many, many times. 'It's just the fact that the game's getting better, international football's not as easy as it used to be. Everybody's fighting and everyone wants to win and everyone feels like they can win.' Bronze, featuring in her seventh major tournament at 33, is the oldest and most experienced member of Sarina Wiegman's squad in Switzerland. She was full of praise for Agyemang – the youngest – who has now scored three times in her first four England appearances since making her debut in April, including a critical late equaliser in their Sweden quarter-final. The teenager was also inches away from netting a winner on Tuesday night when she clipped the crossbar late in extra-time. Bronze said: 'She's a little bit of the unknown and she brings something different to her other strikers and our attackers, which maybe other teams aren't used to playing against – especially in an England shirt. 'So I think it gives her a lot of confidence and the team give her a lot of freedom, Sarina does. 'We want her to be confident and just play good football and try and score goals. When she scored the first one, we were like, 'go and do it again'. And you saw that in the rest of the game. 'She was going on by herself, she had two or three good runs in extra-time where she was like, 'I'm going to take this team to the final'. It's amazing to see and I think that gives the rest of the team confidence.' Wiegman has now led teams to five straight major tournament finals – the first head coach to do so in either the men's or women's game. The Dutchwoman, who has guided England to three in a row, hopes Sunday's showpiece is not left to the last minute and her side take an early lead. 'I would really like to go up at the beginning of the match and stay up,' Wiegman said. 'We prepare for every scenario, but we don't say 'let's get behind and then score at the end of the game'. 'That's not part of the game plan, but it shows that if we get behind, we're not done and we will fight to score a goal.'
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
England have nothing to prove after booking Euro 2025 final spot
Lucy Bronze insisted England had nothing to prove after booking their place in the Euro 2025 final with a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Italy in Geneva. The defending champions were the heavy favourites in the semi-final, but it took another tournament-saving late equaliser from 19-year-old substitute Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly's extra-time winner to ensure England would fight on. The Lionesses' never-say-die attitude has elicited plenty of deserved praise, but opening their tournament with a loss to France, then twice eking out knockout victories from the brink of elimination, has also sparked concern about England's ability to overcome their toughest challenge yet – a meeting with either Spain or Germany for the title. 'I think people from the outside think teams have to win every single game,' defender Bronze said. 'I think people talk about consistency with this England team, we've done six consecutive semi-finals, three consecutive finals, who else has done that? Nobody. 'You know, Spain and Germany are fantastic teams, even they haven't managed that feat. 'It's hard to stay at the top in international football, so many teams, they have performances, then it's up and down, they develop, but this team just keeps fighting until the end. 'I feel like we didn't have anything to prove because we've been there, we've done it many, many times. 'It's just the fact that the game's getting better, international football's not as easy as it used to be. Everybody's fighting and everyone wants to win and everyone feels like they can win.' Bronze, featuring in her seventh major tournament at 33, is the oldest and most experienced member of Sarina Wiegman's squad in Switzerland. She was full of praise for Agyemang – the youngest – who has now scored three times in her first four England appearances since making her debut in April, including a critical late equaliser in their Sweden quarter-final. The teenager was also inches away from netting a winner on Tuesday night when she clipped the crossbar late in extra-time. Bronze said: 'She's a little bit of the unknown and she brings something different to her other strikers and our attackers, which maybe other teams aren't used to playing against – especially in an England shirt. 'So I think it gives her a lot of confidence and the team give her a lot of freedom, Sarina does. 'We want her to be confident and just play good football and try and score goals. When she scored the first one, we were like, 'go and do it again'. And you saw that in the rest of the game. 'She was going on by herself, she had two or three good runs in extra-time where she was like, 'I'm going to take this team to the final'. It's amazing to see and I think that gives the rest of the team confidence.' Wiegman has now led teams to five straight major tournament finals – the first head coach to do so in either the men's or women's game. The Dutchwoman, who has guided England to three in a row, hopes Sunday's showpiece is not left to the last minute and her side take an early lead. 'I would really like to go up at the beginning of the match and stay up,' Wiegman said. 'We prepare for every scenario, but we don't say 'let's get behind and then score at the end of the game'. 'That's not part of the game plan, but it shows that if we get behind, we're not done and we will fight to score a goal.'
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lucy Bronze's iconic moment saves England and seals her place as a Lionesses legend
"One of a kind," Sarina Wiegman said of Lucy Bronze. Her "fighter" of a full-back certainly offered an image that will go down in England folklore, albeit after a team performance that won't quite be mentioned as prominently. Only the spirit, appropriately, will prevail. After a series of absurd misses, in what might well have been one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in football history, a hobbling Bronze ripped off the strapping on her left leg, and strode forward. An astonishing eight of the 12 previous penalties had been squandered. Some had been missed in scarcely believable fashion, the emotional momentum of the shoot-out veering as wildly as some of the shots. So, Bronze just smashed it straight into the roof of the net. 'I just felt a little bit tight at the end of the game and I thought, I just need to get through to make sure I can keep going,' Bronze said. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty. I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty, and then it was my penalty. I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.' 'That resilience, that fight," Wiegman enthused. The manager ended up conjuring another image about Bronze. 'The only way you get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair.' Bronze was the personification of England perseverance, which is one quality you can certainly bank on - even in a performance like this. The kick similarly represented a decisiveness that had been missing from the previous 10 minutes, and most of the game. It also seemed to scramble Sweden for one final kick, as the 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg became just the latest player to sky the ball. This time, it was enough. Bronze's force had driven England into the semi-finals of Euro 2025 - and that after her late goal had sparked the comeback. Her team are now somehow 90 minutes from another final, albeit after a display where they really only played well for a few minutes. Much of that was down to the transformative Chloe Kelly. The obvious discussion now will be over what this emotion does for the team, over the resolve, whether there will now be a momentum from this, a relief that releases them. Wiegman said it was the most chaotic game she'd ever been part of. 'I can't remember anything like this,' she said. Over an hour later, while appearing at her press conference after 1am in Zurich, the manager said she was 'still hyper, still emotional'. But, if we're talking about intangible elements like that, you simply have to focus on the psychodrama of the penalties. It was unlike almost any witnessed in football history, and a rare occasion where the final score of the regulation five each - 2-2 - equalled the actual game. While Bronze finally seized the moment, it's hard not to feel that Sweden ultimately - and calamitously - let it slip away. And that's not just because they were 2-0 up in the 79th minute - a fact that almost felt irrelevant given everything that happened after that. Hannah Hampton later said she could barely remember the first 45 minutes. Her save early in the second half kept England in it, to go with those in the shoot-out. 'That was crucial,' Wiegman said. Sweden still had the chance to secure their semi-final place as it was 2-2 with that very last regulation penalty, an anticipation only heightened as goalkeeper Jennifer Falk sensationally turned around and actually take it. Saving three penalties evidently wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be a treble hero, with the last word. It wouldn't even be the second or third last word. Hampton admitted she was 'surprised' and briefly 'panicked'. For all their preparation, England didn't have the data on her on the opposing goalkeeper's penalty record. All of that went out the window, with Falk's shot. The goalkeeper was the first to sky had to show them how it was the nature of the shoot-out naturally draws most focus, and is pretty much all most people will remember after that, there was still a performance that should draw at least some concern. 'I didn't enjoy it,' Wiegman said, albeit with laughter. She also pointedly disagreed with some criticisms of England's performance before Kelly dramatically transformed it from the 70th minute. The back-and-forth nature of the shoot-out actually reflected England's display in some ways. England got it wrong, then got it right, then got it wrong again, only to display that vintage individual resolve to somehow get through. One of the most remarkable aspects - before the penalties - was that Wiegman made the exact same mistakes as against France in the opening game. It was as if nothing had actually been learned, and that the recent revival was because of the poverty of opposition in the Welsh and Dutch games. England were still woefully vulnerable to pace. Keira Walsh had again been dominated in midfield, and Wiegman's side badly struggled to play through it. Sweden clearly targeted Jess Carter for pressing, but Leah Williamson wasn't exactly sure-footed beside her. This was the source of both Swedish goals. Kosovare Asllani strode through after two minutes, and Stina Blackstenius - whose pressing was causing all manner of problems - scorched through for the second. England's response was so meek until eventually, and what felt so belatedly, Wiegman made three subs. They were surprising subs, especially in removing Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone and not bringing on a replacement midfielder. England front-loaded and went direct. Kelly, who followed Wiegman's triple-change, played a superb ball for Bronze to head in brilliantly at the back post. She defiantly kicked a hoarding, in a foreshadowing of what was to come. Sweden just didn't expect what came next to arrive so quickly. England went straight for goal again. Kelly was this time central and, within two minutes, Michelle Agyemang had turned it in. A new hero. Delirium. But not quite a new direction. The one issue with Wiegman's subs was that they were right for the situation but not for an open game. Extra-time did look a lot like England were just trying to play through it and maybe take a chance. It also comes at a cost, despite the prize of that semi-final. Having gone the distance, all of Williamson, Bronze and Lauren James will need patching up. Williamson is of most concern, having rolled her ankle. Apart from the physical recovery, there's also going to have to be a lot of thought about the team for that semi-final. "I need to calm down," Wiegman said, as Hampton answered a Facetime from family in the press conference. It was that kind of mood. But danger awaits. Italy will surely have taken note of the blueprint to play this England. Wiegman's side have twice struggled in this tournament against quick and physical pressing teams. There were even signs of that going much further back, to the 2023 World Cup. Except, England still go that bit further in this tournament. Wiegman's sole defeat in knockout football is still that 2023 World Cup final to Spain. They still persevere. They still have that resolve, that grit. 'I think that's a quality that is so strong in this team, that togetherness and fighting back,' Wiegman said. 'It shows so much resilience.' England found a way. So much of that was through Bronze.
