Latest news with #Sarina Wiegman
The Independent
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Lionesses announce first Wembley fixture since Euro 2025 triumph
European champions England have announced they will play China, the champions of Asia, at Wembley in November as the Lionesses turn their attention towards the 2027 Women's World Cup. England celebrated their Euro 2025 triumph with a memorable homecoming outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday but Sarina Wiegman is already looking ahead to the start of England's World Cup qualifying campaign. The Lionesses will play China at Wembley on Saturday 29 November, in their third match at the national stadium this year. England also played at Wembley for the wins over Spain and Portugal before the Euros. England will arrange fixtures for the international window in October, while details of a second November game have also yet to be announced. England played China during the group stages of the 2023 World Cup, winning 6-1. 'After an incredible month and the celebrations this week, we are already planning ahead,' England manager Wiegman said. 'It will be special to have a final visit to Wembley this year and something for us all to look forward to once the new season starts. 'Even though we have just finished the Euro, our World Cup qualifiers are not too far away. There are not many opportunities for us to play non-European opposition in the calendar, so I am happy we have been able to secure a top Asian side like China for this Fifa window. 'I'm sure China will give us a very different game to what we experienced in Australia. Whenever we face a squad where most of the players are based away from Europe or the United States, it is a new challenge. And with the start of the qualification campaign soon approaching, this will be valuable experience with the 2027 World Cup in mind.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Sarina Wiegman urges more investment in women's game at Downing Street reception
England head coach Sarina Wiegman called for further investment in women's football to ensure the country remains a 'trailblazer' as her side celebrated their Euro 2025 success at a 'very, very special' reception at 10 Downing Street. After successfully defending their European crown with a penalty shoot-out victory over Spain in the tournament's showpiece in Basel on Sunday evening, the England team flew home to attend a reception hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and sports minister Stephanie Peacock. The team arrived just before 7pm, with Number 10 decorated for the occasion with St George's flags draped over windows and bunting along the railings. As Wiegman rose to speak to those gathered in the Downing Street garden she joked that 'this is different from standing next to a pitch'. She added: 'I have to make my apologies (for giving) you lots of heart attacks. You all made it through and we made it through and that's why we're here now. 'The team is just incredible, we won the Euros but making the final, we're already legendary, what the team has done and the team behind the team. 'Thank you so much for having us here. It's very, very special to be here and to be in this very nice garden with the way you set it up with all these pictures, it makes it more special, it's the first moment it sinks in a little bit because it was surreal what happened last night.' Wiegman then used the moment to call for further investment in the women's game, with the Government due to announce a new package of measures to boost access to grassroots football. 'This incredible team won the Euros and then straightaway sent a letter to you, the Government, asking for attention and asking for access to football for all girls,' Wiegman said. 'Steps have been taken but we're not done yet, we have to keep moving forward and we need a little bit more. 'I heard we need to change some things about taxes…I think we have that confirmation tonight. So let's move forward. 'We need some more investment. We're not there yet. In England we're up there but England needs to stay the trailblazer, it needs to be the big example. The players first but also the FA, the clubs, the Government, the country, the fans – let's keep being the trailblazers.' In her own speech, Rayner congratulated Wiegman's team on defending their title 'with grit, with determination and with skill'. 'You roared, and I know I wasn't the only one roaring with you,' Rayner said. Chloe Kelly scored the decisive penalty for England in the shoot-out after goalkeeper Hannah Hampton made two outstanding saves. The game had gone to extra time and spot-kicks after Alessia Russo cancelled out the opener from Arsenal team-mate Mariona Caldentey as it finished 1-1 following extra time. After almost a month of competition in Switzerland, the team's plane branded with the word 'home' touched down at Southend Airport on Monday afternoon. In a post on X, the team shared a photo of the Euros trophy draped in an England flag on a seat on the plane. Holding the trophy, captain Leah Williamson was first to step off the plane alongside Wiegman. Outside the airport, crowds were lined up to welcome the team and the trophy back home. A homecoming open-top bus parade follows in central London on Tuesday, where there will be a procession along The Mall and the celebration will finish with a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. A trip to the Palace or Windsor Castle may be on the cards for the winning squad as it is understood possible plans for a reception in the autumn are being explored by royal aides. Defender Jess Carter has not joined her team-mates for the celebrations in London as she has returned to the United States ahead of Gotham FC's NWSL match against the Chicago Stars on Saturday.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Leah Williamson's defining moment seals her place in England history
Amid the chaos, there was another moment of calm. Leah Williamson had just made history as England captain but first she paused. While her teammates chased after Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton and as Michelle Agyemang and Jess Carter dropped to their knees on the pitch, Williamson turned to her beaten Spanish opponents and began to shake each of them by the hand. No England captain had been here before, with Williamson becoming the first player in the country's history to skipper a team to two tournament victories, as well as the first to lead a side to a title on foreign soil. And while there were many heroes on yet another improbable night, to complete a 'chaotic and ridiculous' tournament in the words of Sarina Wiegman, it was the clear-mindedness of Williamson that repeatedly shone through. To face this Spain team as a center-back across 120 minutes is to essentially be required to perform two jobs at once: first, to constantly evaluate the danger and protect the box by any means possible, and second, to show the bravery and sense to choose the moments where you play, to try and stop Spain from suffocating you by embracing the risks head on. Alongside the equally courageous Jess Carter, England's centre backs were largely faultless. In some ways it was the perfect game for Williamson to have in front of her, an opportunity to display the two defining aspects of her leadership. It helped that she faced a remarkably similar situation in Arsenal's Champions League final win over Barcelona two months ago, a game where they lived on the edge throughout but grew confidence from their defiance. 'I did get a feeling from the Champions League final,' Williamson said 'I thought this is our day today.' Against Spain there were the blocks and the clearances, reading the game superbly to always be in the right place. There can be an accumulation of hundreds of split-second decisions involved when an opponent like Spain moves at pace, and Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Mariona Caldentey rotate to pull a system out of shape. It can be easy to fall into a rudimentary sense of what defending is when required to repeatedly put your body on the line. Williamson did that, but she also played with a clarity to know to jump forward and press, or when to drop in and delay. Each gamble was an intelligent one. There was a moment midway through the second half and after Alessia Russo had equalised in the final where Williamson forcefully stepped up to intercept a pass into midfield, and then kept on going. She continued the run and slid as she squared the ball across the box, a delivery begging for a touch that didn't arrive. But it summed up how England found themselves and finally arrived at something resembling their potential after clawing a path through the tournament. Before the final, Williamson had spoken of how England could not afford to be 'fearful of losing' and that is basically what the Lionesses did after going 1-0 down, led by their captain every time she stepped out of the backline. It was embodied by the brilliance of Carter, back in the team after revealing the racist abuse she had received throughout the Euros but playing the final with a grin on her face after reaching extra time. 'She's a no-nonsense defender,' Williamson said. 'I've called her that before and she just gets sh-- done.' Carter was safe on the ball but secure. Williamson had to play, but only at the right times. She repeatedly found the moments to slow it down and trust Keira Walsh would be in position. Hannah Hampton produced the heroics in the shootout - and perhaps let's not talk about Williamson's own miss - but England's captain had a claim to be the player of the match before the penalties. Afterwards, standing on the pitch at St Jakob Park, Williamson said she felt a pressure to say 'something monumental', in part because of how effortlessly she stepped up to deliver the message and articulate the legacy of what England wanted Euro 2022 to be. It was a role Williamson performed so well that the image of her as a spokesperson for the Lionesses lasted much longer than her impact on the tournament as a player. Missing the 2023 World Cup through injury only prolonged that. But Williamson has left something monumental. In a tournament that has been won by England's grit, the captain of the European champions at both club and country also showed another way. All that remains now is a defining performance to stand alongside her place in history.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Greatest achievement in English football history'
"This year it was meant for England."Lucy Bronze, England's most decorated footballer, the one player who epitomises what it is to be a Lioness, just had a feeling all with a fractured tibia throughout the tournament, Bronze would not give up. She would not miss this moment, as her side defended their European title and overcame the world champions on foreign 33-year-old more than played her part. She only came off when she could no longer run through the pain, tears forming in her eyes, as she finally allowed someone to take her place in extra time of England's penalty-shootout victory over Spain in the Euro 2025 Wiegman's side defied the odds, silenced the doubters, came back from the brink over and over and over again. They simply won at any cost. At the end of it there can be no doubts. This was the greatest achievement in the history of English football. It is the first time an England team have won a major trophy on foreign soil after Wiegman's side delivered at home in 2022, and the men's 1966 World Cup victory took place at Wembley Lionesses also became the first English side to defend their title - and they did it by coming from behind at half time - the first time that had been done before in the women's cemented manager Wiegman's status as one of the world's greatest with her third successive European title - achieved with two was her fifth major final in a row and Wiegman has won three of them, a simply remarkable could barely believe it as she danced, arm-in-arm with captain Leah Williamson, allowing the mask to slip as England's understated and composed leader."I actually can't believe it myself. I was like 'how can this happen?' But it happened. I'm so incredibly proud of the team. I'm so happy," she said afterwards. Wiegman's watch notification during hew news conference reminded her of a workout she was due to have. "I won't be doing that anymore," she joked. And you can understand had already exhausted herself, going through every emotion imaginable in what she described as the "most ridiculous and chaotic" tournament of her players had not made it easy for themselves, acknowledging the stress they had put their families under and how they "almost killed" Wiegman off - at least led for just four minutes and 52 seconds in the knockout stage of the tournament and yet somehow had their hands on the trophy in Basel, surrounded by gold confetti, with the soundtrack of Queen's 'We Are The Champions' playing in the kick-off, England were written off. In fact, they were written off before Euro 2025 started when Mary Earps and Fran Kirby retired out of the blue and World Cup captain Millie Bright withdrew from that would be unsettling? Their poor defeat by France in the opening game only strengthend that narrative. But England bounced back. They comfortably beat the Netherlands and Wales to reach the knockout were 2-0 down to Sweden in the quarter-finals and came back. Sweden only scored two of their seven penalties, so even when goalkeeper Jennifer Falk saved four of England's, it was not enough. Luck was on England's was the moment Wiegman admitted the thought: 'hmm, we might be going home tomorrow' had crossed her were 1-0 down again to Italy in the semi-finals before teenager Michelle Agyemang scored a 96th-minute equaliser and Kelly netted the winner in the 119th minute of extra had not lost in 10 games, they were the world champions and they were the pre-tournament favourites. When they went 1-0 up in the final, England were on the ropes. They looked down and out. But that was not how the script had been written. England had decided that. So calm was Wiegman, that as her players looked around St Jakob-Park before kick-off, the Dutchwoman waved to members of the media in the strolled around with her hands in her pockets. She had been here before, England had been here before and they had an unwavering journalists were positive about the Lionesses chances' at half-time - "England can come back from 1-0 down", "Michelle Agyemang will come on" - but doubt 'super subs' had done the job in 2022. Kelly, Alessia Russo and Ella Toone all shone in their roles as Wiegman stuck with the same starting XI throughout and trusted those coming on off the bench to make an proved to be a winning formula she did not waiver from in 2025, instead renaming the substitutes as 'finishers' and entrusting them with the same togetherness of the squad was apparent. Bronze's willingness to play through pain, the players' reaction to team-mate Jess Carter receiving racial abuse was impactful and Williamson's act of pushing Agyemang towards fans to receive adulation following their semi-final win was deliberate. "It is ridiculous. Every time we came back from behind. Of course we have players that have talent. But the togetherness of this team is incredible," said Wiegman. "Also, the belief that we can come back. The players say they can come back by any means and they just never give up. "Every player is ready to come onto the pitch and show up straight away. That is not easy. I'm just really grateful that I'm part of this team." The magnitude of what the Lionesses were on the cusp of achieving was clear before kick-off as cameras turned to point to the faces in the top-tier Minister Keir Starmer, Prince William with Princess Charlotte, along with Spain's Princess Leonor and Uefa president Alexander Ceferin were all watching stars from other nations had come to watch two of the world's heavyweights go to battle, including Switzerland's Lia Walti and the USA's Catarina Macario, supporting their Arsenal and Chelsea team-mates in men's international Reece James flew out to support his sister Lauren and Football Association chief Mark Bullingham was with them throughout their journey in has already made it emphatically clear that Wiegman, who is under contract until the 2027 World Cup, is "not for sale at any price" and you can understand this generation of players, some who were on the fringes in 2022, and others more experienced, such as Bronze and Alex Greenwood, Wiegman has turned the Lionesses into a team that is feared in major tournaments and have become serial other teams in England's history have faltered at the final hurdle, this squad proved they could do it again, even when many thought they could not."From the first game it was chaos. Losing your first game and becoming European Champions is incredible. Football is chaos," Wiegman said to BBC Sport's TV cameras while Bronze was being piggy-backed by goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse in the background, celebrating with fans. Bronze knew what England were capable of. Now everybody else knows.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Jess Carter melts England fans' hearts and admits she was ‘scared to play' in Euro 2025 final after personal struggles
JESS CARTER admitted she was 'super scared' of playing in England's Euros final triumph. Before the semi-final win over Italy, the Lionesses defender revealed she'd received racist abuse from online trolls during the tournament. 5 5 5 Carter, 27, was put back in the starting line-up for last night's penalty shootout triumph over Spain - after being put on the bench against the Italians. And the Gotham FC star says she was a bag of nerves going into the final after a recall from boss Sarina Wiegman. Carter said: 'I was super scared of playing the final for the first time in my life. 'When I woke up in the morning and saw my team and saw the support I had - and the belief I had from my team-mates, manager and family - I had I could come out and give my all. That's all you can do. 'It's incredible, the fans have been incredible all tournament and we couldn't have done this without them. 'We're so grateful for them and this moment. Giving up is not in our DNA. We have stuck together from minute one. I couldn't be prouder of this team and I'm so honoured to be proud of it. 'I'm more disappointed in myself previous performances than anyone else.' England team-mates, staff and fans rallied around Carter after she revealed vile abuse she had been subjected to. 5 Before the extra-time win against Italy on Tuesday, England's subs stood arm-in-arm with Carter after the players opted against taking the knee before kick-off. But Carter kept her cool to emerge as a European champion. Fans go wild as England beat Spain on penalties to win Women's Euro 2025 final Asked how she's going to celebrate, she said: 'Getting very drunk!' In an Instagram post, the 27-year-old player said: "From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse. "Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don't agree or think it's ok to target someone's appearance or race." She said she was stepping back to "protect myself in a bid to keep my focus on helping the team any way I can". "Hopefully speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice so that others won't have to deal with it," she added. 5 The Lionesses posted a message from the squad with the caption: "We stand with Jess, and all #Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism." It reads: "No one should have to endure such vile abuse, be that in football or any walk of life. "Representing our country is the greatest honour. It's not right that while we are doing that some of us are treated differently simply because of the colour of our skin."
