Bondscoach Sarina Wiegman suffered a painful defeat with the English female footballers on Tuesday heading towards the European Championship next summer. The English lost 2-1 to world champion Spain, missing the final round of the Nations League.
England took the lead in the stadium of La Liga club Espanyol, thanks to a goal from star player Alessia Russo halfway through the first half. The midfielder of Champions League winner Arsenal scored after a quick break.
Within ten minutes, Spain turned the deficit into a lead, with both goals scored by Clàudia Pina. First, the attacker slid the ball into the far corner and then she scored with a beautiful long-range shot.
Due to the defeat, England misses out on a ticket for the final round of the Nations League for the second year in a row, which only goes to the group winner. Following Spain, Germany and France have qualified for the playoffs, which are scheduled for this coming fall.
It is a blow for England heading towards the European Championship next summer, where the Dutch national team is one of the three opponents in the group stage. The tournament in Switzerland starts in a month. Wales and France are the other groupmates of England and the Netherlands.
Incidentally, the Netherlands has also had to take a setback heading towards the European Championship. Coach Andries Jonker’s team lost by clear numbers to Germany on Friday and therefore also missed the final round of the Nations League.