Sarina Wiegman was quite disappointed after the false start at the European Championship. But the England coach put the defeat against France (2-1) into perspective and wants to take revenge against the Netherlands.
“You can’t really compare all the first matches of tournaments with each other. I think playing against France is totally different from any other start to a tournament, because I think they are a world-class team,” Wiegman said late Saturday evening in Zurich.
England lost 2-1 to France. Wiegman’s team played a lost game for a long time and only responded in the final phase. For the Dutch coach, it was her first defeat ever at a European Championship. She won the title with Orange in 2017 and became European champion with England in 2021.
“Of course we are frustrated, because we have had three very good weeks and have trained very well. But that is never a guarantee that you will win the match,” said the 55-year-old from The Hague.
“And you also know that France has a serious team, so you really have to do things well. And we just didn’t do it well at certain moments.”
Due to the defeat, there is immediate pressure on England for the match against Oranje. That match will be played on Wednesday, in the same stadium where Wiegman’s team started the tournament.
“We have to do things better and become more solid on the ball. We have to make better choices and stick together as a team,” Wiegman looked ahead. “On Sunday we will recover and then we will prepare for the match against the Netherlands.”
According to Beth Mead, a lot, if not everything, now depends on the match against Oranje. “This was already an important match, but now it is an even more important match for us, because it is a must-win,” said Mead, the partner of Vivianne Miedema.
“We will analyze this match that we just played and prepare ourselves as well as possible for the match against the Netherlands.”