Wiegman is still clear as a coach after nine European Championship matches. Where she became champion with the Orange in 2017 with five victories in a row, she also stacks the victories with the English women. Meanwhile, the Lionesses unbeatable for eleven consecutive games. As England national coach, Wiegman has won 17 of her 19 matches in total. Already 104(!) times, of which 20 times this European Championship, she could cheer because of a goal. They and assistant coach Arjan Veurink did not yet lose.
France, which eliminated the Netherlands, will compete with Germany in Milton Keynes on Wednesday for the second ticket for the final battle, for which all 87,200 tickets have already been sold.
Mead strikes
Sweden started well and had a great chance of 1-0 within twenty seconds, but Sofia Jakobsson ran into Mary Earps. The keeper was wrong moments later, when Stina Blackstenius headed the crossbar from a corner.
England had a hard time, but after more than half an hour of play it suddenly hit. After a cross from the right, Beth Mead took the ball well, after which the goldcrest of the British hit flawlessly.
Boosted by the goal, England, who started the tournament with the same eleven players for the fifth time, started to play better. Shortly after the break it led to the 2-0. Lucy Bronze was given plenty of room to head in on a corner and she did that successfully, although keeper Hedvig Lindahl did not look good. It was a miracle that the game was not decided a few minutes later, when Lauren Hemp found the crossbar from close by.
World Goal Russo
Thus, Sweden remained in the game. Shortly after becoming dangerous twice from corner kicks, England struck for the third time, delivering the final blow. A shot by substitute Alessia Russo was initially stopped, but the attacker then struck with a very nice heel ball, with which she played Lindahl through the legs. The party was then completed with a hit – but not untenable – shot from Fran Kirby. ,,I am incredibly proud of this group”, Wiegman stated immediately afterwards.
‘home’
‘Football’s coming home’, sang the nearly 30,000 fans on Bramall Lane, where the Orange squad played this European Championship twice. The fans in England, the cradle of football, have so far only been able to celebrate once after an international tournament. That was in 1966, when the men became world champions. Should the already immensely popular Wiegman help the English to a second international title, it cannot be ruled out that a statue will be erected on the other side of the Channel, just like in Zeist, for the two-time world coach of the year. “I’ve never been so proud of an English team,” said former top striker and analyst Ian Wright. BBC the overall feeling of the nation well together.
Not on holiday to Sweden
It seems advisable for Wiegman not to go on holiday to Sweden for the time being. For the third time in five years, she personally eliminated the Scandinavian country in a major tournament. At the European Championship of 2017, she was too strong with the Orange with 2-0 (goals by Lieke Martens and Vivianne Miedema) in the quarterfinals, while in 2019 an extension had to be involved in the semifinals of the World Cup. Jackie Groenen then scored the winning goal.