England coach Sarina Wiegman aims for fairy-tale ending to Women’s
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When England won a place in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, the team’s Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman became the first-ever coach to reach the last match of the tournament with two different nations. After losing in the final with the Netherlands in 2019, a win for the Lionesses against Spain will see Wiegman claim a trophy that many see as richly deserved.
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Wiegman is no stranger to big football finals. As manager, she has already won the European Cup with the Netherlands in 2017 and again with England in 2022. She also led the Netherlands to the World Cup final in 2019, but not to victory, a blemish on an otherwise impressive career.
And one she now has the chance to rectify, as her England team face Spain on Sunday in the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney.
The prolific football manager, and former PE teacher, took over the head job for the Lionesses at a crucial moment, when England was two years away from hosting the 2022 women’s European Cup tournament.
It was just enough time for Wiegman to turn a team that seemed down on its luck into an almost unbeatable machine. Under her tenure, the Lionesses have won 30 out of 38 games, and lost just one.
Among the wins are the Euro 2022 final, played on home turf at London’s Wembley Stadium against Germany, and the Finalissima which pitted the European champions against Brazil, winners of the 2022 Copa América Femenina.
In the 2023 Women’s World Cup there have been moments, against Haiti and Nigeria notably, where the English side have been challenged, even shaken, but they have still won every game.
A confident semi-final victory against host-nation Australia ensured Wiegman’s place in the history books as the first coach of any men’s or women’s team to lead two different nations to consecutive finals.
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