England more ‘resilient and confident’ since I took over, says Sarina Wiegman

Sarina Wiegman believes England have grown in confidence and become more resilient since she took over as manager and expects them to be able to handle the big occasion when they face Sweden for a place in the final of Euro 2022 on Tuesday night.

The Lionesses will go into the match at Bramall Lane on a high after their dramatic comeback against Spain in the quarter-finals despite having failed to get past the last four at three successive tournaments. Wiegman, who led the Netherlands to victory at Euro 2017 before taking over from Phil Neville in September last year, has backed her players against Sweden having remained unbeaten since a friendly defeat against Canada last April.

“I think the mentality has been good. I have seen only a good mentality, actually, since I came in last September,” she said. “The resilience has been really good. The confidence in the team has grown and that has also grown over the past year. We’re just really, really accountable to each other.

“We had a little setback, of course that’s part of the game too, when we conceded a goal [against Spain]. But we stayed calm, we stayed trying to play our game. I think we’re really strong and we can handle setbacks.”

Asked whether the Lionesses were ready to make history, the Dutch manager said: “The England team is ready to play the best game tomorrow against Sweden,” before adding with a grin, “and hopefully we will inspire the nation.”

It was playful from the manager, who also said she hoped she would be “a little calmer” on the sidelines following her wild celebrations against Spain. Wiegman, who said she has a fully fit squad, has put a lot of effort into lifting the pressure off the shoulders of her players.

“I’m in the now, thinking in the now,”