Euro 2022: England staying 'grounded' despite win vs Netherlands

Sarina Wiegman has promised England will remain “grounded”, despite thrashing reigning European champions the Netherlands 5-1 at Elland Road on Friday. 

The Lionesses produced a scintillating second-half display –– scoring four unanswered goals, to maintain their unbeaten record under Wiegman and continue their Euro 2022 preparations in the best possible way. 

England have now won 11 out of 13 matches since the Dutch manager took over and with home advantage on their side this summer, the prospect of a first-ever major international trophy looks more possible than ever before. 

But Wiegman, who managed the Netherlands to Euro 2017 glory, is well aware of the pressure on her side this summer and was quick to emphasise there are plenty of teams in contention. 

Speaking after the win against the Netherlands, Wiegman said: “I think there are many favourites for this tournament and we are one of them.

“But we know where we want to go to and we stick to our strategy and plans, and whether we would lose or win now, we’re not going to all of a sudden sit, we call it, on a pink cloud. We stay grounded.”

The England boss also stressed that her side still has areas to work on and are not the finished article just yet. 

“Of course, the expectation will go higher, but now it’s a moment. I think we’re in a good place, but we still need to improve a couple of things, and we know that.”

There were plenty of outstanding individual displays against the Netherlands, but it was Mead who stole the show once again. 

The Arsenal forward scored twice and has now notched 13 international goals since Wiegman took over. 

While Lauren Hemp looks to have secured one spot on the wing for England’s opening Euros game against Austria, Mead now looks a