It's a good time to be English, says Lionesses manager Wiegman

MANCHESTER, England : Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman's allegiances may have been torn during England's 2-1 win over her native Netherlands in the men's Euro 2024 semi-final on Wednesday but she said it is a great time for English football.

"Congratulations on the win. To be really honest, of course I wish the very best for Gareth (Southgate, England men's manager) and the team. But it did hurt. My orange heart hurt," Wiegman told a press conference on Thursday.

The England women's team continue their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign against Ireland on Friday in Norwich. Wiegman's team are third in Group A3 but level on seven points with second-placed Sweden after four games. France lead with nine points.

England play Sweden on Tuesday. Only the top two go directly to the finals in Switzerland, although England could still qualify through a playoff in the autumn.

Lionesses defender Millie Bright had joked that the players would need to wear protective gear to watch the men's side face the Netherlands on Wednesday with Wiegman.

But Wiegman was gracious in defeat, saying "It's good to be English I think at the moment in football."

Wiegman's side, who are the reigning European Champions, were on shaky ground early in qualifying after a draw with Sweden and loss to France, but bounced back to win away against the French for the first time in 51 years.

BUILD MOMENTUM

"We wanted to build, we needed to build some volume, get everyone back up to speed, because after some time off, then you have to get back in it," Wiegman said of the squad's current camp.

"So that's what we did. Of course, we wanted to do some work on developing our game, and also get prepared for these two games. And, yeah, do some little tweaks in our game plan."

Wiegman