Wiegman the modest alchemist has built England into a formidable unit

“English people can drink!” exclaimed Sarina Wiegman the morning after the night before. “A little bit too much alcohol, I think. But that’s OK, we enjoyed it. When you have these accomplishments it’s really good to have a party.”

It was a passage that summed up England’s manager rather well. Wiegman may come across as an austere, stern figure on the touchline and her businesslike manner has quickly imprinted itself on the new European champions since her arrival last September. But there is a much lighter side, too, and it has been evident in the way her team play: industry setting the path for invention and the kinds of flourish that sent England off into an evening that was worth the sunglasses and sore heads.

She has achieved the unprecedented feat of back-to-back continental titles with different countries and nobody does that purely by playing bad cop. It is true that unsentimental decisions helped to shape her wins in both 2017 and 2022; few will need reminding of the way she dropped her captain, Mandy van den Berg, two games into the Netherlands’ campaign five years ago, and the omission of Steph Houghton raised plenty of eyebrows this time. But Wiegman has created the happiest, closest-knit England camp in recent memory and it has helped them to eke out huge results when, as against Spain and in the final on Sunday, matches have been at risk of getting away from them.

“She’s the missing ingredient England were looking for,” the captain, Leah Williamson, told a huge Trafalgar Square crowd after the squad had taken the stage. “She has brought us all together. She is a special person and puts us first as human beings.”

It has been a common refrain. Wiegman has transformed the way England’s players relate to each