England Women’s Manager, Sarina Wiegman praised her squad for a “very intense” victory over Spain in 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Jess Park netted a 33rd minute winner to put England above Spain into second in League A3 and only just behind new leaders, Portugal, with the top three split by just one point after just two matches.
“I think the whole game was very impressive,” commented Wiegman who was impressed by the team’s tempo and intensity with a proper united team spirit.
“It was a very high tempo, very intense and I found our performance very impressive. The work that the team put in and the togetherness, that showed off today.”
Wiegman also acknowledged the importance of Park’s goal which marked the 23 year-old’s first senior international goal on home soil, having previously scored her first goal against Japan on neutral territory in Spain in November 2022.
“I think she needed that,” noted Wiegman who believes that the performance is of benefit of the team.
“This performance helps us a lot. We have been working so hard but it didn’t go our way a couple of times.
“Jess was in a position she hasn’t played a lot lately, but that will give a boost to her. She had to grow into the game and the pace of the game but she did really well.”
Hannah Hampton made numerous saves after she replaced Mary Earps in the only change from the team which drew 1-1 away to Portugal, with Wiegman happy that “… everyone took a step forward,” heading into April’s crunch double-header against Belgium on 4 and 8 April.
Looking ahead to those two fixtures, Wiegman believes that the win over Spain “helps” them progress in their planned direction, with squad unity key to building momentum heading into this summer’s title defence of their UEFA Women’s Euro title in Switzerland.
“We know where we want to go to, where we are right now, what we are working on. Now we win it is not that everything is good, and when we lose it is not that all of a sudden that everything is bad.
“The best thing was the togetherness and fight we put in the game was great. That’s where it starts. Next time when we go to play Belgium, it will be another game and we want to take it to the next level.”
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