England Women manager, Sarina Wiegman is targeting “a good performance” in a must-win UEFA Women’s Nations League showdown against Spain.
Following a ruthless 6-0 win over Portugal, England are currently sat two points behind Spain in their Women’s Nations League A3 group and needing to win to secure top spot in their blockbuster final group match.
The game also comes just under a month before the start of UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 but Wiegman feels that both teams have grown into the Women’s Nations League tournament, and will now be targeting a strong result to take momentum into the major tournament.
“We want to have a good performance tomorrow and I think Spain is the same. This is Nations League, it’s a different competition. We want a good performance from our side tomorrow and we want to win the game.”
Wiegman however was eager to iterate that England won’t be underestimating the world champions on Spanish soil, just like they did in their home win back in February at Wembley Stadium.
“We know what they are capable of. We have to be aware of that, we have to be really tight and play compact in moments.
“We had the ball too, we had opportunities too. We created momentum in parts of the game and put them under pressure.
“That’s what we want to do tomorrow. They might be on the ball more but we will be on it too.”
Grace Clinton however is suspended after she picked up her second booking of the phase during the victory over Portugal, but Wiegman is keen to focus on the players available rather than worry about the impact of Clinton’s absence.
“It’s a disappointment, it was an unlucky moment. She plays with a lot of intensity and very aggressive. She can’t play tomorrow so that’s a fact, we are moving on with the team we have.”
The ex Netherlands boss also revealed that she is “pretty close” to finalising her Women’s Euros squad for England’s title defence, but considers this game as the immediate priority with some players keen to make one last impression on her selection plans.
“That’s hard. You come close to squad selection. At the same time we want to win the game tomorrow. It’s preparation for the Euros. Short-term we are trying to win that game, a little longer-term is preparation for the Euros which is the bigger picture.”
England’s results in the Women’s Nations League haven’t been consistent with just one pair of consecutive wins in an international window within this competition – which came in December 2023 as they beat Netherlands then Scotland but missed out on top spot to the Dutch.
Wiegman consequently is wary of the fact that they need to treat this as “… a totally different game than what we had on Friday.”
During her pre-match press conference, Wiegman was pressed on the turnaround in Chloe Kelly’s performance after a difficult first half of the season at Manchester City, before the forward flourished in a loan move to Arsenal which culminated in Women’s Champions League success.
Wiegman in response explained that she was pleased to see Kelly in a positive place and back to her highest performance levels at Arsenal.
“The most of all is that she is very happy, very energetic. Going to Arsenal having great performances, I think she has improved again in possession and also out of possession. It’s enjoyable to watch her.
“I hope that continues. She is enjoying herself, she trains really well with a smile on her face. Whether she is starting or coming from the bench, she is doing everything she can to get her performance at the highest level.”
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