Lionesses ready to exceed victory ‘expectations’, insists Sarina Wiegman ahead of Nations League clash
England face Belgium in their fourth Group A1 match
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Your support makes all the difference.England coach Sarina Wiegman says the Lionesses are under no illusions about what is expected of them these days, insisting England are ready to keep producing victories game after game.
A stellar run over the past few years has seen the women’s national team win the European Championship and reach the Women’s World Cup final, where they lost to Spain.
Now they are targeting success in the Uefa Nations League – and a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics too for Team GB – and face Belgium in their fourth Group A1 game. Wiegman says the squad are comfortable with the pressures on them, and believes they can improve on the 1-0 victory over the same opposition last week.
“The expectations are very clear. Everyone expects us to win,” said Wiegman ahead of the game in Leuven.
“We expect ourselves to win but we want to improve on our game. That makes the chances of winning higher.
“I was happy with how we played Friday. We could have made it a little bit easier for ourselves, but how we were on the pitch, how we wanted to play out of possession and in possession, we did really well.
“What we want to do in possession is be a little better in the final third. We create chances but the final pass, the final position and the execution, we want to do better.
“What I really liked on Friday, there was so much energy in the team. You saw real intention. If we lost the ball, we really wanted to win it back. We had only one stage in the game [where] we dropped a little bit, then picked it up again. I want to see the same energy, intention of the whole team and the togetherness.”
England are two points ahead of Belgium heading into the match and level with Netherlands, with Scotland bottom.
Meanwhile, midfielder Georgia Stanway suggested the Ballon d’Or ceremony must be better planned in future to allow the top women to attend, given many are preparing for an international match on Monday night when the awards are dealt out.
Regarding the upcoming match, she noted that England’s progression play was impressive, but more could be done in the final third to improve further.
“The Belgium game we played the other day was a real show of who we are,” said Stanway. “We dominated possession and created a lot. But we didn’t get it over the line as many times as we wanted to.
“After losing a [World Cup] final, it’s sometimes not motivating to turn up to training every day, but I think we hit the ground running.
“Everybody has been firing in training. We have Fran Kirby back, which is also a real highlight. I love playing with her, so it’s important to have numbers all over the pitch.”
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