KATHYRN BATTE: England banish Olympic demons in Spain as fresh faces and high-scoring wins help Sariana Wiegman’s team build confidence for Euro 2025 qualifiers
Boxes checked, questions answered, Olympic disappointment a distant memory.
The general image of the English warm weather camp in Marbella is one of success. They achieved two convincing wins over Austria and Italy, while Sarina Wiegman got the chance to see more players in new positions.
The level of opposition left a lot to be desired, but that was always going to be the case given the limited number of teams not involved in Nations League knockout matches or promotion/relegation play-offs.
England were in Spain having missed qualifying for the final stages of that tournament and thus this summer’s Olympic Games. But those demons were banished to the Costa del Sol. Now the focus is on the qualifiers for the 2025 European Championship in April.
“It (the camp) has given us the opportunity to rebuild the team and focus on the next tournament,” Lucy Bronze said.
England achieved convincing victories over Austria and Italy in their friendlies in Spain
Lucy Bronze believes the camp has given England the chance to rebuild for the European Championship qualifiers
Lauren Hemp scored twice as England beat Italy 5-1 in their second friendly on Tuesday
“I think we’re in a really good place. I think it was quite difficult after the World Cup, I think a lot of teams, Sweden and Spain for example, showed that it was difficult to pick themselves up and get going again in a tough competition.
“I think you’ve seen that we’re back into the rhythm of playing for England. I think we are also getting better, our playing style is improving and the players have better connections.
“In terms of where we are now, it’s quite exciting because I think we have a lot more that we can get better at, we know that, but we have to start from a better place than we started from two years ago are. (before Euro 2022) feels very good.’
The next Nations League campaign will serve as qualification for the European Championship and England will progress if they finish in the top two of their four-team group. If you finish lower, they go into the play-offs.
The Lionesses are guaranteed to draw one of the players from Spain, Germany, France or the Netherlands, having failed to finish top of their group last time.
Wiegman knows that England could face an even tougher group this time, but winning games builds confidence and she will be happy with her team’s position.
“I think it will be a difficult group again, because it is the Nations League setup and we saw in the autumn that you get very competitive matches,” said Wiegman.
“Winning helps (confidence), but it also helps that we’ve got a really good group, and we’ve got a really good group on and off the pitch, and we’ve got some depth, we’ve got some young players coming in.
‘On Friday we played with such a young team, but today (Tuesday) there were (also) a lot of young players on the field, so that gives us a good perspective for the future.
Grace Clinton was one of the English youngsters who made their first debut in Spain
England scored twelve goals in the two matches to boost confidence ahead of the European Championship qualifiers
Sarina Wiegman admitted that her team had been sloppy after conceding three despite their dominance
‘It gives us headaches to make choices for the next camp and to make choices for the starting line-up. But first let’s look at the draw and then of course there are a few weeks when players go back to clubs. Hopefully they come out of this well, and then we have to make some tough choices.”
While England scored 12 goals in the two matches, they also conceded three, which will be a mild concern for Wiegman as her team was so dominant.
The goal they conceded against Italy was the last kick before half-time, while the two Austrians who scored also came in the closing stages of each half.
“Of course I was disappointed (about Italy’s goal) because I thought I didn’t like the moment of that goal because it was the end of the first half and we started to play a bit sloppier,” Wiegman said.
“We had a sloppy moment before they scored the goal and another sloppy moment and then they scored that. We have to stick to our standards, that’s what we want to (do) and it was so unnecessary.”
England do not know who or where they will play next with the Nations League draw not taking place until March 5.
Wiegman has just under a month to prepare for the first of those qualifiers and the manager admitted this camp has caused her some selection headaches. That’s not a bad thing. England have achieved what they wanted here and will go into April’s confidence with the belief that they can pave the way for more history.