Sarina Wiegman says England can be ‘very proud of ourselves’ and have ‘no regrets’ after devastating World Cup final loss to Spain – but admits their decisions ‘didn’t work’ and their opponents were ‘a little bit better’ ‘
- Sarina Wiegman admitted that England were second best against Spain
- However, she added that the lionesses could be very proud of themselves
- Olga Carmona’s goal was ultimately the only differentiator between the sides
Sarina Wiegman said England can walk away proud despite their World Cup dream being faded by Spain, but she admitted they were second best.
She added that they would have no regrets, even if some of the decisions they made on the day didn’t pay off.
Olga Carmona’s attack in the first half made hairs rise in a thrilling battle between two of the best teams around, with both in their first World Cup finals.
‘Especially (I feel) disappointment, because when you play a final, you want to win it. So yeah, that’s mostly how I feel, but I think Spain maybe played a little bit better than us in the end,” said Wiegman. ITV.
“I think we gave everything. In the first half we couldn’t push, so we went to 4-3-3 in the second half as we built momentum, but they continued to be a threat and the momentum came out of the game.
Sarina Wiegman admitted that England were second best, but still said she was proud of herself
She had lost her second World Cup final after falling on the last hurdle with the Netherlands against the US in 2019.
She said she was not sorry. ‘No. The players gave everything. I have to congratulate Spain, they played the best football of the entire tournament.
“Absolutely (we have pride). The way we took on each challenge we did great. No credits. You give everything and try to make the right choices, sometimes it works and today you don’t.’
Wiegman had a gigantic selection call to make prior to the game, from which eternal ‘what if’ questions will be drawn.
Lauren James, the star from earlier in the tournament, was available for selection again after serving a two-match red card ban against Nigeria – but Wiegman opted for Ella Toone, who scored in the semi-final against Australia.
At half-time, the England manager came on for both James and Chloe Kelly in place of Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly, switching from a 3-4-1-2 to a 4-3-3.
Wiegman made the call to let Lauren James out initially, but brought her in at halftime
Although their performance improved in the second half, it was not enough to make up for their first period deficit.
Wiegman told the BBCWhat I think we’ve done, how we’ve shown ourselves, who we are, how we want to play as a team, overcome so many challenges.
“I think we can be very proud of ourselves, but it doesn’t feel that way at the moment.
She opened up her emotions but kept a sense of perspective. “It feels really bad right now, very, very disappointing.
“You go to the final and you want to give it your all, you want to win the final and then you lose it – that happens in sport.”
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