Sarina Wiegman tells her England side we ‘can be so proud of ourselves’ after agonising World Cup final defeat by Spain, admitting it’s ‘hard to take’ but insists the Lionesses ‘gave everything’
- Sarina Wiegman outlined disappointment after her side’s defeat against Spain
- England’ boss insisted her team gave their all in World Cup final heartbreak
- READ: Lionesses suffer heartbreaking World Cup final defeat against Spain
England manager Sarina Wiegman admitted the hurt of losing Sunday’s World Cup final is hard to take but insisted her players should feel proud of their efforts.
The Lionesses’ dream was ended by Spain who came out on top with a 1-0 victory thanks to captain Olga Carmona’s first half strike.
‘It’s hard to take now and of course we did everything, we gave everything,’ an emotional Wiegman said. ‘We’ve overcome lots of challenges and we did everything we could to win.
‘That happens in sports but what we have done, how we have shown ourselves, who we are, how we want to play as a team, I think we can be so proud of ourselves.
‘It feels really bad, of course, and we’re very disappointed. We can be very proud of ourselves, though it doesn’t feel that way at this moment, that takes a little bit of time. The disappointment is the way you feel.’
Sarina Wiegman insisted England gave everything they had in their World Cup final defeat to Spain
England boss admitted that Spain had been the better side at the Stadium Australia on Sunday
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Wiegman has now lost back-to-back World Cup finals, with her Netherlands side beaten by the United States in 2019.
Asked whether her second final defeat was worse than the first, Wiegman replied: ‘I’m just hurt about this moment. ‘Losing a game and in a final, when you’re in a final you want to win it. This was a different game, a different team.
‘I was totally convinced before the game that it would be a very tight game but we were confident that we were able to win it.
‘Spain were just a little bit better than we were today and they had a great tournament.’
Wiegman believed England had the momentum when goalkeeper Mary Earps, who was awarded with the Golden Glove, saved a second half penalty from Jenni Hermoso.
‘They got the penalty and when Mary saved it I thought “okay, now we’re going to score a goal and get the 1-1”, but we didn’t.
‘Of course it was a crucial moment that she stopped that penalty and I actually thought we had the momentum, I was really convinced about that.
‘I think Mary’s performance has been really good, she has had crucial saves in lots of games in this World Cup and before that too.’
She added that she thought the momentum of the final had turned after Mary Earps’ penalty save
Wiegman compared her disappointment to leading the Netherlands to defeat in the 2019 final
Wiegman is contracted until Euro 2025 and said she hopes to reach another final with this team, but would not commit to whether she wanted to extend her stay to include the 2027 World Cup.
‘Four years is a long time. We have a very short turnaround but we’ll start in September with Scotland and the Netherlands in the Nations League to qualify for the Olympics. You want to improve all the time.
‘That’s what I see, this group of players are so eager to be successful so every next moment we want to grab and be better. Growth is one of the things that is really into this team.
‘I hope in the future I get a new moment with the team I work with, that would be amazing, because it’s very special to play finals.’
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