Published 31 May 2024 4 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Wiegman left frustrated after France defeat
The England women's head coach felt her team were worthy of more from their 2-1 loss to France in Newcastle
MATCH CENTRE: ENGLAND v FRANCE
England boss Sarina Wiegman was left frustrated by her team’s defeat to France on Friday evening, after seeing the Lionesses lose 2-1 at St. James’ Park.
Wiegman’s side had overcome a rocky start to the game, which saw goalkeeper Mary Earps substituted after an early injury, before Beth Mead slotted England ahead.
But when France equalised via Elisa De Almeida’s stunning volley from a corner just before the break, they went on to find a winner from Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s well-executed finish.
“It’s frustrating, because I think we played pretty well,” said Wiegman, who was overseeing her 50th game as England head coach. "I’m really disappointed because this is a very unnecessary loss.
“I thought we played well in the big moments of the game and we created many chances and could have scored more than one.
“We conceded two goals from set plays, from which we have to do better. In these matches you don't get too many chances, in the first half we created multiple chances and we scored one.
“In the second half we were dangerous, the final pass needed to be better but we controlled most of the game and they weren't that dangerous, except for the corner.
“I'm really disappointed about that because I think we can do better than that and it was unnecessary. In the end we tried to force a goal, but the execution didn't go well enough."
Wiegman’s side had overcome a rocky start to the game, which saw goalkeeper Mary Earps substituted after an early injury, before Beth Mead slotted England ahead.
But when France equalised via Elisa De Almeida’s stunning volley from a corner just before the break, they went on to find a winner from Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s well-executed finish.
“It’s frustrating, because I think we played pretty well,” said Wiegman, who was overseeing her 50th game as England head coach. "I’m really disappointed because this is a very unnecessary loss.
“I thought we played well in the big moments of the game and we created many chances and could have scored more than one.
“We conceded two goals from set plays, from which we have to do better. In these matches you don't get too many chances, in the first half we created multiple chances and we scored one.
“In the second half we were dangerous, the final pass needed to be better but we controlled most of the game and they weren't that dangerous, except for the corner.
“I'm really disappointed about that because I think we can do better than that and it was unnecessary. In the end we tried to force a goal, but the execution didn't go well enough."
Wiegman and her players won’t have long to wait before looking to make amends, as they head straight to Saint-Etienne for the return fixture against Herve Renard’s team on Tuesday evening.
And the Lionesses boss knows it’s an opportunity to try and get their EURO qualifying campaign back up and running.
"We're going to recover, review the game then we get ready for Tuesday,” she explained. This is disappointing, then tomorrow it's done and we continue to Tuesday and a new chance to play a good game and win a game.
"We have to win out in France if we want to be in a good position in July. Today, we wanted to go and win and most of the time we played well. As a team and in defence we did pretty good.
“We'll review tomorrow. We're very disappointed now, that is very clear because really we all feel it was very unnecessary but then we'll move onto Tuesday."
And the Lionesses boss knows it’s an opportunity to try and get their EURO qualifying campaign back up and running.
"We're going to recover, review the game then we get ready for Tuesday,” she explained. This is disappointing, then tomorrow it's done and we continue to Tuesday and a new chance to play a good game and win a game.
"We have to win out in France if we want to be in a good position in July. Today, we wanted to go and win and most of the time we played well. As a team and in defence we did pretty good.
“We'll review tomorrow. We're very disappointed now, that is very clear because really we all feel it was very unnecessary but then we'll move onto Tuesday."