England coach Wegman before the semi-finals: “It’s going to be really big”

Sarina Wegman is still missing two victories in the big coup: world champion and European champion with a personal union between English footballers. At the World Cup, the coach of the national championships can crown her already stellar career with the title.

“It’s going to be really big,” Wegman said before the semi-final match against the jubilant Australian national team. “It’s probably bigger than I can imagine now.”

The “mastermind” dubbed the Dutch 104 times National Player, Sports Coach and mother of two by The Independent. Only 12 of the 32 World Cup teams in Australia and New Zealand have traveled with a woman as head coach. Wegman was the only semi-finalist on Wednesday (12:00pm CEST/ARD) in Sydney.

Of course, the three-time “world coach of the year” has an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat awaits the English women. In the 37 caps since taking charge, Wiegmann has lost only one match. The Matildas have enjoyed a wave of World Cup excitement on home soil since their quarter-final penalty shootout victory over France. “We had such a warm welcome and really enjoyed our time here in Australia,” Wegman says.

In a 2-1 win over Colombia in the quarter-finals, the England team had a boisterous South American fan base against them. We expect a similar background against Australia. “We’re really looking forward to it,” Wegman says.

“We know it’s an away game. Let’s try to take it as inspiration.”

Wiegman always has the big picture in mind. “I hope there will be more coaches in the future.” This is what the Dutch says, for her “more than just football. We want to win, but through football you can make small changes in society and that’s what we hope.”

By the way, coach Gil Ellis won the last two World Cup titles in Canada in 2015 and France in 2019 with the US national team. Despite the rapid development, daily life in the countries participating in the World Cup looks more like in Germany. Teresa Merck of FC Freiburg is the only woman to hold the position of coach in the new Bundesliga season.