A game of two halves, says Sarina Wiegman

Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman was given food for thought after England saw out 2024 on a high with a 1-0 win over Switzerland.

Wiegman’s side beat next year’s UEFA Women’s EUROs hosts at Bramall Lane, courtesy of Grace Clinton’s first-half strike which turned out to the match winner.

And the England boss especially enjoyed the first 45 minutes which she believed the Lionesses dominated after taking an early lead.

“I think we played a very good first half where we had rhythm,” she reflected. “We totally played on their half of the pitch, created chances and scored only one goal. We found spaces and overloads and pockets all the time and in the second half, we didn’t do that.

“We didn’t keep the ball as good and they pressed a bit higher too but we were more sloppy and didn’t find the spaces well enough and that was a hard half.”

However, she reiterated that England’s two recent internationals against the USA and Switzerland have been a learning curve for her players ahead of next year’s major tournament.

“We have played many players, we played different things and today the second half was a little different too,” she said.

“We are just trying out these things and to learn as much as possible for ourselves, of course, while still winning and I want to score more girls but we move on and in February we go again.”

After England’s goalless draw against the USA at Wembley, Wiegman emphasised that there were lessons her side could learn from the result and tonight’s victory over Switzerland has also given her plenty to take away as her players look to stake a claim for a place in the squad ahead of next summer.

“There are a lot of things that we have to improve,” she added. “But if you see how many players we played that got minutes and showed where they are, we tried some tactics and everyone is on board and they are making their plans to be selected for the EUROs as big as possible.”