Published 27 October 2023 2 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Sarina pleased with win as England beat Belgium
The Lionesses head coach was happy to see her team respond with a win in the UEFA Women's Nations League
MATCH CENTRE: ENGLAND - BELGIUM
England head coach Sarina Wiegman was pleased to see her team get back to winning ways, following the 1-0 victory over Belgium.
It took a first-half goal from Lauren Hemp to seal the victory for the Lionesses in the UEFA Women’s Nations League, on the back of last month’s reverse against the Netherlands.
And despite the narrow scoreline, Wiegman was satisfied with elements of the team’s performance to seal what could be an important result in the campaign.
“I think we are very happy with the win, especially after the last game,” said Wiegman.
“We played with a lot of energy, we wanted to dominate and we did. We wanted to score more goals than we did, because you can see they were very dangerous on the counter-attack.
“I think we started the game really well and with a lot of pace and then we dropped a little bit. Then we needed more balls behind and that is what we did after the break. Then our tempo dropped, and Belgium became more dangerous before they picked it up again.
It took a first-half goal from Lauren Hemp to seal the victory for the Lionesses in the UEFA Women’s Nations League, on the back of last month’s reverse against the Netherlands.
And despite the narrow scoreline, Wiegman was satisfied with elements of the team’s performance to seal what could be an important result in the campaign.
“I think we are very happy with the win, especially after the last game,” said Wiegman.
“We played with a lot of energy, we wanted to dominate and we did. We wanted to score more goals than we did, because you can see they were very dangerous on the counter-attack.
“I think we started the game really well and with a lot of pace and then we dropped a little bit. Then we needed more balls behind and that is what we did after the break. Then our tempo dropped, and Belgium became more dangerous before they picked it up again.
“But how we were on the pitch is how we wanted to play.”
Following the defeat against the Dutch, Wiegman and her staff had prepared the players for what they needed to improve on, against a Belgian team who remained a threat throughout with only one goal in it.
“Last time, we had games where we lost the ball in places we didn’t expect and we said to them tonight to be secure on the ball,” added Wiegman.
“And of course, we want to go forward and the higher on the pitch, we have to take more risks.
“The game is improving, you see Belgium and they were really tight and if you want to play high on the pitch you have to be really secure.
“We encourage the players to know that football is a game of mistakes and we have to keep trying, but we always know we want to do better.”
Wiegman and her squad will now face Belgium again in four days, when they head for the reverse fixture in Leuven.
Following the defeat against the Dutch, Wiegman and her staff had prepared the players for what they needed to improve on, against a Belgian team who remained a threat throughout with only one goal in it.
“Last time, we had games where we lost the ball in places we didn’t expect and we said to them tonight to be secure on the ball,” added Wiegman.
“And of course, we want to go forward and the higher on the pitch, we have to take more risks.
“The game is improving, you see Belgium and they were really tight and if you want to play high on the pitch you have to be really secure.
“We encourage the players to know that football is a game of mistakes and we have to keep trying, but we always know we want to do better.”
Wiegman and her squad will now face Belgium again in four days, when they head for the reverse fixture in Leuven.