Wiegman left 'frustrated' by lack of goals against Ghana

England head coach Sarina Wiegman saw her team bring a memorable year to a close with a 2-0 victory over Ghana in Southampton.

After a year which saw her team crowned as EURO champions in the summer, before enjoying three wins from four games in their Homecoming Tour in the last two camps, Wiegman will now be turning her attentions to the start of the new World Cup qualifying campaign in 2026.

And after an early goal from Lucia Kendall to set her team on the way before Alessia Russo doubled the advantage in second-half stoppage time, Wiegman was more typically honest by her concern at the lack of goals inbetween.

“I had hoped we would score more,” she admitted.

“I think if we had taken the chances better, we should have scored more so I was a little frustrated.

“Of course, we had lots of new players but you have to find these connections and I think if we scored earlier we would have added more.”

The game did bring one memorable moment though, as 21-year-old Kendall opened her Lionesses account at the stadium where she began her career with Southampton after growing up in nearby Winchester.

“It was a great moment - she celebrated like it was a Champions League final but good for her,” said Wiegman.

“When she played Australia last month she nearly had a goal and now she has that goal and it was just a brilliant moment.

“That’s what we needed today. We expected to be high on the pitch all the time so we want people to make those runs and get numbers in the box.

“We had some big opportunities but they were just on the wrong side of the post or on the crossbar.”

Facing a different style of opponent in an African nation also gave England some new tests and Wiegman was pleased to see her side stand up to those challenges.

“We knew they were organised and they played how we expected them to play,” she added.

“We also know that they wanted to play duels and they have some physicality, but when we dropped them deeper they started playing out and that looked good.”