Sarina Wiegman: England are ready to ‘write history’ in Euro 2022 final this Sunday | Football News

Sarina Weigman says England are ready to rewrite the history books after the Euro 2022 hosts powered past Sweden 4-0 at Bramall Lane to reach their first major final since 2009.

Goals from Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby sent the Lionesses soaring into Sunday’s final against either France or Germany – who play on Wednesday evening.

And beating Sweden, the side who sit second in FIFA rankings behind world champions the United States, sends a message to all the other countries, according to the England boss.

“I haven’t been in the dressing room, but I think they had a little break,” Wiegman began, smiling. “They are singing, the music is on and dancing. We’re happy to make the final, we’ll have a little celebration then tomorrow, we will focus on the final.

“We said before the tournament and throughout that we want to inspire the nation, I think that’s what we’re doing and making a difference. The whole country is proud of us and even more girls and boys will want to play football.

“We have confidence in this team, our players stay calm and stick with the plan. We spoke about scenarios and sometimes things go well and sometimes things don’t. We can count on each other and our task and then come back into the team.”

Asked specifically if the footballing world is taking notice of England’s achievements, she added: “Yes, I think so. We said we’re ready to write history and this is it.”

Sunday will represent England’s third appearance in the competition’s final after the runners-up finishes of 13 years ago – when they suffered a 6-2 loss to Germany – and at the inaugural Euros in 1984, which saw them beaten on penalties by Sweden.

Triumphing on Sunday would also mean back-to-back Euros successes for Wiegman, who, after overseeing her native Netherlands winning the 2017 edition on home soil, has had an England tenure that remains unbeaten after 19 matches.

“When you come in, you hope things will go well and you connect with the staff, the FA and then the players and it all works,” she reflected.

“From the beginning, there was a click and you can tell. It takes hard work too, but you feel the energy and people believe in how we want to work. We ask players how they feel and their experience.

“The results have been good and very nice. We made it to the final but we know how tight the game against Spain was. It’s nice and I hope we can do it even better on Sunday.”

Wiegman again kept faith in the XI that had started each of England’s four previous matches, but was directly questioned on Russo’s contribution after another standout display: “She came on and impacted the game again very well. She had so much courage to do such an unpredictable and phenomenal thing like that. It was nice to watch, then it was 3-0 and we wanted to finish the game…She could start, but I think the starting team that has started has done well too. We’ll see how we go from here.”

Gerhardsson: England ‘really talented’

Sweden head coach Peter Gerhardsson said: “I can’t give analysis but I can give emotions. It’s tough, naturally. In the first 25 minutes I thought we had chances, even though England did too.

“We had the more dangerous chances to score first. It would have given the game a different outlook. Going 2-0 down from a set-piece early in the second half against a difficult opponent like England is going to be tough. Then going to 3-0 and 4-0 doesn’t make it any easier.

“We were playing a really talented team and when you face that sort of opponent you need to take your chances. We matched them physically but there are various reasons why it went the way it did in the second half.”

England reach Euro 2022 final | Russo’s audacious brilliance | How the Lionesses saw off Sweden challenge

Charlotte Marsh and Anton Toloui are back after another huge night for England, who beat Sweden 4-0 to reach the Euro 2022 final at Wembley.

The pair take a look back at just how England recovered from a nervous start to sweep Sweden aside, including a sensational goal from Alessia Russo. Plus, they look at where it went wrong for the Swedes.

Anton also chats to Russo, Beth Mead, Ellen White and Sweden’s Magdalena Eriksson to get their reaction to the semi-final.

The knock-out phase…

Quarter-finals

Wednesday July 20

Quarter-final 1: England 2-1 Spain (AET)

Thursday July 21

Quarter-final 2: Germany 2-0 Austria

Friday July 22

Quarter-final 3: Sweden 1-0 Belgium

Saturday July 23

Quarter-final 4: France 1-0 Netherlands (AET)

Semi-finals

Tuesday July 26

Semi-final 1: England 4-0 Sweden

Wednesday July 27

Semi-final 2: Germany vs France – kick-off 8pm, Stadium MK

Final

Sunday July 31

England v France or Germany – kick-off 5pm, Wembley

Follow Euro 2022 across Sky Sports

Sky Sports News and Sky Sports’ digital platforms will be following every step of England’s Euro 2022 journey ahead of Sunday’s final at Wembley Stadium.

On the road, the Sky Sports News Mobile Presentation bus will continue to bring you all the best guests and analysis from the likes of Karen Carney, Sue Smith, Courtney Sweetman-Kirk and Laura Bassett offering their expert insight. The bus will depart Sheffield and then head to Wembley for the final.

Across SkySports.com, the Sky Sports App and on social media, we’ll have all the big moments covered with our previews, features, reports, analysis, plus the the Sky Sports Women’s Euros podcast with Sky Sports’ senior football journalist Charlotte Marsh and Sky Sports News reporter Anton Toloui.

And if you’re new to the England squad, don’t worry – here’s our guide to meeting the Lionesses.

As well as England, Sky Sports News and Sky Sports digital will also be covering all the knockout games as we head towards the showpiece final on July 31.