Sarina Wiegman: England manager hopes record-breaking Euro result will make the nation proud | Football News

England coach Sarina Wiegman was delighted with both the result and the performance as her side blew away two-times European champions Norway on Monday night, scoring eight goals without reply, but was quick to keep her players’ feet on the ground.

The rout continues Wiegman’s hugely impressive record as England boss, with the Lionesses only failing to hit the target once in 16 unbeaten games under her stewardship.

She admitted that rewriting the record books with the European championship’s biggest-ever victory was not necessarily top of her priority list, but the Dutchwomen was nevertheless delighted with how one-sided the Norway contest was as England booked their place in the knockout rounds as Group A winners.

When asked what pleased her most, she replied: “The great win. But also the way we played and kept playing the way we did in the second half, we were already up 6-0 but we still kept the ball going. I did not expect to win 8-0, absolutely not.

“They changed their shape, but we had an answer for that too. I’m really happy with the performance of the whole team and happy to go into the next round.

“We hope they enjoyed and hope to make the nation proud. We’ve had two games now, we are trying to play our best game and today we did.

“We were 2-0 up pretty quickly. Then we got momentum so we could play the possession game, but they had a hard time getting pressure on the ball and we just had so much space to score goals. You could really tell that the players enjoyed it, the ones on the pitch and the ones that came on. We saw after the game that the whole team enjoyed it. It was very nice and we will stay grounded.”

Beth Mead’s hat-trick powered England’s ruthless goalscoring display, while Ellen White also registered two goals on a night where England’s margin of victory was written into continental history books.

Speaking on Mead’s contribution, having scored 18 times in 16 appearances under Wiegman, the manager added: “She shoots the ball between the posts and bar and does really well!

“We create chances and sometimes we want to be more ruthless, but Beth is really eager in front of goal. She has done really well. She’s had a good season with Arsenal too and she keeps having the form. It’s really nice.”

Asked if England have lay down a marker as one of the tournament’s most-fancied sides, Wiegman concluded: “We have seen some big scores, some very good matches so I don’t know. I’ve seen a couple of very good teams that can play high tempo, lots of power.

“So they might be impressed with this performance, but we’ve seen our opponents have done really well too, so we can expect some very good games coming soon.”

Eidevall: Mead exemplary forward

Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall hailed Beth Mead’s performance as the best by any wide player at Euro 2022 so far, after her hat-trick against Norway helped England secure a quarter-final spot.

In a rampant first half, Mead and White each scored a brace, while Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway also got on the scoresheet as the Lionesses ran riot at Amex Stadium.

Within 41 first-half minutes England had equalled the record for most goals scored by a team in a women’s Euro match and Eidevall, who manages Mead at club level, was full of praise.

“England played them to pieces,” he told the BBC. “Don’t take anything away from Beth Mead. It’s the best performance of a wide player at this tournament, and there have been plenty.

“I hope wide forwards are watching this on TV, this is what you need to do to score goals. England looked two or three levels above Norway. I expected an even game, but it was very impressive from England.”

Euro 2022: The groups…

Group A: England, Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland

Group B: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland

Group C: Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Switzerland

Group D: France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland

Euro 2022: The schedule…

Group stage

Wednesday July 6

Group A: England 1-0 Austria

Thursday July 7

Group A: Norway 4-1 Northern Ireland

Friday July 8

Group B: Spain 4-1 Finland

Group B: Germany 4-0 Denmark

Saturday July 9

Group C: Portugal 2-2 Switzerland

Group C: Netherlands 1-1 Sweden

Sunday July 10

Group D: Belgium 1-1 Iceland

Group D: France 5-1 Italy

Monday July 11

Group A: Austria 2-0 Northern Ireland

Group A: England 8-0 Norway

Tuesday July 12

Group B: Denmark vs Finland – kick-off 5pm, Stadium MK

Group B: Germany vs Spain – kick-off 8pm, London Community Stadium

Wednesday July 13

Group C: Sweden vs Switzerland – kick-off 5pm, Bramall Lane

Group C: Netherlands v Portugal – kick-off 8pm, Leigh Sports Village

Thursday July 14

Group D: Italy vs Iceland – kick-off 5pm, Manchester City Academy Stadium

Group D: France vs Belgium – kick-off 8pm, New York Stadium

Friday July 15

Group A: Northern Ireland v England – kick-off 8pm, St Mary’s

Group A: Austria vs Norway – kick-off 8pm, Brighton and Hove Community Stadium

Saturday July 16

Group B: Finland vs Germany – kick-off 8pm, Stadium MK

Group B: Denmark vs Spain – kick-off 8pm, London Community Stadium

Sunday July 17

Group C: Switzerland vs Netherlands – kick-off 5pm, Bramall Lane

Group C: Sweden vs Portugal – kick-off 5pm, Leigh Sports Village

Monday July 18

Group D: Iceland vs France – kick-off 8pm, New York Stadium

Group D: Italy vs Belgium – kick-off 8pm, Manchester City Academy Stadium

Knockout phase

Quarter-finals

Wednesday July 20

Quarter-final 1: Winners Group A v Runners-up Group B – kick-off 8pm, Brighton and Hove Community Stadium

Thursday July 21

Quarter-final 2: Winners Group B v Runners-up Group A – kick-off 8pm, London Community Stadium

Friday July 22

Quarter-final 3: Winners Group C v Runners-up Group D – kick-off 8pm, Leigh Sports Village

Quarter-final 4: Winners Group D v Runners-up Group C – kick-off 8pm, New York Stadium

Semi-finals

Tuesday July 26

Semi-final 1: Winners quarter-final 1 v Winners quarter-final 3 – kick-off 8pm, Bramall Lane

Wednesday July 27

Semi-final 2: Winners quarter-final 2 v Winners quarter-final 4 – kick-off 8pm, Stadium MK

Final

Sunday July 31

Winners semi-final 1 v Winners semi-final 2 – kick-off 5pm, Wembley