Following their 3-1 win over Australia in the semi-final, England now head for FIFA Women’s World Cup glory as they go for the international ‘sweep’ of trophies, and to establish themselves as the greatest women’s team – for at least a generation. For the Lionesses boss, Sarina Wiegman, it could well be just another in a growing line of tournament success for someone whose seems simply ‘addicted’ to winning.
With football finally “coming home”, following their success in Euros ‘22, the ‘team spirit’, which shone through from the very first game in the Group stages, should have been a clue to what was to come. You see, despite questionable performances during those games, and, in many observers’ opinion, in the sudden knock-out stages, one thing that was always clear to see, and that was that there had a togetherness that, whether you have the best players, or the highest goal scorers and a unity that, in any sport, will always get you over the line.
Just think, a sell-out in a stadium that’s the other side of the world (for England), with pockets of hardy Lionesses fans and ex-pats drowned out by overwhelming numbers of Matildas fans in the Stadium Australia – who were all expecting – baying for, expecting a ‘Pommy bashing’, for Wiegman’s charges, they were simply clinical… Just Clinical!
Playing in their first World final, anyone watching the game would have had the feeling of inevitability, as far as the result was concerned, because, so far as they were concerned “In Wiegman We Trust” was/is their mantra. She, in turn, said that leading England to a first Women's World Cup final is a "fairytale".
And, for England fans, both at home and abroad, for beating the co-hosts in their back yard has already proved a waterstone in the women’s game today, and a huge lift-off for generations of young wannabes – both girls and boys – who will be, in the not-too-distant future, the new kings and queens of this beautiful game.
A physically and mentally drained winning captain, Millie Bright, said: "The mentality of this group is something I have never seen before. That comes through Sarina and the belief she gives us."
"We achieved the final, it's unbelievable," Wiegman said. And now for her, she has become the first coach to take two countries to the final of the tournament, having led the Netherlands to the 2019 showpiece. "The chance that, as a coach or as players, to make it to finals is really special - we made it to four already," she went on to say: “I never take anything for granted but it's like I'm living a fairytale or something.
England will be playing in their first football World Cup final since the men's side won the 1966 tournament as they face Spain on Sunday but, win or lose, they will always be “winners” for delivering everything every football fan has always wanted – to support and feel that they are all being part of their journey – and the Women are continuing to deliver in bucket loads!