England head coach Sarina Wiegman hailed the courage of forward Alessia Russo after she came off the bench to score a sensational goal in the Lionesses’ 4-0 victory over Sweden at Bramall Lane last night.
It was a special night for England with Wiegman’s side qualifying for the final of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. After overcoming a tricky opening half-hour, The Lionesses scored four goals against the top-ranked European nation with Russo’s back-heel being the pick of the bunch.
After the match in the post-match press conference, Wiegman heaped praise on Russo for her goal, hailing her courage for taking the shot on from an impossible position.
“She came on and impacted the game again very well,” Wiegman said. “It was a game where we got more and more control so that helped too.
“Fran (Kirby) came through and she had the cut-back, she (Russo) hit it first at the goalkeeper but you must have so much courage to do such an unpredictable and phenomenal thing like that, no-one could ever react on it.
“It was phenomenal, it was really nice to watch and of course, it was for 3-0 so it felt like the final nail in their coffin.”
After seeing off Sweden, the Lionesses must now prepare for what promises to be a huge occasion at the national stadium on Sunday. Wiegman went on to say that her team are already well-prepared for that one-off game.
She said “After the group stage, coming into the knockout stage, we already knew that if you don’t win, you’re out so we’ve already played finals (quarter-final and semi-final).
“We have managed those expectations and managed how we approach each game, remaining focused all of the time. We are not going to do anything different from that but now it’s the final and it’s going to be a full Wembley, that’s pretty amazing.”
England will face either Germany or France in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 final on Sunday.
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