England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that she expects latest opponents the United States to show her side respect but they will not be fearful of the challenge.
The two sides meet at a sold-out Wembley Stadium to contest a blockbuster international friendly clash on Friday evening. The game sees the European champions face the World champions.
When speaking in an England press conference, Wiegman said that she hopes that England show no fear against the United States and that they role their confidence forward into the game.
“If there was (a fear factor), I hope so,” Wiegman said when discussing whether England’s fear of the United States has been eliminated by their recent successes.
“I think with the development of the team over the year and at the EUROs with the experiences that we got, I think we showed courage and really played with courage, to win and not to prevent mistakes. That’s what we want to do all of the time and that’s what we tell the players. That’s how we will approach the USA game too.
“We all know that it is a big opponent but Germany and Spain were big opponents too. We approach it the same way, playing to win, accepting mistakes and hopefully, we will bring our style of play.”
Looking at mentality from another angle, Wiegman said that she expects the United States to be excited to play England and that they will have no fear of taking on the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 champions on their own turf.
“I think they are excited too, I don’t think the Americans have fear,” she said. “They have seen how well we have done at the EUROs and I think they will respect us, that’s what we will do with them too.”
England return to Wembley on Friday for the first time since their UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 final success against Germany. Wiegman is looking forward to the Lionesses’ homecoming whilst commenting that the occasion can act as a good measurement of her side’s progress ahead of next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
She added “Playing the US, the number one in the world, with 90,000 people at Wembley is just such a big occasion. It is also another measurement for us of where we are at and that’s what we want. We want to compete with the best countries to see where we are at….we have shown that we are one of the best countries too of course.
“After that (game), you have 10 more months to figure out what we can do better (for the World Cup) and what we are doing really well.
“I am really looking forward to that match and so are so many other people.”
The international friendly fixture between England and the United States at Wembley kicks-off at 8pm on Friday evening.