England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that she is expecting an exciting match against Brazil when the two sides contest the 2023 Women’s Finalissima at Wembley this evening.
Following the success of the men’s Finalissima last summer, the inaugural women’s showpiece takes place this evening. The fixture sees the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 winners come up against the champions of South America.
Brazil head coach Pia Sundhage’s initial squad selection for the fixture contained just four players over the age of 30. Despite the somewhat youthful look to the team, England boss Wiegman expects Brazil to play with plenty of structure.
“Although, they have a young team and have less experience, they are a good football team,” Wiegman said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “They’re powerful, they have a lot of athleticism in their team, they are very tight on the ball and they’re very technical.
“Under Pia (Sundhage), they adopt a very recognisable structure. She has brought structure to the team when they needed it and we are excited to test ourselves against them to see where we are at.”
In addition to the Brazil fixture, England will also face Australia in an international friendly at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford on Tuesday evening. Wiegman says that these two fixtures will test her side defensively and may offer her some further points for consideration ahead of her final squad selection for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 in the summer.
She said “We are getting closer to the World Cup, so you want to get closer to your final squad but there are still two-and-a-half months to go, so lots of things can happen. There are lots of games both internationally and at club level.
“This moment, playing Brazil and Australia gives us a new measurement. We expect to be challenged more defensively than in the Arnold Clark Cup, so that gives us more information about our team and about where players are at this moment as we move forward.”
The 2023 Women’s Finalissima between England and Brazil kicks-off at 7.45pm. The fixture is a complete sell-out.
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