England head coach Sarina Wiegman said that she was pleased with the resilience shown by her side in their 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Brazil in the 2023 Women’s Finalissima at Wembley last night.
The Lionesses established a 1-0 first half lead through an Ella Toone strike and they looked set to claim the trophy until an error from Mary Earps handed Andressa Alves the equaliser for Brazil in second half injury time. England picked themselves back up and they won the resulting penalty shootout 4-2 to claim the Women’s Finalissima trophy.
When speaking in the post-match press conference, England boss Wiegman hailed her side’s resilience after picking themselves up from that late equaliser.
“It was a very exciting night in the end,” Wiegman said. “It started with an incredible crowd and an incredible pitch too. It is an environment that we will never take for granted, it is just incredible to be a part of.
“I think first half, we played really well. They played a little different, in a different shape and they didn’t press enough on us, so we had a lot of possession, created a lot of chances and scored an incredible goal. I hoped that we would have scored more than one.
“Second half, they went back to 4-4-2, implemented a very high press and we were struggling. You saw two very different halves. We were struggling to get out of the press to keep the ball in position, so they became dangerous and sometimes, when we did get out of the press, we were offside and that didn’t help. At the end, we conceded a goal which can happen.
“The team did well to show resilience. That was done (the conceded goal), so we had to move forward, do a job and take the penalties as good as possible or stop them, that’s what we did.”
England were put under severe pressure by Brazil in periods in the second half and Wiegman went on to say that her side were given a good test of their character.
She said “We were challenged by a really high press, it was really aggressive and that’s what we need to be aware of; those moments and how we can get better. If you’re not challenged in those moments then it starts at the World Cup, it is difficult, so we needed that practice.
“Ahead of the game, we said that we hoped to be challenged in defence too or in transition moments and that’s what happened today.”
England are next in action on Tuesday evening when they face Australia in an international friendly at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford.