England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that latest opponents Australia will present some big challenges when the two sides meet in an Alzheimer’s Society International at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford on Tuesday evening.
The Lionesses return to action following a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Brazil in the 2023 Women’s Finalissima at Wembley on Thursday evening. Australia were also in action before the weekend, the CommBank Matildas suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Scotland in Wimbledon.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, England head coach Wiegman said that she is not reading too much into Australia’s defeat on Friday and she expects some big challenges from the FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosts.
“Australia are playing well and have had some good results,” Wiegman said. “I think the game against Scotland doesn’t represent what they have done over the last few months.
“I think we will get some big challenges; they’re physical, direct and of course, they’ve got Sam Kerr upfront. It’s a little different than what Brazil did but it is still very challenging. They’re athletic too and they are committed to playing hard for Australia, so we expect a tough game.”
Australia will go into this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup as one of the favourites but Wiegman maintains her opinion that several nations have a chance of winning the tournament.
She said “I’m not focusing on what they do but they are the co-hosts and you always want to do really well at a World Cup. Even this game can give them an extra boost.
“I think they have a good team but I think there are many countries that are able to win a World Cup, so it is not so clear-cut. There are many favourites for this tournament.”
England’s Alzheimer’s Society International against Australia at the Gtech Community Stadium kicks-off at 7.45pm on Tuesday evening.
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