Wiegman keen for Lionesses to show levels in last moment in England | OneFootball

England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that she is hoping to see her side show their levels in their international friendly against Jamaica in Leicester this evening.

The Lionesses take on The Reggae Girlz in their final warm-up match before UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 gets underway.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, England boss Wiegman highlighted the fact that the game provides her side with a last opportunity to impress on home soil.

“The squad is in good shape, we’ve had two weeks to train which was really nice,” Wiegman said. “Some players came in a little later due to club competitions.

“This game is our last moment in England to show that we are ready and show how ready we are. We are really excited to play the last game before we go into the tournament. You just want to get good connections out of the team and show the levels that we have at the moment.”

Going on to discuss the challenge of Jamaica, Wiegman said that The Reggae Girlz will test England with their physical and direct style of play.

She said “In this period, it’s really hard to get opponents, so we had a list of potential opponents to play and Jamaica was one of them.

“I think they’re very physical. They’re missing a couple of players which is unfortunate because you like to play against the best players. I think they will challenge us physically, they have a pretty direct style of play, so we expect to have the ball a lot and that’s what we put a bit more emphasis on. Of course, you want to do well in every stage of the game.

“We need to be tight on the ball, calm on the ball and speed up when we need to speed up. We always want to create chances but we want to be really composed, making the right decisions with the right speeds in the final third.”

This evening’s fixture offers the England players a final chance to impress. Wiegman says that she is close to knowing her starting XI for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, although there are one or two questions to answer.

She said “Of course, you are trying to get closer and closer to your starting line-up [for the tournament]. I think the competition in the team is really high in every line which is really good. We also have different players in the lines that we have that can bring different things which is really good because we can change things and adapt to what’s needed tactically.

“We are close to [knowing] the starting line-up but we still have to figure out a couple of things. With a week to go, a lot can change in sport very quickly.”

England’s international friendly fixture against Jamaica takes place at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium at 5pm this evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.