Karen Carney: Lionesses legend on why England can win Euro 2025 | OneFootball

Karen Carney speaks exclusively with 90min about why she believes England has what it takes to successfully defend their title at Euro 2025 next summer.

The Lionesses will travel to Switzerland next July with the hopes of creating even more history after being crowned European champions for the first time at Wembley Stadium in 2022.

Sarina Wiegman had her last chance to test her talented options in England's last international break, which saw them draw 0-0 with the USA and beat Switzerland 1-0.

"I thought in the USA game, I was pleased with our clean sheet," said Carney. "Coming off the back of the last few games I've been vocal on our defensive fragilities and I wanted to see a bit more of a tactical change. That absolutely happened, we got a clean sheet."

"I'm sure Sarina will be pleased, a clean sheet against the current Olympic champions and then getting a result against Switzerland was a win. I think they'll sign off the calendar year and learn lessons from it. They will look forward to 2025. You always come back more refreshed after a break, and now we've got a couple of months to get ready for the Euros, so I'm looking forward to it."

The Lionesses appeared far more defensively sound across the two friendlies, but struggled to look threatening going forward in the absence of both Lauren Hemp and Lauren James.

England won Euro 2022 / FRANCK FIFE/GettyImages

"It was a little bit at a detriment to our attacking play, but sometimes that naturally happens. There wasn't solely a focus on the defensive side of the game, but there clearly was an emphasis. Once we get the two Laurens back that will add a little bit more of a dimension," Carney added.

"In the second game though, you can't solely rely on those two players coming back, you've got to try test a few other players. I thought it was a difficult game for our younger Lionesses, because it was a deep block. From my own experience, they are the most difficult games to play because you have to dig deep into your own experience of how to break a team down. If it's your first cap, or the early stage of your career, that can be a bit challenging.

"This is a talented group, and we've got experience in there," Carney expressed. "I think it will be tough, but we've won the women's Euros, we've been to the women's World Cup final, this is an experienced group and they know how to do it. I'm looking forward to it."