“We are in a very good place too and we’re ready to go” – Sarina Wiegman ahead of England’s clash with Sweden | OneFootball

England head coach Sarina Wiegman and right-back Lucy Bronze said that England are more than prepared for their quarter-final against Sweden tomorrow.

On team news, everyone is available. Jess Park did not train this morning due to a migraine, but she is feeling better and is said to be ready for the game, making the squad complete.

Wiegman said: “I expect a very competitive game where it’s very hard to predict the outcome. And of course they’ve had a very good group stage series, the three wins they had. But we are in a very good place too and we’re ready to go. So hopefully we can show that tomorrow.”

On Bronze’s role in the team, the defender said: “I like to attack. I also like to defend. I can do whatever roles ask from me, whether that’s from Sarina [Wiegman] or the players around me. We know the threat that Sweden has and obviously that’s a lot in my position. But at the same time, we’re a good team, we’re a top team. I think you don’t want to change too much because you want to give to the game what we’re good at. So we’re very much focused on our strengths and what we can bring to the game.”

In the camp, the English players have sat down together and talked about their why.

“My why has always been the same,” said Bronze. “I’m very fortunate that my family gets to follow me around and support me. I’m someone who’s based off of hard work and enjoying it. My why was that I just love working hard and I love the game. It’s as simple as that. I think sometimes when the media gets involved in everything around the game but I start playing football because I love it. That’s literally it. And when I loved it, I wanted to work hard. I had a picture of myself from, it was actually, I got to Sweden in 2019. I know I want all the girls to know that. That’s my why, is to give everything for this team because I just love playing for England so much.”

Over the last couple of days, there was a lot of talk about Wiegman’s side playing ‘Proper English Football’, she explained, “Proper English exhibits who we are and what we want to show and of course that has to do with our tactics, how we want to play but also our behaviours, how we want to support each other together, work really hard and of course play to our strengths too. So when we do that, I think the chance of winning is the highest.”

The defended also added: “I think we’ve never negated the tactics or anything else that comes with the game with the term ‘proper England.’ I think it was more the fact that we’ve said, again, we’re a new England, a new team. And what was meant by that was we had a lot of younger players and new players who have very different experiences of playing for England compared to the likes of myself, where we know that England used to have to dig deep all the time.

“2015 was the first time we beat Germany. That’s insane to think of right now. But England in the past, you have to dig out performances and you are maybe the underdog, you’re not the favourite. Whereas this England team has developed, football has changed. Obviously we’re a very talented team, with a lot of technical ability, tactics, all that comes in the game, but we don’t want to ever forget that we are England, we are proper England. and if push comes to shove, we can win a game by any means possible,” Bronze continued.

In one of yesterday’s press conferences, Chloe Kelly talked about the importance of the substitutes, the finishers of the game. The England boss agrees.

“Yeah, I think that’s very important because you can change in the game, you can bring players in the same position that have different attributes to the game. So you can change tactics a little bit, you can change combinations a bit but still keep the levels up and try to harm your opponent. So I think that’s key. And of course it’s key that they’re ready to come in and that’s what they are,” Wiegman said.

The quarterfinal takes place tomorrow at 21:00 GMT [20:00 BST] in Stadion Letzigrund in Zürich.