Archive June 5, 2025

England manager Sarina Wiegman says her team’s build-up to Euro 2025 “doesn’t feel like a crisis at all” despite a chaotic 10 days which has seen three high-profile senior players either retire from international football or withdraw from the tournament.

Wiegman named a 23-player squad on Thursday for the tournament in Switzerland, which starts on 2 July, where England are defending champions.

She will be without goalkeeper Mary Earps and midfielder Fran Kirby, who have both retired from international football, while defender Millie Bright, who captained the side to the World Cup final in 2023, withdrew from selection to focus on her mental and physical wellbeing.

The loss of three players who have won a combined 217 caps in such a sort time has led to a potentially unsettling period for the Lionesses – and distractions off the pitch dominated discussions at the end of their Women’s Nations League campaign this week.

But Wiegman says she is happy with the atmosphere inside the England camp.

“You [the media] see part of it, you are not in our environment all the time and I can ensure that the training sessions were really good last week,” said the Dutchwoman.

“I didn’t see anything [to suggest] that there were no connections within the team. I am really happy [with] where we are right now.”

Wiegman had to address issues around player’s performance-related bonuses in the build-up to the World Cup and there was also heavy scrutiny on her decision to omit former captain Steph Houghton from the Euro 2022 squad in her first year in charge.

“My experiences before is that there is always noise. We expect noise until we go into the tournament,” said Wiegman.

“The difference is, between 2015 and 2017 to now, is that the attention and visibility of the women’s game has increased so much.

Wiegman said she was feeling “good” despite it being a week full of difficult decisions and conversations.

Kirby’s retirement followed Wiegman’s decision not to include her in the Euros squad, while goalkeeper Earps was unhappy at her position as number two.

Wiegman said it is “part of the job” to endure those experiences but she can “move forward” to the Euros now.

“Yes, those hard conversations are not nice. I know what players do and how hard they work to make the squad. It’s hard to give disappointing messages,” she added.

“At the same time, I also had very nice messages to give so that gives me more energy.

“After I have conversations with players, I always think, ‘OK, what went well?’ For me, it is really important that I am honest, that I treat people in the right way.

“Sometimes, you have very good news and, sometimes, you don’t have good news – and I don’t go around the bush with that.

“I just give that message, then I can’t always control how people respond to that. I just hope that they have the clarity to move on.”

Wiegman also said part of the growth of women’s football, and the success of the Lionesses, has added increased demands on her players.

Bright’s withdrawal has been a blow for England as Wiegman said the Chelsea captain would have been selected had she not ruled herself out.

Asked when she was made aware of Bright’s decision, she said: “In the last couple of days I found out. It was sad and disappointing.

“It’s not nice when you don’t feel well physically and mentally and I just hope she feels better soon.

“England’s profile is growing. That’s life changing and very exciting but at the same time players are not robots. They have to deal with these things too.

In a two-up sprint finish, Kim le Court won the Tour of Britain Women’s first stage.

With 30 kilometers left, the pair attacked and fought off the chasing pack before resuming their assault.

With just over 200 meters left, Mauritian Le Court, 29, outsmarted the American Olympic road race champion to the finish line.

British riders Cat Ferguson and Millie Couzens finished fifth and sixth, while Lorena Wiebes finished third and five seconds behind.

Lizzie Deignan, a two-time champion, finished 20th overall before retiring from racing in the final race in the United States.

An 81.5km stage between Dalby Forest and Redcar on the Tour of Britain Women stage in North Yorkshire started with.

Le Court launched her attack at the bottom of Langburn’s Bank, where the riders were confronted by Faulkner and Blakey Ridge, with Faulkner leading the way.

With 28 kilometers to go, FDJ-Suez and Movistar led the pack in the lead pair’s direction, with FDJ-Suez and Movistar leading the charge from a reduced group that was 34 seconds ahead.

With 15 kilometers left, Faulkner almost lost the race, avoiding a traffic island only to have a corner to go.

Le Court and Le Court continued their break until the finish line before winning the sprint to take the leader’s jersey.