World Cup crunch time for Wiegman and the Lionesses

Sarina Wiegman is one of the best coaches in the world at figuring out a tactical problem, but even she has now wondered whether she got it right against Nigeria. After hours of analysis following the last-16 tie, the thinking has been that England should have gone to a back four.
It has influenced some of the approach ahead of today’s quarterfinal against Colombia. Wiegman and her staff are expecting a similar game, and another battle. The latter, like with Nigeria, is not to just reductively describe Colombia as a “physical” team – although that is precisely how England have been preparing. Wiegman has also been planning for the fine side the South Americans are, with special attention paid to star forward Linda Caicedo.
It is more how England are now into classic tournament football, even if it is far from the historic surge through Euro 2022. While that almost became free-wheeling at times, this has been a slog. Much of that has been down to injuries. Some of it has been down to the ultra-competitive nature of this World Cup, as best illustrated by Colombia’s group-stage defeat of Germany.
Wiegman has felt at times that every aspect of this tournament has been a fight, with a new problem seeming to follow every one that is solved. How else to describe Lauren James’s inexplicable decision that got her sent off against Nigeria, when it had seemed like she could seize the entire World Cup. She is considered fortunate to have got off with just a two-game ban, although the England squad obviously won’t consider that any kind of reprieve unless they actually make the final.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 12, 2023-Ausgabe von The Independent.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 12, 2023-Ausgabe von The Independent.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden

Accused tells triple murder trial she knew mushrooms may have ended up in meal
Erin Patterson, the Australian woman accused of killing her relatives with death cap mushrooms, admitted that she disposed of a food dehydrator after learning her lunch might have fatally poisoned her former in-laws.

War drums are beating - we need people marching along
The relentless beat of war drums within Nato gets louder by the day.

'I had a point to prove... as team leader, it's all on me'
It's been a long three weeks for Tom Pidcock at the Giro d'Italia but both he and his Q36.5 team broke new ground at one of cycling's most storied races, as he tells Flo Clifford

'Pandemic-ending' HIV jab at risk over Trump's aid cuts
The funding for 2 million people to receive the treatment is 'receding in the chaos' of the US president's decision, the doctor behind the trial of the drug tells Rachel Schraer

Israel 'prepared' to block Thunberg's Gaza aid ship
Israel has suggested that it will block a ship carrying activists including Greta Thunberg from delivering aid to Gaza.

Extra school meals to ‘lift 100k pupils from poverty'
An extra half a million children will benefit from a free meal every school day after the government announced a major expansion of the policy, which they said would lift 100,000 pupils out of poverty and put an extra £500 in parents' pockets.

BBC defends Rafah report after White House censure
The BBC has defended its coverage of the war in Gaza following criticism from the White House regarding its reporting of a recent incident in the region that left several dead.

Cuts on menu after Reeves holds firm on taxes pledge
Britain is facing cuts after Rachel Reeves doubled down on her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes to fund Labour's spending plans.

Teen 'snuffed out' in rapid sword attack, court hears
A man carried out a \"brutal string of attacks with murderous intent\" which left a 14-year-old schoolboy dead and five others injured during a series of unprovoked attacks, a court has heard.

FANTASY FOOTBALL
A bloated 2026 World Cup has been created to produce more content. But just like Disney, this means prioritising quantity over quality while the product suffers, writes Miguel Delaney