Coaching royalty Sarina Wiegman is aiming to lift the Women's World Cup on Sunday.
• Sarina Wiegman has led England to a maiden Women's World Cup final
• Coach took the Netherlands to the 2019 final in France
• Has won a staggering 18 of 19 major tournament games
• Sarina Wiegman is blazing a record-breaking trail across international management, and it doesn’t look set to end any time soon.
After winning England’s first major international tournament in the shape of the UEFA Women’s EURO in 2022, she is now eyeing her career’s greatest achievement.
.jpeg)
Wiegman: When you work with a team you want clarity
For Sarina Wiegman, this will be her second consecutive Women's World Cup final, and the England coach's philosophy of learning from each and every experience should hold the Lionesses in good stead.
"I'm trying to do my best every day and trying to become better myself," Wiegman said when she spoke to FIFA. "That's what I demand from players and from staff.
"We have a dream and we want to perform at our highest level, and we bring it back to [thinking] what do we have to do to play at our highest level? And then we have to just play well against everyone who is front of us."
After a successful playing career, in which Wiegman won a then-record 99 caps for the Netherlands, she swapped the pitch for the dugout with former club Ter Leede. There, she lifted the KNVB Cup before moving to ADO Den Haag where she enjoyed a successful eight-year spell.
Her transition to the Dutch national team came in early 2017, when Wiegman, following spells on the coaching staff and in interim charge, was handed the reins on a full-time basis just six months prior to the start of the UEFA Women’s EURO, which the Netherlands would host.
With just two victories to the nation’s name at the finals, and having suffered a crushing group-stage exit four years prior, not much was expected of the hosts prior to the tournament. Wiegman, though, thrives on altering perceptions and oversaw a six-game winning streak which included a dominant 2-0 win over Sweden and a 3-0 semi-final thumping of England, en route to a 4-2 victory against Denmark in the final - the nation’s first-ever major tournament success.
Wiegman was awarded the Best FIFA Women’s Coach title at that year’s FIFA Best Awards and would continue to defy the odds. After securing the Netherlands’ passage to just a second FIFA Women’s World Cup, the OranjeLeeuwinnen went all the way to the final with another perfect record. A hard-fought but ultimately disappointing 2-0 defeat to USA would, however, resign the Dutch to the silver medal.
The tournament propelled Wiegman’s stock to stratospheric heights, with her tournament expertise catching the eye of England and prompting the FA to make her the side’s first-ever permanent non-British manager to take charge in September 2021.
“She's a proven winner and we're confident she can take England to the next level, giving us the best possible opportunity of achieving our ambition to win a major tournament,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said of the appointment. It would be fair to say that, just shy of two years after taking charge, Wiegman has matched, and subsequently shattered, all previous targets.
Another home EURO triumph was duly achieved in 2022 when England swept all before them, including a historic 2-1 extra-time victory over Germany in the Wembley final. Not only did Wiegman become the first England coach to lift a major trophy, like she did with the Netherlands four years prior, she also became the first coach to win back-to-back Women’s EUROs.
The flying Dutchwoman has now soared into a second Women’s World Cup final Down Under, taking England to the showpiece event, where Spain lie in wait, for the very first time and the first coach to do so with two different national teams.
"The chance that, as a coach or as players, to make it to finals is really special - we made it to four already," Wiegman said following England's semi-final success over Australia.
"I never take anything for granted but it's like I'm living a fairy tale or something.”
Facts and figures
• In 2016, Wiegman became just the third Dutch female coach to earn her UEFA Pro License
• Later that year she became the first female to coach with a professional men’s side, as she became assistant at Sparta Rotterdam.
• It was announced in 2019 that a likeness of Wiegman would be added to Dutch Football Association statue garden - the first female to be awarded this honour.
• She is the first coach to win back-to-back UEFA Women's EUROs and the first to coach two sides to the FIFA Women's World Cup final
• Wiegman can boast a staggering 79% win rate as England boss. She has won 30 of her 38 games, while drawing seven and losing just once - a 2-0 friendly defeat to Australia in April.
.jpeg)
What they said about Wiegman
“She’s a phenomenal coach, she’s a genius. She doesn’t get enough credit, she’s great to play for and her knowledge about the game is a joke."
Rachel Daly, England forward
“She’s not bad is she? To have done it with her home nation must be something she’s incredibly proud of; to win the Euros back-to-back was astonishing. This tournament, she’s shown a different side to her, had to make changes, been the last woman standing. For a couple of rounds now, she’s had to roll her sleeves up a little bit, adapt the team. She's put in a lot of work this tournament to get us to the final, and her experience has really shown through.”
Lucy Bronze, England defender
"I’ve said it a million times and I’ll continue saying it, the mentality of this team is something I’ve never seen before. I think that comes from Sarina as well the belief she gives us. We can play many different ways, I think that’s the beauty of this squad."
Millie Bright, England captain
This Post first Appeared on FIFA.com
