Sarina Wiegman said England’s World Cup semi-final against Australia was “probably going to be bigger than I imagined” after the Lionesses dug deep to come from behind and defeat Colombia.
The questions the Dutch manager faced after this win opened her eyes to the scale of the sporting rivalry between England and Australia, who last month finished women’s and men’s Ashes series – both drawn but with Australia retaining the Ashes in each. Wiegman’s only defeat in 37 matches in charge of England was in a friendly against Australia four months ago.
“It’s going be really big,” Wiegman said of Wednesday’s semi-final in Sydney. “But now I’ve had a couple of questions about that so it’s probably going to be bigger than I imagined now. I’ll talk to my players and staff and see what that rivalry is.
“We’ve had such a warm welcome and we’ve really enjoyed our time here in Australia. I really like the people here but that doesn’t mean there’s no rivalry. So we’ll see that Wednesday.”
This was preparation of sorts, the majority of the 75,784 crowd clad in Colombian yellow and with England greeted by boos. “It was a home game for Colombia,” she said. “We expect a similar crowd for Australia. That’s incredible. We are really looking forward to it. We know that it’s an away game. Let’s try to [use it as] an inspiration.”
Millie Bright indicated there would be no apprehension among the players after England reached the semi-finals for a third consecutive World Cup. “I don’t think you can’t look forward to that game,” the captain said.
“This is the biggest tournament in the women’s game to date so what a game to be a part of. We’re not just coming here to compete; we’re coming here to get the job done and we’ve shown that in our mentality and character in every single game.”
Wiegman said England would need to channel the resilience and togetherness they showed here to reach a first World Cup final. They produced a performance that displayed the experience they have accumulated.
After a strong start, England found themselves behind after a goal from Leicy Santos that sent the decibel levels soaring. Despite the crowd being against them, they recovered to equalise on the stroke of half-time through Lauren Hemp. Alessia Russo then produced a clinical finish after the break to send them through.
“It was a tough challenge but we didn’t expect anything else,” Wiegman told ITV. “We showed resilience again. We played pretty well in the first half – we wanted to find spaces and we did. At moments we were too sloppy on the ball, and they were really dangerous on the counterattack.
“I’m so proud of the team, how we found that score, winning those final duels. It was really good how we bounced back.”
Russo was delighted with her teammates’ response to adversity. “We’ve been put up against a lot this tournament,” she said. “We always find a way through. One of the strongest things about this team is that we never give up and we have such a good bond off the pitch. That’s important. When times are tough, we know we’ve got each other’s backs.”
The game ebbed and flowed, both sides having spells in control. Colombia matched the European champions at the end of an impressive campaign, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.
Wiegman said it was testament to the competitiveness and growth of the tournament. “This World Cup is incredibly challenging,” she said. “It went to 32 teams and you could not predict any score. The level of the women’s game has increased so much: the athleticism, how teams defend, the tactical things. It’s exciting to be part of and you have to perform at your best or at a very good level to get through.”
Hemp struck a positive note as she looked ahead to facing Australia. “It just makes it so much more exciting,” she said. “It’s going to be a packed stadium with so many Australian fans, but we know if we play at our best we are unstoppable.”
