England goalkeeper Mary Earps said her error during the Lionesses win over the Netherlands will haunt her for a long time.
Earps was at fault for the Dutch’s second goal at Wembley as she allowed a shot from Lineth Beerensteyn to squirm past her.
The Lionesses fought back from that to win 3-2, but they needed to defeat the Netherlands by a two-goal margin to have qualification for next summer’s Nations League semi-finals in their own hands.
England are level on points with the Dutch going into their final game against Scotland. They must beat them and hope the Netherlands slip up against Belgium or, if the Dutch win, the Lionesses have to better their victory by a three-goal margin.
Earps was visibly upset at the full-time whistle against Netherlands and afterwards took blame for the position England are now in.
“That will haunt me for a long time,” she said. “I’ve really let the team down today. I’m really gutted. It could have been a really special night at Wembley. The team were unbelievable. The way they moved the ball around, the tenacity, the girls were phenomenal.
“I thought the girls were unbelievable to comeback like that. The subs came on and impacted the game. I’m sorry my performance cost the girls like that.”
Wiegman consoled Earps after the game and insisted the goalkeeper should not shoulder the blame.
“I spoke to her very shortly and I don’t want her to talk like that, because you win as a team and you lose as a team,” said Wiegman. “Everyone makes mistakes and you know when something at the back happens, then it is very quickly a goal.
“But when something happens upfront and you make a mistake, then no will see. Either you score a goal or you don’t score a goal. That is part of the game.
“Of course, she (Earps) did not let the team down. I think you only let your team down when you don’t put any effort in the game - and we never don’t put any effort in the game.”
England head to Scotland on Tuesday for their final game and it is a must-win match, with the Lionesses knowing they must go on the attack to keep their Olympic dream alive.
“We need to win in Scotland, and now we really need to win,” said Wiegman. “We are dependent on the other game but if we want to progress we need a really good win by four goals I would say.
“We can control is playing well and winning that game. That is what we need to do first. We can't control what the others do.”
