Sarina Wiegman: England have ‘protocols in place' to deal with Switzerland heat at Euro 2025

Yahoo

3 days ago

England head coach Sarina Wiegman says she does not envision the heatwave in Switzerland impacting her side's 2025 European Championship preparations but explained the Lionesses have the protocols in place to deal with the conditions.
Heat warnings are in place for the beginning of the tournament, with temperatures in Switzerland forecasted to rise to as high as 34C (93F).
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Weigman said the Lionesses had become accustomed to dealing with the high temperatures given England was in the middle of a heatwave before the team departed for Switzerland.
'Of course we have protocols in place, strategies, which players who have been around longer are familiar with that because they've played in circumstances like this — for other players, they get into it for the first time,' Wiegman told reporters on Wednesday.
'We could already practise it in the first week of our training camp because in England it was really hot too, so we have these cold vests, ice baths, ice drinks they can drink, before training sessions (and) they could also cool down a bit, get your temperature a little bit lower with Slush Puppies.
'We have ice cold towels so at rest moments in the training sessions they get the towels if they want. So we make sure we are hydrated. Take another rest, don't go in and out all the time, that is for recovery, and do those things to keep your body temperature low.'
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The team also have access to cryotherapy — sometimes referred to as 'cold therapy' — at their base in Zurich.
Substitutes were key throughout England's Euro 2022 success, with Alessia Russo often making an impact from the bench, while Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly both scored in the victory over Germany in the final after being introduced in the second half.
Wiegman said impacting the game would remain the primary reason for her substitutions at Euro 2025, not managing the conditions.
'What we do now is get prepared for Saturday, for France and we're going to do everything to win that game,' she added. 'When we sub we do it because it's necessary to change the game or to sub someone who gave everything that needs to go out, I will not think of managing the heat at that point. After that game, we recover and then we come together as a team with the medical, technical, how does everyone come out of this game and then we move forward to the next game against the Netherlands.'
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England trained at midday on Wednesday, with the temperature in Zurich around 29C (84F), but the Lionesses' group stage fixtures take place later in the day, with their opener against France kicking off at 9pm local time, before they face the Netherlands at 6pm, and Wales again at 9pm.
'We did (train at close to peak heat) today, I think it's cooling down over the next couple of days,' Wiegman added. 'We also know that we play (at) 9 o'clock, six o clock, nine o' clock in the group stage, so we don't expect it to be this hot. Today we didn't change the schedule.'
England begin their Euro 2025 campaign against France on Saturday.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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