logo
Wiegman hints Williamson fit for England semi and says Carter ‘ready to perform'

Wiegman hints Williamson fit for England semi and says Carter ‘ready to perform'

Rhyl Journal2 days ago
There were concerns about centre-back Williamson's fitness after she rolled her ankle in extra time of Thursday's dramatic last-eight shoot-out victory over Sweden, but the Arsenal defender – alongside every other member of the squad – trained with the team on Monday morning.
Carter, in a statement shared to her accounts on several platforms on Sunday, said she would be 'taking a step back' from social media, while Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham confirmed his organisation has involved UK police.
Asked if she expected to have a full complement available for the semi in Geneva, England boss Wiegman said: 'That's what it looks like, yeah.'
Full focus 🫡 pic.twitter.com/N0l5yG8s0U
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 21, 2025
And pressed further on what Williamson's readiness push said about her skipper, the Dutch boss replied: 'It says she really wants to play, and she did everything to recover as good as possible, and she has, so she could be training today.
'When she recovers well, she's available tomorrow.'
England midfielder Georgia Stanway added: 'She's our captain. We would like her on the pitch as much as possible. She leads in communication and in performance, so to have her on the pitch is obviously what England need.'
Williamson and Carter have both started every game of England's European title defence in Switzerland.
On the abuse received by Carter, Wiegman said it was 'really sad that we have to be occupied by this. It's ridiculous. It's disgusting what's happening, and that goes beyond football, so we had to pay attention to that and support Jess.'
pic.twitter.com/ninkFpBqN6
— Jess Carter (@_JessCarter) July 20, 2025
Wiegman said she has had 'conversations' with Carter about her involvement in Tuesday's contest, adding: 'Although it's a hard situation, Jess is a very strong person, and she wants to move on, too, but she also felt, and so did we, that we had to address this.
'You can't just let it go. So she did, we did, and then we know that there's a match going on and we want to perform. We're ready to perform. She's ready to perform and compete, and that says a lot about her and about the team.'
The Lionesses have collectively decided to stop 'taking the knee' ahead of kick-off, a symbolic anti-racism gesture that has become increasingly widespread, explaining in a statement on Monday: 'It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism.'
Stanway said: 'I think it's just to change it up. We felt like the knee was just a little repetitive. We felt like it comes to a point where the knee isn't doing what we want it to do. So now our decision is to stand, and hopefully that will bring up more conversation and get (people) talking about the topic.'
👀 And then there were four 👀#WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/2Z9F0QXeda
— UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 19, 2025
England, fifth in the world, are eight places higher in FIFA's global rankings than Tuesday's opponents, and are unbeaten in all five of their recent meetings with Italy – all friendlies – with four wins, including last year's 5-1 victory.
But though statistics may be on the defending champions' side, Wiegman said: 'I think it would be really disrespectful to Italy to think that we're the favourites.
'Complacency is just the biggest mistake you could make. We've seen how they've played. I don't think there's anything that we could think that we might be the favourite, but we have to be at our very, very best to win the game.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

HAPs, warriors and power ponies: what to say about the Lionesses
HAPs, warriors and power ponies: what to say about the Lionesses

Times

time44 minutes ago

  • Times

HAPs, warriors and power ponies: what to say about the Lionesses

W ell, here we are again. England's women footballers are into the Euro 2025 final, their third consecutive major final, having knocked out Italy in a match that left the nation hiding behind the sofa, well after its bedtime. That followed a quarter-final against Sweden that ended in a penalty shoot-out and during which I chewed my nail varnish clean off. Some things never change in English football, then. But when it comes to the Lionesses there are new faces, more lucrative endorsement deals and weddings to report. At least our Dutch manager, Sarina Wiegman, still wears her trademark white T-shirts. So what do you need to know? Here's your guide to the team before Sunday's match. Chloe Kelly has been a household name since celebrating England's 2022 Euros win in her sports bra. But as recently as January the super-sub was considering giving it all up and in a 'dark place' after being left out of her Manchester City side and at risk of dropping out of the Lionesses due to a lack of regular match play. Thankfully, a successful loan to Arsenal — where the Londoner began her career aged 12 and with whom she signed permanently just three weeks ago — led to her securing her spot at the Euros.

England leave it very late but Euro 2025 final beckons: Football Weekly
England leave it very late but Euro 2025 final beckons: Football Weekly

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

England leave it very late but Euro 2025 final beckons: Football Weekly

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today: England were seconds from being knocked out of the Euros after another quite disappointing performance, but this is 'Proper England' and they'll be lining up against either Germany or Spain on Sunday in Basel. The panel ask how Sarina Wiegman's side have reached their third consecutive final and whether getting it launched will always be the answer. Elsewhere, an Arsenal contingent on the panel means there's talk of Viktor Gyökeres and who is in the very early running to be considered favourites for the Premier League title next season. Plus, someone with far too much time on their hands has rated our previews of last season and your questions answered. Buy tickets to Football Weekly LIVE in September here. Support the Guardian here. You can also find Football Weekly on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Rodgers issues stark Celtic reminder over 'domination' poser
Rodgers issues stark Celtic reminder over 'domination' poser

The National

timean hour ago

  • The National

Rodgers issues stark Celtic reminder over 'domination' poser

The Parkhead boss was quizzed on how his side have "dominated" domestically in recent years but rebuffed the suggestion. But Rodgers was quick to insist his side didn't seize a treble last season as he set out his demand to improve in the 2025/26 campaign. [[Celtic]] lifted the Scottish Premiership title and the League Cup trophy last season but lost on penalties to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden. Despite a trophy-laden spell for Celtic in recent years, Rodgers voiced his confidence that his side would improve this season both in domestic and European action. Read more: "As a football club, we aim to improve every single season," said Rodgers when quizzed on domination in Scottish football. "We didn't dominate last year, we won two out of three trophies. "But also being in Europe and making sure we are competitive and challenging at that level is very important for us, consistently not just one season. "We believe we can be even better this season on the domestic front and also we can take those experiences that we have had over these last couple of seasons into Europe where we aim to perform very, very well. "Celtic is a huge club. You can never stand still. It moves at a really, really fast speed and you need to move with it and that is all abotu improving, all about developing. "And for me as a coach it is developing players to be the best they can be and hopefully then we see that in the team format."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store