England manager speaks out as Scotland need to forfeit match for Olympic reward
Sarina Wiegman previews Scotland clash
England manager Sarina Wiegman has insisted Scotland will go all out for victory during their Nations League showdown on Tuesday night despite the fact Scottish players will end their own hopes of playing at next year’s Olympic Games if the result doesn’t go the way of the Lionesses. England are currently second in their Nations League group but are level on points with leaders the Netherlands ahead of the final round of matches.
England are the nominated qualifying team for Great Britain for the 2024 Olympics, with players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also eligible to represent the team. And Wiegman’s side need to reach the Nations League finals to keep alive Great Britain’s hopes of playing at the Paris Games.
To progress to the finals, England have to better the Netherlands’ result against Belgium in their final game. And that means Scotland could be the team to stop Great Britain playing at the Olympics.
That very fact has proven to be controversial, with some fans calling the integrity of Tuesday’s match and the Nations League as a whole into question. And ahead of the encounter, Wiegman explained: “I understand the conversations about it.
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“But if you have seen our group and if you have seen Scotland and if you know the history of Scotland vs England, then there is no way that they are going to give away this game. They really want to beat England and we want to beat them as well. There is such a rivalry.
“I don’t have the solution. This is the first time we have played the Nations League. How are you going to solve this situation? Maybe you don’t want them in the same group. But then if Scotland were top of the other group and we were top of [our] group and we go into the finals, you have the same situation. So this is not an easy solution.
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“It’s just about fair play, about football. And in football everyone wants to win and we know the rivalry between Scotland and England. So that’s the way it is right now. I’ve never been in a situation like this.”
England launched a stunning comeback in their penultimate match against the Netherlands on Friday night as they overturned a 2-0 half time deficit to win the contest 3-2. And Wieman added: “We know what we have to do [against Scotland] and so do the Netherlands and Belgium.
“We started the game on Friday really well. Then they scored and it hit us. But we are ready and focused. We want to keep the nil and go for the attack and when we do lose the ball, we have to win it back quickly.”
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