England Women World Cup spots still up for grabs in certain positions says manager Sarina Wiegman ahead of penultimate warm-up game with Portugal before Lionesses fly to Australia next week; England begin tournament against Haiti on July 22
Friday 30 June 2023 19:27, UK
Sarina Wiegman revealed spots are still up for grabs in her England line-up for their World Cup opener with Haiti, ahead of their warm-up game with Portugal this weekend.
The Lionesses host Portugal at Stadium MK on Saturday before jetting off down under early next week to acclimatise to the time difference before they begin their tournament on July 22.
A year ago in their victorious Euro 2022 campaign, Wiegman's starting XI was almost set in stone throughout the competition - but due to injuries, retirements and form things look markedly different in several positions in her squad with barely three weeks until their opener this time around.
"We're getting closer to knowing our starting XI, that's clear, but we're still trying out some things and in some positions I don't know what the starting line-up will be," she said ahead of Saturday's game.
"That's why we need these two games, but also it could be that it's not very clear what the starting XI is and then in the next game, we do another tactical choice and bring in another player - so it's not totally clear, but of course we're getting close.
"The team has changed a little bit since the Euros, and that's what always happens. There's some players who are not part of the team any more, some players who have come in, different experiences and different competition.
"In some positions there's really high competition, so we'll see what that gives me and our technical staff more options about who we want to play and at what moment we want to play them.
"We're still thinking about those last things, but we've started conversations about what the roles are, and some are not clear yet. Some will change from one minute to the next as some things happen."
England's only other warm-up game ahead of the World Cup is a behind-closed-doors game against Canada in Australia on July 14, leaving them with one fewer match to prepare for the tournament than before last year's Euros.
Wiegman admitted more friendlies would have been preferable ahead of the World Cup, but pointed to the logistical and physical restraints on her squad as to their limited build-up.
"I'm satisfied with this preparation," she said. "Of course, we would have liked to play a little more but this is the schedule we have, and you have to do what's best preparation-wise but also what fits into the schedule physiologically.
"We have to travel to the other side of the world which takes some adapting to - and then we go into the group stage. We're ready, and I think our training sessions also make us grow."
