On Sunday, August 20, at 1:00 p.m., the final of the World Cup between women’s teams will be held in Sydney, in which the teams of England and Spain will face each other. On the eve of the main game of the year, the focus is on the coaches.
England try to keep Sarina Wigman
After England beat Australia in the World Cup semi-finals, Sarina Wigman became the first coach in the history of women’s and men’s football to lead two different teams to the final of a tournament. In 2019, the Netherlands, under her direction, played with the United States in the World Cup final in France (lost 0-2), and this year Wigman will face Spain in the final at the head of the English team.
His teams were also leaders at the European Championships – the Netherlands taking gold in 2017, the British in 2022. If England can beat Spain on Sunday, Wigman will be the most successful manager in England history.
Sarina Wigman with the Euro 2022 Cup
Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Even before the end of the World Cup, the US women’s team showed interest in Wigman. After the sensational exit of the world champions in the 1/8 final, the head coach of the Americans, Vlatko Andonovski, was fired. The legendary former soccer player of the United States national team, Brandi Chastain, 55, said that in the future she would like to lead the national team as soon as she is ready, but so far she has described the ideal candidate for this position. :
“We need someone who is willing to take risks and who is able to treat players with respect. It’s about respect, it’s about the game, and it’s about the need to have a game plan and put players in positions where they can successfully prove themselves.
Wigman fits the description perfectly. But the English Football Federation quickly refused: “We will reject proposals to Sarina Wigman from rival countries.” And the federation’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said that in the future the Dutchwoman could also manage the England men’s team:
Why does the England manager have to be a man? I think our answer is: “he’s the best person for the job.” We think Sarina is doing an excellent job and we hope she will continue to do so for a long time. I think Sarina can do whatever he wants in football. If at some point in the future he decides that he wants to switch to men’s soccer, he will be very good. Do I think soccer lags behind other sports in terms of the lack of top-level female coaches? Yes, and I think that should change. Sarina is in charge of the women’s team and we think it is very important for him to do this job and he does it brilliantly. We don’t like it when they say that the men’s team is above that. I know it isn’t, but some people think it is. If and when we have an opening for a senior manager of a men’s or women’s team, we will choose the best person for this job, that is, someone who is capable of winning games, ”Bullingham is quoted by ESPN as saying.
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After the semi-final, the English fans, eager for their first championship since 1966, launched a “mantra” on social media – In Sarina we trust (“We believe in Sarina”). The coach herself, whose contract with the England team is signed until 2025, responded to rumors of sending her to other teams:
Sarah Wigman
England women’s head coach
“I am satisfied with my work and the way in which I am treated by the English Football Federation. I am preparing for the match against Spain. We really want to leave with the World Cup. I am very excited. But I have confidence in my team.”
Soccer players are also delighted with Wigman’s methods. Porter Mary Earps has said that her “life has changed with Sarina” and continues to call her a genius. Rachel Daly admitted after Euro 2022 that the England team was lucky to have a manager: “She’s incredible. She doesn’t acknowledge her successes, but you can see how she affects us. She is calm on the bench, on the limit, in the locker room, in training. We’re lucky to have her with us.”
England soccer players with Sarina Wigman
Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Spanish women’s football is booming. And the team wins despite the coach
Last year was the best moment in the history of women’s football in Spain. Since last summer, the Spaniards have become the winners of the MFM U20, the U19 team won the European Championship twice – in the Czech Republic and Belgium, and the youth team reached the Euro U17 final. Now the Spanish adult team has come close to the success of the youth team and for the first time in its history has passed the quarterfinal stage. And now it includes the best soccer player of the MFM last year, Salma Paraluelo, who can become a two-time current world champion (for the youth and adult teams), among other things.
Salma Paraluelo in MFM-2022
Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images
The success of the Spanish team in the 2023 World Cup is not surprising given the high level of players who dominate Europe even at club level. This season, Barcelona won the Champions League, and before the cruciate ligament injury, the former team captain Alexia Putellas was recognized as the best player in the world for two years in a row.
At the same time, the success of the Spanish national team is very surprising, due to the long conflict between the players and the coach Jorge Vilda. Last fall, Spanish footballers turned to the royal federation with a request to influence the work of the coaching staff. In the letter, the players pointed out that the coach had not led the team to a single trophy in seven years, since his methods did not correspond to the level of the players, the training sessions were ineffective and they spoke of a bad attitude, hypercontrol in field. training ground (supposedly, the coach could enter the room at night to check if the players are sleeping and keep an eye on what they buy at the shops) and Vilda’s abusive behavior in his direction.
Read more about the conflict and Spain’s great semi-final here:
The last 8 minutes of the semifinals of the 2023 World Cup in Russia are crazy. Spain will continue fighting for the trophy!
But Vilda’s career also had some interesting moments. Under her leadership, the Spanish youth team won the European Under-17 Championship twice, and she also took bronze and silver at the World Championship. She then led the youth team, which he led to silver medals at two consecutive Under-19 European Championships. In 2014, Vilda was among the top 10 nominees for the FIFA Coach of the Year award. And in 2015 he led the main Spanish team and became the first to take it to the World Cup.
Luis Rubiales, in the conflict between the players and the coach, supported Wilda, whose contract is valid until 2024. Some of the players who previously boycotted the team returned to play in the 2023 World Cup. Three of them maintained their decision, and Wilda intentionally did not call one of the “traitors” (for example, Barça’s starting goalkeeper Sandra Panjos was not included in the World Cup bid, but substitute goalkeeper Catalina Kohl was called). However, the atmosphere in the team has not changed: the media and users of social networks note that the players do not celebrate their victories with the coach and try to get away from him even in team photos.
The players of the Spanish women’s team walk away from the coach
PICTURED: ZAC GOODWIN/PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES
However, after Spain’s victory in the semifinals with Sweden, Rubiales assured that the team no longer remembers those who had complaints against the coach: “We are left with those who always wanted to be here, who appreciated the great work he did. grow up, and we have forgotten about people with grievances. He kept working and did not pay attention to those who wanted to destroy him. Faced with this statement, Reddit users reminded the head of the RFEF of all the mistakes of the past, from the orgies for money from the soccer federation to the sale of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia and the arbitration problems of the season. passed in LaLiga.
However, on Sunday, Spanish footballers can show that they are the best in the world, even despite the broken “riot” and the difficult relations with the coach and the royal football federation.
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