.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=3840&quality=60)
Sarina Wiegman is the best manager in the international women's game today. No coach out there can compete with her track record, which was enhanced on Tuesday when she guided England to a third-successive major tournament final. In the last eight years, with the Netherlands and now the Lionesses, she has won two European Championship titles, reached two World Cup finals and, on Sunday, has another shot at continental glory at Euro 2025. If it wasn't for a quarter-final exit at the 2020 Olympic Games, we'd be talking about five successive major finals - and even with that uncharacteristically premature elimination in Japan, Wiegman's achievements remain exceptional.
Yet, she is not immune to criticism and, more than once at this tournament, England's mantra of 'In Sarina we trust' has certainly been tested. Last week, the Lionesses were 2-0 down with 11 minutes to play in their quarter-final against Sweden, only to somehow muster an incredible comeback that was completed in a nerve-ridden penalty shootout which, after 14 kicks, Wiegman's side won 3-2. Five days later, England pushed their luck again, with there less than two minutes of added time remaining when Michelle Agyemang equalised in the semi-final clash with Italy. Chloe Kelly would then book the Lionesses' place in the final with a winner in the penultimate minute of extra-time by converting the rebound of her saved penalty.
These wins have exhibited a lot of the incredible traits in this England team, those which have allowed them to enjoy such wonderful success under Wiegman. These players are resilient, they never give up and they are always able to find a way to win. That, after all, is what champions are all about. But there remains a feeling that Wiegman will not be able to lean on luck in Sunday's Euro 2025 final against Spain, and that she will have to showcase everything that makes her the best manager in the international women's game in order for England to retain their European title.
