'Incredible response' - England boss Sarina Wiegman praises Lionesses after Netherlands thrashing at Euro 2025
Published 09/07/2025 at 21:17 GMT+1
England significantly boosted their chances of advancing from the group stages at Euro 2025 with a 4-0 drubbing of the Netherlands, and Sarina Wiegman was effusive in her praise of her players. It was a must-win match for the Lionesses, after defeat to France in their opener, and they produced under pressure, with Lauren James starring in a dominant victory.
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Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman praised her side's "incredible response" after they bounced back from an opening game defeat at Euro 2025 to thrash the Netherlands 4-0.
A brace from Lauren James and goals from Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone gave England an emphatic win in Zurich and took them to second place in Group D.
And Wiegman lauded England's ability to shrug off their loss to France.
"The response of the team, after the France game [impressed me most]," she told BBC Sport.
"How we came together, how we played down the pitch and, of course, I'm very happy with the score because that's a massive help because goal difference can make the difference.
"Also, the days into this game, how we looked at each other's eyes and said 'OK, what do we do?' and execution of the game plan. I think that really helped.
"I thought the Netherlands were struggling to keep up the level. We just did really well. I'm really proud of the team. We aren't there yet but this is an incredible response."
England were aggressive from the start against the Dutch and led 2-0 at the break thanks to a ferocious strike from James and a long-range effort from Stanway.
James added another goal after the break, before Toone completed the scoring, and Wiegman admitted she was surprised by the scoreline.
"I would not expect 4-0. Absolutely not," she said.
"First of all, of course you want to win, and if you can win with more than two goals then you know you're almost in the best position going into the Wales game. It's all very good tonight.
"It did look like a more balanced team. It's also that you play a totally different opponent who wants to be on the ball too. I think the France and Netherlands games are hard to compare but today, at least, it looked like a balanced team.
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"We talked about playing at our best, the game plan, how we can exploit spaces and how we can win the game.
"Of course, right before half-time you could feel that [the Netherlands] were struggling and we really wanted to get the second goal. That's easier said than done. But that was very good for us at half-time to go in 2-0."
James added: "I enjoyed it a lot. The goals say it all. We bounced back from our previous game and today we showed we're more than capable of showing the world what we can do.
"I just try to do my best each game. Hopefully, as the games go on, I keep getting more involved."
England face Wales in their final group match in St. Gallen on Sunday, as they look to book their place in the knockout stages of the tournament.
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