Sarina Wiegman hails debutant Lucia Kendall but fears worst as Michelle Agyemang stretchered off in England's 3-0 win over Australia
Updated 28/10/2025 at 23:01 GMT
Sarina Wiegman was full of praise for midfielder Lucia Kendall but admitted the injury to Michelle Agyemang "looked horrible" as England thumped Australia 3-0 at Pride Park. Kendall was awarded Player of the Match on her England debut as The Lionesses eased to victory thanks to goals from Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway, but there was concern when Agyemang was stretchered off.
Lucia Kendall was awarded player of the match on debut for England.
Image credit: Getty Images
Sarina Wiegman praised midfielder Lucia Kendall but admitted the injury to Michelle Agyemang "looks bad" as England thumped Australia 3-0 at Pride Park.
Kendall was included for the first time by Wiegman and put in an impressively assured display in the heart of midfield for England.
She was awarded Player of the Match as England made light work of the 10-player Matildas, following Alanna Kennedy's sending off after 19 minutes.
Aggie Beever-Jones and Lucy Bronze gave England a healthy 2-0 half-time lead in the friendly, before Georgia Stanway topped off the performance with a late penalty.
Ten minutes from time though, Michelle Agyemang went down with what appeared to be a knee injury, before being stretchered off, in what was a serious dampener on an otherwise perfect night for Wiegman.
The Dutch manager could not provide much of an update on Agyemang yet, but did not believe there would be positive news.
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Michelle Agyemang had to be stretchered off with what appears to be a serious knee injury.
Image credit: Getty Images
"I haven’t been inside yet, but of course that looked horrible," she told ITV Sport.
"When you are stretchered off, that is not nice anyway, but that does not look good.
"It is of course not confirmed, but it looks bad."
Kendall has been a revelation for Aston Villa in the Women's Super League this season and caught the eye of Wiegman and her coaching staff.
She was one of two players, alongside Arsenal defender Taylor Hinds, to make their Lionesses debut, and she did so in style, commanding the match on and off the ball.
It was a performance that impressed nobody more so than Wiegman herself.
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"I think she did really well," the England manager said.
"She has impressed me and my staff since the start of the competition with Aston Villa, and she also did really well in the training session.
"She picks up really good positions, but she reads the game really well, she understands things and that just comes with her and she keeps things really simple, but that is not always easy.
"She is very young but very powerful, but also she makes spaces for other people, she really looks around, she scans really well with her players. But also when she receives it, she knows what is happening behind her, but she also wins duels - she has impressed us, that is why we felt she deserved a start today."
Kendall revealed she felt at home among the Lionesses squad and insisted it was easy to fit in with the group, despite several of them being two-time Euros winners.
"It was amazing to be honest. I felt at home. The girls were so easy to play with. You have world-class players on that pitch, so it was easy just to fit in," Kendall said.
"I knew that I was playing last night. She [Wiegman] just said go and enjoy it and play how I have been playing at club [level] and just take it all in and play with a smile on my face.
"I had my family here. It just makes it that little bit more special, doesn’t it? Sharing that moment with them after they have put in so much sacrifice.
"When I was a little girl, you could not have even dreamed of that, so to be able to go out there to a sell-out crowd, like you said, with a team that have just won back-to-back Euros, it was really special."
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