Sarina Wiegman is one of the most successful and respected women’s football managers in the world. She has led two different national teams to the finals of major tournaments, winning one and narrowly losing another. She has also been a pioneer for women’s football as a player and a coach, breaking barriers and setting records along the way. In this article, we will take a closer look at her life and career, and explore her strengths and weaknesses as the next manager of the England football team.
Wiegman was born in The Hague, Netherlands, on 26 October 1969. She grew up playing football on the streets with her twin brother, as there were no girls-only teams at the time. She was called up by the Netherlands for the first time in 1986, when she was only 16 years old. She later moved to the US for a year to study and play football at the University of North Carolina (UNC), where she was teammates with future World Cup winners Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly. She returned to the Netherlands and joined Ter Leede, a women’s team that she would play for until her retirement in 2003. With Ter Leede, she won the Dutch championship and the KNVB Cup once.
Wiegman was a versatile player who could play as a central midfielder or a defender. She was known for her craftiness, work ethic, and competitiveness on the pitch. She became the first Dutch player to make 100 appearances for her country, finishing with 104 caps and scoring three goals. She played in four European Championships and one World Cup, but never reached the semi-finals of either tournament.
After hanging up her boots, Wiegman began her coaching career with Ter Leede and then ADO Den Haag, where she won two league titles and two cups. In 2014, she became the assistant manager of the Dutch national team under Roger Reijners. In 2016, she received her full coaching licence and became the first woman to work as a coach for a Dutch professional football team, when she joined Jong Sparta Rotterdam as an assistant. Later that year, she took over as the interim head coach of the Dutch national team after Reijners left.
Wiegman’s first major challenge as the head coach was to lead the Netherlands to their first major trophy at Euro 2017, which they hosted. She did so in style, winning all six matches and beating Denmark 4-2 in the final in front of a sold-out crowd of 28,182 at De Grolsch Veste in Enschede. Wiegman’s team played an attractive and attacking brand of football that captivated the fans and earned them praise from pundits and peers alike. Wiegman was named The Best FIFA Women’s Coach of 2017 for her achievement.
Two years later, Wiegman led the Netherlands to another historic feat: reaching the final of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. The Dutch team beat Japan, Italy, and Sweden en route to the final, where they faced defending champions USA. Despite putting up a brave fight, they lost 2-0 to the Americans, who were simply too strong and experienced for them. Nevertheless, Wiegman’s team had shown that they were among the best in the world and had inspired a new generation of girls to play football in their country.
In August 2020, it was announced that Wiegman would become the manager of the England women’s national team from September 2021, following the end of Phil Neville’s contract. She remained manager of the Netherlands for the Olympics, hoping to bring home a medal at Tokyo 2020, but they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by eventual winners USA on penalties. Then, she finally took charge of England and had little time to prepare for her biggest test yet: Euro 2022 on home soil.
Wiegman quickly stamped her mark on England, instilling a positive and proactive playing style that suited their talented squad. She also made some bold decisions, such as dropping captain Steph Houghton for Leah Williamson and giving young players like Lauren Hemp and Ella Toone more opportunities. Her methods paid off, as England cruised through their group stage with three wins out of three against Northern Ireland, Norway, and Spain. They then beat France 2-1 in a thrilling quarter-final at Wembley Stadium, thanks to goals from Ellen White and Lucy Bronze. In the semi-final, they faced Sweden at Old Trafford and won 3-0 with another dominant display that saw Hemp score