Sarina Wiegman: England boss says Australia 'are not underdogs' for Women's World Cup semi-final
England face co-hosts Australia in Women's World Cup semi-final on Wednesday — kick-off 11am UK time; Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman says «Australia are not just Sam Kerr» with striker available for semi-final; Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson says England are favourites to progress to final
Tuesday 15 August 2023 11:13, UK
Sarina Wiegman believes Australia are not «underdogs» in their Women's World Cup semi-final after Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson insisted England are favourites to progress.
England face the co-hosts in the last four on Wednesday at a sold-out 75,000 Stadium Australia in Sydney, with kick-off at 11am UK time.
Wiegman's side are ranked fourth in the world, are the reigning European champions and have been semi-finalists at the last two World Cups, while 10th-ranked Australia have never previously been past the quarter-finals at a major global tournament.
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Prior to Wiegman's pre-match press conference, opposition boss Gustavsson labelled England favourites to win their semi-final due to the rankings, but the England head coach immediately dismissed his claims with her first answer.
«First of all, I don't think they are underdogs,» she said. «They're playing at home. The stadium will be really full so it's two teams that are very good, very strong and have grown into the tournament.
»It's going to be very tight and very competitive. We approach the game as any other game, we just prepare how we want to play.
«We've analysed our opponent really well so hopefully we can take out the strengths and exploit some weaknesses, and take it from there.»
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