Sarina Wiegman will succeed Phil Neville in September 2021
Photo: Alex Grimm / Getty ImagesSarina Wiegman from the Netherlands will succeed the English national coach of the women's national team, Phil Neville, next year. This was announced by the English FA. The 50-year-old, who is currently coaching the Dutch national team, signed a four-year contract that will apply from September 2021.
Wiegman takes over after the Olympics
As coach of the Netherlands, Wiegman became European champion in her own country in 2017, which also made her Trainer of the Year. Under her, the Netherlands reached third place in the world rankings. Wiegman will take over the English team after the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. If she fulfills her contract on the island, she will be in office at the European Championships in 2022, the 2023 World Cup and the Euro 2025.
In addition to Wiegman, Jill Ellis was also traded as a successor. Ellis was twice world champion with the USA team as a coach and defeated the Dutch woman in the 2019 World Cup final. Wiegman would have been the first choice, however, said Baroness Campbell, director of the women's football association.
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The FA had already announced in April that the former ManUnited professional Neville will step down after his contract expires in the summer of 2021. The former England international was actually supposed to play Euro 2021 with the Lionesses. However, the tournament was postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Neville's contract ends before that. It is still open who will coach the British women in Tokyo, Wiegmann will still act as the national coach of the Netherlands at the games.
Neville had looked after the team since January 2018. But since beating Norway in the quarter-finals, the English women under Neville had lost seven of their next eleven games. The international test match against the German selection in front of a record crowd at Wembley Stadium last autumn was also lost.
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