Sarina Wiegman after Lionesses reach Euros final: ‘We never give up’ | OneFootball

England Women’s manager Sarina Wiegman has praised her side’s never-say-die as they beat Italy 2-1 to reach a second consecutive European Championship final.

The Lionesses fell behind midway through the first half despite dominating the early exchanges, as Barbara Bonansea fired home from close range in the 33rd minute to give the Italians the lead.

Wiegman turned to her substitutes yet again to find a way back into the game, and with the match depend into second half injury time, Michelle Agyemang, who had scored the equaliser in the quarter-final against Sweden, fired a powerful shot past Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani in the 96th minute to send the game to extra time.

Fellow substitute Chloe Kelly would convert the rebound after missing a 119th minute penalty to secure England their third consecutive tournament final, and Wiegman was relieved to see her side get the job done.

“To be honest relief,” Wiegman said. “When you score so late in normal time, then late in the second-half of extra-time from a penalty on the rebound and coming behind against Italy – you know you have a problem.

“We had some serious challenges over this game, I think the first half we didn’t play well. We didn’t have the energy in the game. We didn’t create.

“The second half we did better, but Italy defended really well, so we didn’t have much space in the final third and they had a lot of blocks. We were really aggressive and winning lots of duels, and we’re really happy now we’re going to the final.

“We always had the opportunity to bring fresh players in, we have a lot of quality. We had to get a hole in the wall I would say. They did just really good.

“She [Chloe Kelly] thrives on these moments, she is excited and she loves them. You can tell [Michelle Agyemang] is a talent, what a talent.

“But you’ve seen so many England teams now. We never give up, and we can win by any means. We are going for that goal. We take risks and we never give up.”