Shattered Lionesses left to rue earlier defeats after Nations League near-miss ends Olympics dream | OneFootball

As the Lionesses huddled for a team-talk on the pitch after the final whistle here at Hampden Park, they thought they had defied the odds by qualifying for the Nations League Finals.

Just three minutes later, the mood had changed.

The Netherlands had scored a fourth goal in stoppage time to beat Belgium 4-0 in Tilburg, meaning they pipped England to top spot in their group on goal difference.

It was an extraordinary night of drama, with England and the Dutch swapping top spot on three separate occasions.

Despite a thumping 6-0 win over Scotland, the two results also mean Team GB will not be at the Paris Olympics next summer. When Sarina Wiegman heard the news via a member of the FA technical staff, her mood changed.

“I actually didn’t know what to say [to the players]. We were that close,” said England’s devastated manager.

Video: Sarina Wiegman stunned by Olympics dream ending

“It’s the first time I’ve had such a big disappointment [of this kind in my career]. I thought we were going to get it, but it was not enough. This will take a little bit of time [to get over].”

This was a major setback for the Lionesses, who were World Cup finalists five months ago.

England could not be criticised for their performance in Glasgow. Aware they needed to score a hatful, they led 4-0 at half-time and scored their sixth with the final action of a match in which they were rampant and unrelenting.

As good as England were last night, they had left themselves with too much to do.

“The girls have worked so hard and we were incredible in this camp. We’ve done ourselves proud in both games,” said Beth Mead, also referencing Friday’s 3-2 comeback win over the Dutch at Wembley. “Unfortunately, it was out of our hands. Maybe we let ourselves down earlier on in the competition.”

England may have been flawless on home soil in this Nations League campaign, but defeats away against the Dutch and Belgium were always going to dent their hopes of finishing top of the group.

“The World Cup was really intense”, said Wiegman. “After that, there was hardly any rest, and we go straight into the Nations League. At moments we’ve played well and we had some moments where we struggled, and that was punished.”

As I say all the time, the players are not robots.

Sarina Wiegman

Wiegman said her players were still exhausted in September and October after their run at the Women's World Cup.

“It’s not easy to come off the back of a World Cup and keep performing, [especially] with injuries,” she said. “As I say all the time, the players are not robots.”

When the Lionesses get over this disappointment, they will come to reflect on a year of near-misses. Instead of competing at the Nations League finals early next year, they will instead be playing friendlies, which Wiegman said are being planned already but are “not all set in stone” yet.

And while some might argue a first summer off since 2020 is a good thing for England players, Wiegman — who would have coached Team GB in Paris — did not see it the same way.