England must ‘ride the wave’ after early Euros setback, says Lotte Wubben-Moy | OneFootball

Lotte Wubben-Moy has urged England to “ride the wave” after the defending champions’ opening defeat to France left their Euro 2025 hopes hanging by a thread.

The Lionesses face the Netherlands on Wednesday in what is being billed as a must-win Group D encounter after the 2-1 defeat in Zurich on Saturday, when the Dutch secured an opening victory over Wales.

England also lost their opener to France at the 2015 World Cup in Canada but went on to achieve what was then their best ever finish of third, a journey seven-time major tournament veteran Lucy Bronze has encouraged her team-mates to keep fresh in their minds.

England defender Wubben-Moy said: “I think the mood so far has been, ‘OK, what next?’ We know that the tournament isn’t won or lost on day one and I think we’re all mature enough, we’ve all got experience in different ways, shapes or forms.

“I think Lucy said in 2015 they lost their first game to France and I think it’s easy to forget that there have to be ups and there have to be downs in tournament football. I think it’s how you ride that wave that really is indicative of the mood that will be the lasting one across the tournament.”

Wednesday’s critical clash is a meeting between the two most recent European champions, both coached to glory at their respective home tournaments by England’s Dutch boss Sarina Wiegman.

Wiegman’s long-time right-hand man, Arjan Veurink, is set to leave her side after this competition to take charge of the Netherlands, succeeding Andries Jonker.

But this particular opponent is special to more than just England’s coaching staff. Wubben-Moy is also half-Dutch.

She explained: “My dad comes from the Netherlands, my whole half of my family, so it’s a pretty special fixture.

“I made my debut for England at youth level against the Netherlands and we won that game. I think all through my career, that game against the Netherlands has always been a tough one.

“It’s physical, it’s tactically varied and it’s a game that epitomises, for me, my heritage.”

She added: “We’re quick to forget when you put an England badge on that actually all of us have mixed heritage and I think that needs to be celebrated.

“I definitely feel celebrated here with a Dutch coach, but I think also by my team-mates, all of us accepting our cultures and different varieties of life that come together and make up that England badge.”

But make no mistake, Wubben-Moy has made one thing very clear to her travelling Dutch family.

She added: “I was just asked by the Dutch media who they’ll be supporting and they’ll definitely be supporting me.

“And what that means is the England team.”