England Women boss Sarina Wiegman has dismissed the claims of Norway boss Martin Sjogren that all the pressure is on the Lionesses ahead of Monday’s Euro 2022 clash.
The two sides both won their opening games of the tournament and go into the match at the Amex in Brighton looking to take control of Group A and qualify for the quarter-finals.
Ahead of the match, Sjogren argued all the pressure is on England as they are the host nation.
“I think England is one of the big favourites for the tournament. I think England feels quite a lot of pressure from being at home, being one of the favourites,” he said.
It was the latest jibe from Sjogren, who made similar comments earlier in the week ahead of Monday’s match.
“It’s huge expectations on the England team, you guys (English media) more or less think they should win the tournament, which they can do,” he said.
“But I think it’s a massive pressure on England, so with that background, I think they were very happy just winning the game.”
Wiegman is not worried by Sjogren’s comments and is happy for Norway to be “the underdog” if they want.
“I think Norway has to win to be top of the group. We want to win. It’s easy to put pressure on and say the pressure is on,” she said.
“We know what we want. We want to play or best game, we want to entertain and of course we want to win games and our next game is tomorrow against Norway. So we want to win that game, that’s what we are all talking about.
“I don’t think about being the hosts. I think about the game and how we want, and the strength of our team that they want to show tomorrow. It’s all about football and about tomorrow and about, what’s Norway like? How do we prepare for that game? And how can we bring our best game on the pitch tomorrow?
“Tomorrow is a game and we want to win the game, and they want to win the game. If they want to be the underdog, that’s fine. I think they have a very strong squad and we do too. So I expect an open match.”
