The buildup to England women’s friendly against the USA on Saturday has lived up to its title. Whatever animosity there was between the teams in the past, the current managers have packed their media appearances with mutual compliments, and radiated enough warmth to defrost the Wembley pitch. Emma Hayes, who swapped Chelsea for the USA a year ago, is looking forward to a hug from Sarina Wiegman. The Dutchwoman, in turn, was thrilled for Hayes’s instant gold in Paris this summer, only 72 days after she began training the side.
If the Netherlands, Wiegman’s previous team, hadn’t scuppered Team GB’s Olympic qualification, the first meeting between Wiegman and Hayes might not have been quite this friendly. But the first time that the English game’s two most successful female football coaches met on the pitch was always going to be a fascinating prospect, whenever it happened.
