Sarina Wiegman (53 years old) the Dutch coach of the "Lionesses" of England (European Champion) after the difficult victory [1-0] on penalty in the first period https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40072-haiti-world-cup-our-grenadieres-bow-[0-1]-against-the-lionesses-of-england.html against the Grenadières of Haiti during of the first Group D match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, on the lawn of the "Brisbane Stadium" in Australia recognizes that England lacked "ruthlessness" while Haiti deserves "lots of credits"

A penalty saved by Georgia Stanway was ultimately enough to earn her side all three points, but did little to allay concerns about the "Lionesses" attacking form after they failed to find the back of the net in their previous three encounters.

If it hadn't been for a stoppage at the end of the second half by Mary Earps, the FIFA goalkeeper of the year, the Lionesses, ranked 4th in the world, could well have ended in a draw against the Grenadières (53rd in the world).

Wiegman explained "I think sometimes the connections with the cross, the timing of the cross, where the cross actually ends in the penalty box, then the connection in front of the goal, little things like that, at the end, you hope it goes in [...] I think we were very close a couple of times to scoring a goal, and then of course their defence was tough too, [..]"

Wiegman dismissed the idea that the England team looked "rusty", saying they were "absolutely ready" She was nevertheless impressed with a Haitian team which she described as "unpredictable, very direct, very strong in the counter-attack" adding "Lots of credit for Haiti for a first time in the World Cup and having a performance like that. I think the other two countries (in the group, Denmark and China) are going to really struggle with them, but of course that’s not our problem. I’m just really happy that we got the win."

For his part, French coach Nicolas Delépine (44), said : "We are very proud of our performance. We worked very hard and for us it was a huge test. We were facing the European champions [...]

It was a huge test for us, we didn't really know how to position ourselves. We didn't know how we were going to play, but we managed to get out of the bag. We were very close to England, but there are always things we can do better."

Next match :

Haiti vs Republic of China (Adelaide - Hindmarsh Stadium)

Friday, July 28 at 8:30 p.m. local time, 7:00 a.m. in Haiti.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40072-haiti-world-cup-our-grenadieres-bow-[0-1]-against-the-lionesses-of-england.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40071-haiti-flash-haiti-vs-england-starting-lineup-world-cup.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40059-haiti-world-cup-w-2023-calendar-and-schedules-of-matches-in-haiti-group-phase.html

SL/ HaitiLibre