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Sarina Wigman Figured lessons would be learned later England They faced defeat in their first match after the Euro 2025 victory.
Lioness The poor start cost them a 2–1 defeat to 10-man Brazil in the first friendly match of their homecoming tour at the Etihad Stadium.
Manager Wiegmann was disappointed with the defeat, but felt that only a strong encounter against the Copa América winners could stand his players in good stead to prepare for the 2027 World Cup.
Wiegman said: “Of course you hope for another result but I think it was a very good game to start again after the Euros against a very good opponent.
“A South American opponent was exactly what we wanted because he is different, more emotional, more extroverted. It’s good for us to have him in front of us. He played very straight.
“Of course we wanted to get a better result but I also think that in this game we had a lot of challenges that we needed to experience to really know what we can improve.
“I think some things we did really well, and I think some things we didn’t do well. It’s really good to see because if you play an opponent that doesn’t challenge you, you’re not going to learn enough.”
England conceded twice in the opening 18 minutes as Bea Zanaretto and Dudinha scored for the electrifying crowd, but the game turned when Brazil captain Angelina was sent off shortly after.
Angelina was shown a straight red card for pulling down Ella Toone after 21 minutes, but despite a spirited response, England could only pull one back through a Georgia Stanway penalty.
“After the red card we dominated the game. We had a lot of chances but we need to do a little better in execution and we were a little loose in some of those moments,” Wiegman said.
Brazil will host the next World Cup and their coach Arthur Elias believes his team’s performance was very encouraging.
He said: “I think the team played really well throughout the game.
“There were two stories – before and after the red card. The game plan was to be 2-0 up and the red card was being executed very well.
“We scored twice and had opportunities against a great opponent, two-time European champions with excellent players.
“There was definitely resilience after the red card. We had to give maximum effort, which we have to do.
“This group has a lot of confidence and understands how Brazil plays. We are a skilled team.”