Wigman has had astonishing success as head coach of England and the Netherlands. Photo: Getty Images
Sarina Wigman says she «has no plans to leave her role as England manager as she prepares to take her team to Sunday's historic Women's World Cup final and continue her legacy with the Lionesses.»
Wigman, who has reached four consecutive major tournament finals since 2017. with the Netherlands and England, has a contract to head the Lionesses until the European Championship 2025 in Switzerland. However, she has been touted in the US media as a potential successor to Vlatko Andonovski, who stepped down as head coach of the US national team.
The Football Association's chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said on Thursday that the governing body would reject any Wigman proposals. He added that the FA hoped Wigman would stay in power for a very long time and now she is pushing to stay in office.
“I have a contract until 2025. I really like my job and I got the impression that people still like it when I do this job. I have no plans to leave,” she said.
Responding specifically to the rumors linking her to a job in the US, she said: “I don’t interfere in this. I heard it. I am for England, I am very happy with England and I have a contract until 2025.”
Bullingham also faced questions about the gap between Wigman's reported annual salary of around £400,000 and England manager Gareth Southgate's £6m annual salary, more than 10 times that of Wigman. Bullingham said he hoped both international head coaches would be paid the same in the long run, but said the «market» for each position was «not yet formed».
Wigman, who joined England in 2021 and has yet to lose a match in charge, would not talk about equal pay, saying: “First of all, I think I feel very comfortable where I am right now. FA treats me very well. And that's the only thing I want to say about it.»
Wigman's job satisfaction will be music to Lionesses fans as the two-time European champion is likely to be in high demand in the coming months, especially if she leads England to the first major global senior trophy since 1966.
Wigman puts the finishing touches on his side ahead of Sunday's finale. Photo: Getty Images/Naomi Baker
The 53-year-old Dutch woman also gave the strongest hint that she would like to rule Great Britain at next summer's Paris Olympics if she can secure qualification. When asked if it was her goal to add an Olympic final to her list of Euro and World Cup finals, she replied: “Yes, of course. The Olympics [in 2021] were also a little disappointing because it was in Covid and my big dream was to go to the Olympics, but the Olympics were not like everyone else… Well, I’ve said this before, I felt like a prison .
“And then football also unites, and football unites people, and this connection was not there, so we were not allowed to do anything, we were in a hotel, we were stuck in a hotel, so the pleasure of connecting and getting all everyone's energy [was not]».
In Tokyo, Wigman managed the Netherlands and led the team to the quarter-finals, where they lost to the United States on penalties. It is not yet confirmed whether the UK team will take part in the competition in Paris, but, first of all, one of the British women's national teams should qualify next season. The new Women's League of Nations competition is being used as a qualifying process for European teams. Only two more European teams can join host France in the women's Olympic football competition.
Before that, Wigman's team has a chance to secure football immortality if they can beat Spain at the Stadium Australia in front of a 75,000-seat stadium. strong crowd.
“Everything is [about] Spain now,” Wigman said. “I don't want to relax, I just want to get ready.
“We are in a very, very good place. We have grown into this tournament, and the players feel very comfortable. They feel confident. We recovered very well. Everything suits us. So we're really ready to go.»
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