England 5-1 Italy – Successful Spain camp for Lionesses
England beat Italy 5-1 in their latest friendly in Spain. The warm weather camp also saw England beat Austria 7-2.
Lauren Hemp scored a brace to help England secure the victory. England and Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy’s header put England ahead within the first minute.
Italy were able to pull a goal back on the stroke of halftime, but England continued to dominate and subs Ella Toone and Rachel Daly extended England’s lead in the second half.
The warm weather training camp in Spain gave boss Sarina Weigman the chance to give some of the youngsters a chance to get their first cap. England’s under-23s joined the first team during the camp.
The Italy match saw five changes to their side for the 7-2 win over Austria.
Hemp told ITV afterwards: “It was a very good performance. I thought we were very dominant in possession. We were unfortunate to concede.
“I’ve really enjoyed the camp. The squad is in a great place and we’re full of confidence. It’s great for us to take into the next games and the [Euro 2025] qualifiers.”
The Euro 2025 qualifying draw takes place on 5 March at 12:00 GMT.
With the qualifiers up next, the camp allowed boss Weigman to try out some new players. It was another strong attacking display from the squad who are preparing to defend their EUROs title.
Having missed out on a spot at the Olympics, England now have a chance for extra preparation ahead of the 2025 Euros – something that will be greatly welcomed.
‘Whole camp pleased me’
“I think the whole camp pleased me,” Wiegman told ITV Sport.
Wiegman added: “We had the opportunity to play many players – basically everyone except for [the injured] Fran Kirby – see what the level is, see players in some positions and see the connection between players.
“When you have two wins like we have – that’s really nice too.”
Asked if she had learned a lot before the first qualifiers in April, the England boss added: “You never know because things in football can change quickly, but it gave us many answers to questions we had at this moment.
“We could take this opportunity to see many players and play two good games, train also and see the under-23s. Very, many positives about this week.”
‘Rotation and squad depth’
Weigman made it clear she was planning to use this camp to rotate her squad.
Hit by injuries to key players Kirby, Leah Williamson and Millie Bright, she was keen to see her squad depth in these non-competitive fixtures.
Grace Clinton, Millie Turner, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Jess Park were given the opportunity to play.
Asked about the development of Wubben-Moy, who has impressed for Arsenal this season and scored in the win over Italy, Wiegman added: “I think she’s definitely taken a step forward because she’s developing a lot.
“That’s what we see weekly at Arsenal and she shows it[with England] too. What you can see is the competition in positions is really high.”