FootyChatter.com

Sarina Wiegman has vowed to once again unleash 'proper England' in the Women's Euros quarter-finals. The Lionesses face Sweden in Zurich on Thursday night, live on talk SPORT, for a place in the semi-finals. Italy await the winners in the semis, the stage where England beat their last eight opponents three years ago. On that occasion, their 4-0 triumph was followed by a victory over Germany in the final on home soil. Although Wiegman and several members of that squad remain, she now oversees a different side with a new identity. Part of that is their 'proper England' mantra, which has emerged within the squad this year. Dating back to their victory over Spain in February, the attitude has already been on display in Switzerland this month. Having lost their opening match to France, the Lionesses bounced back with dominant victories over the Netherlands and Wales to advance to the knockout stages. Lucy Bronze, who was part of both the Euros-winning squad and the side beaten in the 2023 Women's World Cup final, has now detailed just what 'proper England' means. Speaking ahead of the clash with Sweden, the experienced defender told reporters: "We've never negated tactics or anything else that comes with the game, with the term ‘proper England’. "I think it was more the fact that we've said again, we're a new England, a new team. "And what was meant by that was we had a lot of younger players and new players who have very different experiences of playing for England compared to the likes of myself, where we know that England used to have to dig deep all the time. "2015 was the first time we beat Germany. That's insane to think of right now. "But England in the past, you have to dig out performances and you are maybe the underdog. You're not the favourite. Whereas this England team has developed, football has changed. "Obviously, we're a very talented team, a lot of technical ability, tactics, all that comes in the game. But we don't want to ever forget that we are England, we are proper England. "And if push comes to shove, we can win a game by any means possible. " Meanwhile, Wiegman added: "Now, ‘proper England’ is a bit who we are and what we want to show. "And of course, that has to do with our tactics, how we want to play, but also our behaviours. "How we want to support each other together, work really hard and of course, play to our strengths, too. So, yeah, when we do that, I think the chance of winning is the highest. " Only Spain scored more than England's 11-goal haul during the group stage of the tournament. The Lionesses are also on a three-match unbeaten streak against Sweden, dating back to that semi-final at the previous Euros. A pair of draws in qualifying for this summer's tournament have since followed. If Wiegman's side can extend their impressive record against the Blue-Yellow, they will meet Italy in the last four. Their quarter-final win over Norway on Wednesday has already seen them through to the tie in Geneva on July 22. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

Registered in England No. 2806093. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF

talk SPORT is a registered trade mark of Wireless Group Media (GB) Limited.

This service is provided on talk SPORT Limited's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy.