‘Need to play the game of our lives’: England skipper Millie Bright

Skipper Millie Bright said that England will need to play ldquothe game of our livesrdquo to beat Spain in Sundayrsquos Womenrsquos World Cup final When the Lionesses kick off at Stadium Australia in Sydney they will attempt to do what no England side men or women have managed since 1966mdashwin the World CupBright said the European champions must treat it as just another game but admitted there was no escaping the enormity of the occasion for the country the team and the players Like Spain England are into the final for the first timeldquoWe know how passionate our nation is back home and how much they want us to winrdquo Bright said on Saturday ldquoBut for us there is a process we have a game plan to execute and we need to play the game of our livesrdquolsquoMassive for the teamrsquoSarina Wiegmanrsquos side has grown through the World Cup combining defensive resilience with ruthlessness in front of goal While Wiegman and Bright were keen to take the pressure off the captain admitted it was ldquomassive for the teamrdquo and her personally ldquoIrsquove always said itrsquos lsquowersquo and not lsquomersquo and I think it will be the biggest moment in our careersrdquo she addedJorge VildaldquoI always say lsquoourrsquo careers and lsquowersquo because it is a team Itrsquos a dream come true being in a World Cup final therersquos no words to describe itrdquo England are boosted by the return of potent attacker Lauren James who missed Englandrsquos last two games after being sent off against Nigeria Wiegman was coy about what role James could play and sounded a warning about the threat posed by a Spain side who have passed their opponents into submission at timesldquoI think the Spanish team is in a good place theyrsquove had a very good tournamentrdquo she said ldquoAs always they want to play a possession game theyrsquore very dynamic they want to go forward all the time ldquoAt moments they will challenge us but we will challenge them toordquo Spain and England met last year in the quarterfinals of the European Championship with the Lionesses squeezing through 21 in extra timeThey went on to win the title for their first major trophy in international womenrsquos footballAlso Read Honouring the legacy of indigenous communities like no otherWiegman has been instrumental in transforming Englandrsquos fortunes and she is in her second consecutive World Cup final She steered her native Netherlands to the decider in 2019 when they lost 20 to the United StatesMeanwhile coach Jorge Vilda repeatedly refused to comment on the eve of final about the turmoil between him and some Spanish players Spain will play their maiden World Cup final when they face England and will do so without a dozen players who last year said they did not wish to represent their country primarily because of VildaVilda tightlipped over riftAsked at a press conference in Sydney on Saturday about relations between him and some players Vilda replied ldquoNext question pleaserdquo Fifteen players ruled themselves out over numerous issues the main one being their objection to the 42yearold Vilda including about his strict personality and training methods When a second reporter tried a similar line of questioning Vilda replied ldquoWhat we want to do tomorrow is to be the best in the world and wersquoll do this by winning the finalrdquoSweden settle for third placeSweden scored either side of halftime to spoil Australiarsquos party and claim third spot at the Womenrsquos World Cup with a 20 win in Brisbane on Saturday In front of a crowd of nearly 50000 Sweden took the lead with a 30thminute penalty by Fridolina Rolfo and doubled their advantage with a powerful strike from Kosovare Asllani just after the hour It is the fourth time that Sweden have finished third at the tournamentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever