Alessia Russo exclusive: England striker hungry for more titles and bigger crowd after Euro 2022 win | Football news

news7f08/03/2022

2 4 minutes read

Alessia Russo exclusive: England striker hungry for more titles and bigger crowd after Euro 2022 win | Football news

Alessia Russo hopes England’s historic Euro 2022 win is the catalyst to bring more trophies to club and country, while also having larger crowds watching the women’s team game.

Manchester United striker Russo was one of the stars of England’s tournament, scoring four goals – including a stunning heel strike against Sweden in the semi-final – as the Lionesses won the title for the first time. a major international tournament.

England’s memorable campaign culminated at Wembley on Sunday, where 87,192 fans – a men’s or women’s European Championship final final attendance record – watched Sarina Wiegman’s side beat Germany 2-1 in extra time, and the whole experience left Russo “hungry for more”.

Thinking about Euro 2022, she exclusively said Sky Sports News: “It was amazing, my first major tournament. A lot of girls said, ‘It’s not always like this!’

“The team we’ve had in this camp is unbelievable. The talent is always there in England, even those who don’t play anymore have retired, they’ve always supported us and paved the way for us to win. those titles.

“Everything about this team is special; the players, the staff, the support we have received has really helped us achieve success.”

Russo continued: “My first major title, it makes me so hungry for more. I hope we see more fans in the stadiums at WSL games, that’s what we want, we want to fill the stadiums from week to week.

“Having 90,000 people in the final is amazing and it’s crazy to play in front of so many people, but at the same time, we want to see them compete week in, week out in WSL.

“Hopefully this tournament has attracted new fans to the game. We’ve had a crowded season with all the top teams and a lot of England are playing in the WSL so there’s a lot chance to see us more often.”

Russo greets Wiegman

The scorer for England’s historic victory was head coach Sarina Wiegman, who led the Netherlands to the Euro 2017 championship without losing a match, repeating the feat with England.

“She was amazing,” Russo added. “Her record speaks for itself. To go through two major tournaments in a row without losing a single match at the Euros is unbelievable.

“She’s a winner, she knows how to win. She wants to win every day and she trains very competitively to help us when it’s game day. Off the court, she’s cold. She’s cold. At ease, she makes everyone around the camp feel welcome and relaxed.

“In a major tournament like this we don’t know what’s going to happen to it, we’ve been really in our bubble for about the last month or so, not a lot of media coming in and Sarina keeping the it’s calm transparent .

“Coming out was a bit crazy but credit her for keeping it that way throughout camp because we were so focused on winning.”

Russo’s stellar league has given her more flavor but before new goals for club and country can be identified, a well-earned respite is needed. .

“Definitely a bit of a break, I’ll be on vacation for the next few days,” she replied when asked what her next steps are.

“We have two weeks off until we get back to United. Have a pre-season tour and then go back into the season. It’s been a great summer but it’s very much in need of a break right now.”

Wiegman: The tactician behind Britain’s transformation

The stakes are high when Sarina Wiegman takes on England duty in September 2021.

Previously, the FA had never appointed a female head coach with a clear international background, let alone one with a record of winning major tournaments.

Risks are shared by all parties. Expectations were immediately high, and with only 10 short months to adopt a whole new philosophy ahead of the European Championship under the attention of a home audience, the decision had to be the correct one.

Wiegman herself had to consider leaving her native Netherlands and a squad she guided to success on the continent in 2017, in favor of managing abroad for the first time and execute her European strategy on a side that has previously only been overseen by British coaches – bar a brief interim period in 2021.

The appointment makes her the first permanent non-British Lionesses manager, at a time when investment in the domestic game has outgrown the notion that the British Women can compete at tournaments. international, but were never really discussed as legitimate contenders for the silver championship.

That landscape has changed dramatically but Wiegman remains completely unmoved by the demands of an ambitious nation that has starved to international football glory for 56 long years … to date.