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England are in touching distance of winning the Women's World Cup for the first time ever - and a lot of that is to do with Sarina Wiegman.

The Lionesses won the 2022 European Championship on home soil and now have the chance to make football come 'home' in back-to-back glorious summers.

Wiegman has done an incredible job with the Lionesses
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Wiegman has done an incredible job with the LionessesCredit: Getty

Wiegman led her home nation the Netherlands to Euro glory in 2017 before repeating the same trick last year with England.

Not content with becoming the first manager in the women's game to win back-to-back European titles, she's now become the first to lead two different countries to a World Cup final - having also steered the Netherlands to the 2019 showpiece.

Despite an injury crisis ahead of this tournament, Wiegman has masterminded England's unbeaten run to a first ever World Cup final.

Speaking to talkSPORT after dumping out tournament co-hosts Australia in the semi-final, Wiegman admitted she just wants to celebrate - but cannot lose sight of the ultimate goal now as Spain await in Sunday's final.

READ MORE ON THE LIONESSES

She said: "I feel like at the moment, I really want to party but the job is not done yet!

"I am so happy with the big picture of how we have gone through this tournament and how we won [against Australia].

"It was an incredible environment. 80-85,000 people behind Australia so, of course, it was going to be a tough game.

"They are a good team, they grew into the tournament, it was an away game for us but winning 3-1 is really incredible."

Wiegman admitted she wanted to celebrate England's win but must now focus on the final
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Wiegman admitted she wanted to celebrate England's win but must now focus on the final
She has proved a revelation in charge of the Lionesses
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She has proved a revelation in charge of the LionessesCredit: Getty

Given the transformative nature of their tenures, Wiegman has earned comparisons to Gareth Southgate, with FA chief executive Mark Bullingham even suggesting that Wiegman would be considered as a replacement for Southgate once he leaves his role with the men's team.

The similarities between the pair also extend back to their playing days, with both international defenders in their heydays.

Yet it was a lot more of an arduous journey for the Lioness chief, who had to pretend to be a boy to play football as a child in the Netherlands.

"When I started playing football as a six-year-old girl we weren't allowed to play, so I played illegally."

Speaking to talkSPORT ahead of the final, she recalled: "At that time as a girl you were not allowed to play football.

"[In my school team] I was the only girl on that team...A lot of these guys went into professional football at the highest level so it was a pretty good team too.

"Every time when we would go back to school we would have drinks and chips and that was the fun playing football and having those things.

"There was nothing in me at that time that thought that I would be here right now having had a football career and a coaching career."

Wiegman began her coaching career with ADO Den Haag women's teams
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Wiegman began her coaching career with ADO Den Haag women's teamsCredit: Getty

As a player, she was handed her international debut at just 17 years old by former Eangers and Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat in his only game in charge.

Wiegman went on to to become the first Dutch female centurion with an appearance against Denmark in 2001.

After hanging up her boots two years later she juggled football coaching with a job as a PE teacher until the creation of the Women's Eredivisie in 2007.

From there, Wiegman led ADO Den Haag but her first season in charge proved difficult as the club finished fourth out of six teams.

Leonne Stentler, who played under Wiegman, recounted: "Her eyes can spit fire.

"If she's mad, you will always see. Not like yelling so the whole stadium can hear but she can get mad in her own way.

"But she's really warm, too. She's always interested in what's happening in your life."

Wiegman struck a balance between the two at Den Haag quickly and her side finished second for three successive seasons before doing the double in 2012.

Wiegman has mastered the Euros
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Wiegman has mastered the EurosCredit: Getty
She has been unstoppable at tournament level and goes for World Cup glory
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She has been unstoppable at tournament level and goes for World Cup gloryCredit: Getty

"That's Sarina," added Stentler. "She's always trying to be better."

Wiegman's constant strive for success meant it wasn't long before she became a trailblazer as a coach as well as a player.

In 2016, the England boss became the first woman to coach with a men's professional club in her homeland - helping Sparta Rotterdam finish seventh during her season-long spell as an assistant.

Writing in Coaches' Voice, she said: “The players had to get used to me and I had to get used to them, too.

“As the only female coach there, I knew I had to show that I had quality. That’s what I worked on all day. Work hard, put quality into everything and deliver.

"It was a new environment for me – the first time I was working with a professional men’s team.

"At first, I was always asking myself: am I doing the right things? But I observed how Alex and his coaches worked. Figured things out."

Since succeeding Phil Neville as England manager, Wiegman has been relatively untroubled on the pitch, winning 30 of her 38 games.

Sarina Wiegman profile

Full name: Sarina Wiegman-Glotzbach

Date of birth: 26 October 1969 (age 53)

Place of birth: The Hague, Netherlands

Player honours: KNVB Cup (1986–87, 2000–01), NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship (1989), Dutch championship: 2000–01, 2002–03

Manager honours: Dutch championship (2006–07), KNVB Cup (2006–07, 2011–12, 2012–13), Eredivisie (2011–12), UEFA Women's Euros (2017, 2022), Finalissima (2023)

However, Wiegman has faced a series of off-field hardships, with her sister's sad passing on the eve of the 2022 Euros.

Although she was touched by her England players' decision to wear black armbands during the 3-0 win over Belgium last year.

Wiegman said: "They have supported me so much. The captains came to me and asked if we could wear the armbands.

"They are such good human beings, and it shows the togetherness of the team. It was a great gesture. My sister would be proud."

Those good human beings became icons last year, and if Wiegman was to lead the Lionesses to World Cup glory this year, they would need to start building her statue.

She's not thinking beyond the game but is well aware of the outpouring of support in England as the nation prepares for a first football World Cup final since the men's team triumphed in 1966.

The Lionesses have formed an incredible team spirit
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The Lionesses have formed an incredible team spiritCredit: GETTY

"We are really now into the game, getting ready for it and yes we know the support we get from England is huge," Wiegman said.

"I am trying to stay out of it a little bit because it is too exciting. What I do is focus on the game and what we have to do and then afterwards we focus on what happens on the other side of the world."

England have overcome a number of injury setbacks to go all the way down under, and Wiegman feels her players have the experience and the mentality to cope with the pressure of playing in a World Cup final.

"This team is so calm and we have players in this team that are very, very experienced," she explained.

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"They have played in full stadiums with their clubs in the Champions League and the experience we had last year in the Euros was amazing, but also an experience where everyone has felt how it is to play such a major game - the final of a tournament. So that helped us.

"During this tournament, the Colombia game was an away game and the Australia game basically everyone was Australian, and we stayed calm, stuck to the plan and stuck together. The calmness in the team is very obvious and there is a lot of conviction."

Listen to live commentary of the 2023 Women's World Cup final on talkSPORT, as England go for glory against Spain. Build-up from Australia begins at 10am, with the big kick-off at 11am.

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