England are ‘devastated’ says Beth Mead after Women's Nations League exit, Sarina Wiegman vows Lionesses 'will be back'
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 06/12/2023 at 09:13 GMT
England suffered cruel disappointment right at the end of their emphatic 6-0 win over Scotland at Hampden. Sarina Wiegman's side crashed out of the UEFA Women's Nations League, subsequently ending Team GB's hopes of competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games next summer, after the Netherlands scored two late goals against Belgium to top Group A1. Beth Mead says the players are "devastated".
Man United ban journalists for going 'around our back' - Ten Hag
Beth Mead admits England are “devastated” following their agonising exit from the UEFA Women’s Nations League despite an emphatic 6-0 win over Scotland.
The Lionesses had been celebrating at the full-time whistle at Hampden, with their attacking prowess having looked set to be rewarded with a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
But word quickly got around that the Netherlands had scored a decisive fourth goal in their 4-0 win over Belgium, cruelly ending Sarina Wiegman’s side's hopes of progressing.
England – who had to better Netherlands' result by three goals – finish second in Group A1 thanks to an inferior goal difference, with their failure to qualify signalling an end to Team Great Britain’s dreams of competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games next summer.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Mead said: “[We are] Devastated. We did everything we possibly could on the pitch tonight.
“I thought the team were incredible. Unfortunately, it wasn't in our hands, the Netherlands got the four goals, so fair play to them but obviously devastated to miss out on such small margins.
“The girls have worked so hard and we were incredible in this camp. We've done ourselves proud in both games.”
With the group so finely poised, England knew exactly what was required of them, revealed Mead, who scored her side’s fourth – her first goal since recovering from an ACL injury over a year ago.
The Arsenal star explained: “Sarina made sure we knew what was happening, and we knew what we were supposed to do.
“We got the goals late on, we thought we had maybe gotten over the line but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.”
Ultimately defeats to the Netherlands and Belgium earlier in the group proved extremely costly.
“Maybe we let ourselves down earlier on in the competition. But we will keep working hard, come back stronger and I am excited to see what this team is about,” Mead added.
Wiegman, who was set to lead Team GB at the Olympics, was proud of her players despite the disappointing outcome.
"This team has experienced so many things," she said.
"This will take a little bit of time (to get over) but we’ll be back. I’m convinced we’ll keep growing.
"But these things happen, we’re working hard. We’re trying to get to the next level. That’s what we showed this week again.
"You could see in every player we wanted a big win and we went for it. So that is why it is really disappointing."
England will now have a rare summer off in 2024 and can only look forward to non-competitive games in February when the squad meets again.
"You want to go to every major tournament," Wiegman added.
"The career of a football player is [only] a certain amount of time. If you can play every major tournament, every player wants that.
"We’ll go and play some friendlies. That’s in progress and I haven’t spoken about that yet with our players. It’s not all set in stone, but we have plans ready to fill in."
- - -
TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
Scan me
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement