Greece v England: Women’s World Cup playoff semi-final, first leg, live
⚽ World Cup qualifying news, 5.30pm BST kick-off in Crete ⚽ Wiegman hails Toone | And read Moving the Goalposts Sarina Wiegman heaped praise on Ella Toone for her positive reaction to being left out of England’s initial squad for their Women’s World Cup playoff against Greece, after recalling the Manchester United midfielder for Friday’s first leg in Heraklion, Crete. An injury sustained by Lucy Bronze, described by Wiegman as “really small”, prompted the England right-back to return to Chelsea and Wiegman called up Toone, who travelled to Greece from Spain, where she had organised a training
Sarina Wiegman heaped praise on Ella Toone for her positive reaction to being left out of England’s initial squad for their Women’s World Cup playoff against Greece , after recalling the Manchester United midfielder for Friday’s first leg in Heraklion, Crete.
An injury sustained by Lucy Bronze, described by Wiegman as “really small”, prompted the England right-back to return to Chelsea and Wiegman called up Toone, who travelled to Greece from Spain, where she had organised a training routine during the international window.
Toone has 69 caps and has scored 24 goals, including in the Euro 2022 final and 2023 World Cup semi-final, but Wiegman said when naming her squad that she had left out Toone and Chloe Kelly because “the levels weren’t what I expect from them on the pitch”. On Saturday, after starting Manchester United’s victory over Liverpool , Toone took ownership of things, telling the BBC: “It’s about me now. I’ve got to keep working hard and use it as fuel to come back even better.”
Wiegman, asked whether she had been impressed with Toone’s response, said: “Yes, very much. I think when I gave her the call, of course that was a hard call. But she took that straight away. Of course [she was] very disappointed, but the first thing she did [was say]: ‘OK, I’m going to get back, I’m going to do that.’ She has the support around her too.”
