‘What is Sarina doing?!’ – Ian Wright ‘baffled’ by Wiegman decision in Euro 2025 final

Ian Wright says he ‘couldn’t believe’ Alessia Russo was taken off after scoring against Spain and feels Sarina Wiegman was ‘very fortunate’ to avoid a backlash as England went on to win the Euro 2025 final on penalties.

For the third match on the bounce, the Lionesses were forced to come from behind after conceding to a Mariona Caldentey header midway through the first half in Basel.

Just as they had done against both Sweden and Italy, the holders dug deep and managed to wrestle the momentum back in their favour, with Russo reacting brilliantly to nod home Chloe Kelly’s pinpoint cross and level in the 57th minute.

The two teams could not be separated after extra-time and it was England who eventually prevailed after another nerve-jangling shootout, with Kelly scoring the decisive spot-kick to seal a famous 3-1 win over the world champions.

The Lionesses’ latest triumph – which came at the end of a rollercoaster campaign – marked the first time in history that an English team had won a major tournament on foreign soil.

It also further cemented Wiegman’s legendary status as an international head coach. The 55-year-old first lifted the trophy with the Netherlands in 2017 before steering England to back-to-back titles over the last three years.

Dissecting the final on the Crossways podcast, Wright was somewhat reluctant to criticise Wiegman considering just how far England had come since she took over the reins from Phil Neville.

However, the iconic ex-Arsenal striker believes there were a couple of key decisions which could easily have gone against the England boss on another day.

‘I’ve got to say, the Russo substitution is the most baffling thing I’ll ever see if she’s not injured. I could not believe it,’ Wright said.

‘Michelle [Agyemang] came on and, obviously, she’s amazing, Young Player of the Tournament, only coming off the bench and doing enough to win, that was amazing on her part.

‘But I think she [Agyemang] needs Russo on there with her in this time.

‘They would have caused Spain so many problems because Russo would have dropped off, she would have been in the box.

‘What is Sarina doing taking her off?! What’s she doing taking her off?! I couldn’t believe it.’

According to Wright, Wiegman has proven beyond doubt that she is a ‘genius’ and a ‘legend’ – but hauling Russo off with 20 minutes remaining made little sense in the context of the match.

‘She was feeding off scraps,’ Wright said of Russo.

‘When you’re playing in a game like that, all you’re hoping for is one chance that you can try and take, which she did, and then you get a second wind.

‘When she went off you could see it. She’s so sweet and she’s saying thank you to everybody but you can see it in her mind, she must be thinking, “What the f***’s going on?! What are you taking me off for?!”

‘In the end, she’s very fortunate. She’s obviously shown she’s a great coach with three European Championships on the spin. That’s legendary.

‘But some of the decisions… you’re thinking to yourself, “If that’s what you’re doing on purpose because you see the outcome in your head then you are a genius!”, but she is a genius with what she’s done.’

Wright was similarly taken aback that Wiegman opted to ‘gamble’ on Lauren James’ fitness when she had a player of Kelly’s quality raring to go the start.

‘With Lauren James, it’s a Euros final. If she thinks, “You know what? If I can get something out of myself I might be able to do it”, then you’re going to play,’ he continued.

‘And I think it was a gamble that I don’t think Sarina should have taken, especially when you’ve got Chloe there. Chloe is ready to go and she showed that when she came on.

‘I thought it was strange. Again, you’re talking about somebody who is obviously not fit enough.

‘Then, we know that [Lauren] Hemp can come back and work back as well and help and you’ve got Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmati and Athenea del Castillo all on that side, that’s the most attacking they can be on that side, and you’ve got Lauren James whose natural game is not to track back and try stop those players.

‘She’s half fit and it just felt like, “Oh my gosh, what’s going on?!”‘

Given the journey Kelly had gone on following a ‘dark’ time in her career at the start of the year, Wright had to fight back the tears when the Arsenal forward stepped up to convert the winning penalty.

‘Who in history has had the opportunity to do that? She has won us a tournament the last kick,’ he went on.

‘I got emotional as well when she did it. I just had a feeling and I felt like I was going to cry.

‘I was just so pleased for her and I wanted it to happen and I wanted it to happen for us a country.’

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