England shift attention to Euro 2025 after Olympic disappointment.
England have “moved on” from the disappointment of missing out on Olympic qualification and are focused on the defence of their European title, says manager Sarina Wiegman.
Team GB won’t play at this summer’s Olympic Games after the Lionesses failed to win their Nations League group in December.
It means Wiegman’s side have non-competitive fixtures against Austria and Italy as part of a warm-weather training camp in Marbella this week, which the 54-year-old said is ideal preparation for the start of Euro 2025 qualifying in April.
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“I see it as a great start to our Euros campaign with two friendlies and not much travelling,” Wiegman told BBC Sport.
“After the very disappointing result of not qualifying for the play-offs to qualify for the Olympics, we moved on.
“It’s a big opportunity to see many players, see where everyone is at the moment and move on [with Euros qualification] in April.”
Wiegman’s squad have been joined by England’s under-23s in Spain for the first time.
Bristol City defender Naomi Layzell was called up to first team training on Wednesday and Wiegman said it was a good opportunity to assess England’s future talent.
“There’s two teams and I haven’t seen the seniors since December too so we had to catch up. But I have shared a few things from us [with the under-23s],” added Wiegman.
“We had Naomi in our training group and it’s just really good to see them. A lot of them are players for the future. Hopefully they can start competing with the seniors in the squad as it’s good for English football.”
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Wiegman hopes Austria will provide a test on Friday but intends to “try out new things” as they begin preparations for the defence of their Euro 2022 title.
“Austria didn’t have an easy group in the Nations League. They are improving and have consistency,” she added.
“They have grown as a team to improve their style of play. They are tough, physical, well-organised and don’t fear to play opportunistically with the pace they have up front. I think we will be tested which is what we want.”