{"id":527932,"date":"2025-10-25T23:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T23:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/527932\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T23:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T23:12:11","slug":"match-centre-england-1-2-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/527932\/","title":{"rendered":"Match Centre: England 1-2 Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n England v Brazil
Women’s International
5.30pm BST, Saturday 25 October 2025
City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester<\/strong> \n <\/p>\n

Sarina Wiegman<\/a> and Alex Greenwood<\/a>\u00a0faced the press before the Lionesses kick off their Homecoming Tour against Brazil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is what they had to say.<\/p>\n

Wiegman on team news:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hannah Hampton is not available for tomorrow. She has a small elbow injury. She\u2019ll be assessed and see how that goes on Tuesday. Sophie Baggaley came in. Lotte [Wubben-Moy] went home. She felt unwell, so she\u2019s recovering at home.<\/p>\n

Lucy Bronze is available and she\u2019s still building. I think, as always, Lucy Bronze is ready to start. Whether she\u2019s going to start, you\u2019ll see tomorrow.<\/p>\n

On Bronze winning player of the year:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think her consistency and the way she expresses herself or conducts herself on the pitch and off the pitch. She\u2019s so tough and she has such a huge contribution. I think she impacts some of the players\u2019 lives just by helping them, supporting them whenever they need something.<\/p>\n

At the same time, she has great levels on the pitch because that\u2019s why I pick her but when all these extras come with it, that really helps the team moving forward.<\/p>\n

On the upcoming fixtures:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s always a test. It\u2019s really good that we have four friendlies over this couple of months. What you also want to do is try out new things, see new players, see different combinations, so that\u2019s a huge opportunity and I think it\u2019s necessary too also because we have some injuries and of course, a retired player.<\/p>\n

On the captaincy:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keira will be the captain tomorrow. Alex is also one of the captains \u2013 she\u2019s in the captains group \u2013 but when Leah is not available, Keira is the captain.<\/p>\n

On looking back on the EUROs:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What we do always is, of course, celebrate and review what went well, what do we have to improve, what are the trends and how are we going to move forward because time flies and we want to move forward. That\u2019s how we approach it to the player. The player will adapt to that in her own way and we\u2019re trying to support.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t ever push away what we have achieved because that\u2019s very special and we\u2019ll always cherish that but we have to move forward to. We\u2019re already moving forward because there\u2019s a game tomorrow and we want to stay on top.<\/p>\n

This is the occasion or the opportunity to try out things \u2013 what we did last year too when we qualified for the EUROs and we tried out things. Some things will probably go well and some will not go so well but it gives us information about players, about ourselves, about opponents. It\u2019s good to play countries that are outside of Europe too, to give us information. That will be very helpful and valuable moving forward.<\/p>\n

On Brazil:<\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re very physical and athletic. They have a lot of pace up front. They can play football but they also really want to play fast forward, so that will challenge us. With the South American mentality, there will be a lot of flair. We\u2019re trying to stay out of the fight a little bit and play football but they\u2019ll go one-on-one and they\u2019ll want to challenge and they\u2019ll want to get into the duels.<\/p>\n

\n

We’re LIVE with Sarina Wiegman and Alex Greenwood as they preview tomorrow\u2019s game against Brazil. \ud83d\udcaa https:\/\/t.co\/XZR5SSJJii<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lionesses (@Lionesses) October 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Greenwood on changes to the squad and staff:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[It\u2019s been] a little bit different. Having fresh faces is always nice \u2013 new players coming in [and] to have experience as well. In terms of the backroom staff, they\u2019ve been great so far. The training sessions have been really fun. It\u2019s been nice to get to know them off the pitch as well. So far, so good.<\/p>\n

On returning to the City of Manchester Stadium:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot of our players have some affiliation to Manchester. It\u2019ll be nice for not just me but a lot of our players in the team. For me personally, going back to the Etihad will be really special and a really great occasion.<\/p>\n

On the summer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s still important that we enjoy what we did in the summer. We haven\u2019t just turned up and forgotten about it. We\u2019ve talked about it and I think we\u2019ll continue to do that. In the same breath, we\u2019re all so focused on the next challenge which is tomorrow and the next three games after that.<\/p>\n

On looking ahead to the 2027 World Cup:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is far away. I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s at the forefront of my mind right now. There\u2019s so much to do before then but I\u2019d also be lying if I didn\u2019t say it was something I thought about and wanted to do. The team is also motivated to do that but I think we take each step as it comes. I think we have some challenges before then and quite a lot of preparation time as well.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Brazil\u00a0in profile<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nNickname: <\/strong>Selecao or AS Canarinhas
Coach: <\/strong>Arthur Elias
Captain:<\/strong> Rafaelle Souza
Last encounter:\u00a0<\/strong>England 1-1 Brazil (4-2 Pens)<\/a>, 6 April 2023<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Match Stats<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u25cf\tThis will be England\u2019s first meeting with Brazil since the 2023 Finalissima, with the Lionesses winning 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Wembley.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25cf\tThis will be Brazil\u2019s fourth visit to England in all competitions with each of the previous three ending with a different result: lost 0-1 in October 2018, won 2-1 in October 2019 and drew 1-1 in April 2023. <\/p>\n

\u25cf\tThis will be England\u2019s sixth game played in Manchester and first since a 1-0 win against Austria at Old Trafford in the opening game of UEFA EURO 2022.<\/a>\u00a0The Lionesses\u2019 only previous game at the Etihad Stadium ended in a 3-2 win over Finland at UEFA EURO 2005. <\/p>\n

\u25cf\tLike England, Brazil also won in the final of a major tournament this summer on penalties, beating Colombia in the 2025 Copa Am\u00e9rica Femenina \u2013 they have lost only two of their last 15 games in all competitions (W10 D3), one of which was their most recent vs a European nation (2-3 vs France in June). <\/p>\n

\u25cf\tEngland have won each of their last five home games without conceding, keeping six consecutive clean sheets in total on home soil. The Lionesses have only kept seven straight clean sheets in England once before, doing so between March 2006 and March 2007 under Hope Powell.<\/p>\n

\u25cf\tEngland\u2019s Sarina Wiegman has drawn each of her three previous meetings with Brazil, making them the only opponent she has faced more than once as an international manager without ever winning, and just the fourth overall (also faced Nigeria, Poland and Czechia once). <\/p>\n

\u25cf\tChloe Kelly<\/a>\u00a0has either scored (1) or assisted (2) in each of her last three England appearances, despite not starting any of them; the last Lioness to register a goal involvement in four straight appearances was Alessia Russo<\/a>\u00a0in July 2022, who was also a substitute each time. <\/p>\n

\u25cf\tBrazil\u2019s Amanda Gutierres was the joint-top goalscorer at the 2025 Copa Am\u00e9rica Femenina with six goals (level with Paraguay\u2019s Claudia Mart\u00ednez) \u2013 the 24 year old has scored in each of her last five international appearances and has scored nine goals across her last ten outings.<\/p>\n