Sarina Wiegman leaves nothing to chance in preparation for Haiti clash
- England face Haiti in their first game of 2023 Women's World Cup
- The countries have never met before
- Sarina Wiegman insists the Lionesses have done all the preparaiton they can
England manager Sarina Wiegman has explained that no stone has been left 'unturned' ahead of the Lionesses facing Haiti in their opening game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Haiti are debuting on the global stage and have never previously played England. As a result, there is an element of the unknown about the Caribbean nation, who earned their place in Australia by pulling off a shock against Chile in one of the inter-confederation playoffs in February.
"We have a whole team behind us to analyse the opponents. I think we know everything we need to know about Haiti," Wiegman said.
"We've never played them so we have to experience that but we are very well prepared. I don't think there is any stone unturned in preparation for this game.
"We've highlighted every player from Haiti…they have a strong squad. First time they have qualified for the World Cup, we've pointed out some key players. Melchie Dumornay has made a transfer to Lyon but they have some more players that have qualities."
LiveScore columnist and former Lioness Fara Williams told 90min that obtaining footage of Haiti with which to prepare would not have been a problem like it might even a few years ago.
"I think now, where the game is at, the more exposure to the women's game, there won't be a game that you don't have footage for," she said.
"It might be minimal footage, but five or 10 years ago, there would have been zero footage of these teams. We'll certainly have enough footage to be able to prepare properly for the games."
Pressed on the possibility that Haiti could cause an upset, Wiegman went on to say, "Of course we have a lot of respect for them, they've done really well and that made them qualify for the World Cup. But we prepare well too so we’ll be ready.
"What we've seen worldwide is that the game improves. The top teams improve but the teams just beneath the top improve very well too and it gets closer and closer. That's what we've seen in the first two games [of the World Cup]."
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