Sue Smith: England can emphasise shift in mentality with Wembley triumph

Former England international Sue Smith has told freesupertips.com that a "mentality shift" has played a key role in the Lionesses making the final of Women's Euro 2022 and she has backed the tournament hosts to lift the trophy at Wembley.

Smith was in the England squad the last time they made the final of the Euros in 2009 and, asked if football is coming home on Sunday, she said: "Absolutely it is. At the start of the tournament, I said it a little bit tongue in cheek but at the same time I still believed this squad was capable of doing it.

"Sarina Wiegman is a world-class manager, who has done it before with the Netherlands, so I did think they had a great opportunity.

"You just know with tournament football that so many things can happen but as it was going on, I was really starting to believe.

"I'm so proud of this team. You look at everything that comes with this tournament - the number of fans and the amount of people watching women's football."

England prevailed 4-0 in their semi-final with Sweden in Sheffield thanks to goals from Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze, Alessia Russo and Fran Kirby, and Smith said the Lionesses showed character to come through a tricky early spell in the game.

She said: "It always helps when you're winning but the togetherness of the squad looks like it's helping when things aren't quite going to plan.

"Against Sweden in the semi-finals, England just looked so comfortable once they got through the first 30 minutes or so.

"England had to soak up that initial pressure and solve problems on the pitch, which they did, but they still had this aura about them.

"I was sat there thinking that England were going to win this and there aren't many times you sit there watching England feeling relaxed."

England manager Wiegman has been consistently praised for how she has improved the Lionesses since arriving in September 2021 and Smith waxed lyrical about the Dutch coach.

Smith added: "We got to the final in 2009 but since then we've been to four semi-finals and not managed to get to the final and win it.

"This is what Wiegman was brought in to do - there's just so many positive things you can say about her.

"Her off-the-field planning is great, the communication to the players is very straightforward and the players know exactly what their roles are.

"The players now believe they can go all the way and win it.

"That mentality shift is the biggest thing I've seen in this England side. When we got to the final, I'm not sure we actually believed we could win it.

"Germany got the first goal that day and you could see shoulders dropped, but I feel like that wouldn't happen with this team if they went a goal down.

"They have the mindset that they can come back into games and a lot of it has to come from the manager and her coaching staff, so she deserves so much credit ."

England's final opponents Germany have been fearless this tournament and Smith believes, despite England's qualities, Die Nationalelf can run the hosts close.

She said: "The best word to describe this Germany side is efficient because everything they do is spot on.

"They've conceded one goal in the tournament and they've got quality and creativity going forward.

"There's a lot of positives for both sides and sometimes I think it can just go down to a little bit of luck or a moment of brilliance.

"Hopefully it won't be a mistake, but I can see this one going all the way.

"It's going to be tight, but I'm going to go for a 2-1 win to England after extra-time."

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