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Stanway and Wiegman on race row engulfing England's Jess Carter ahead of Euro semi v Italy
21/07/2025
uefa25
England - Italy Euros semi final
21/07/2025
uefa25
England - Italy Euros semi final
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SportsTranscript
00:00thanks so much good evening welcome to Geneva ahead of tomorrow's Euro semi-final against
00:13Italy a couple of bits of housekeeping there are a lot of people in the room so we'd ask you if you
00:18are asking a question just to introduce yourself with the name and organization that you work for
00:23and for any friends in the Italian media or international media there is a translation
00:29service in place thank you we'll take questions from the floor Anton from Sky Sports we'll begin
00:36with you good evening both nice to see look I was going to be a question for both of you if you
00:44if you don't mind look I'd love to ask you questions about the upcoming game and how big it is but
00:50obviously the last 24 hours have been dominated by a very very important issue so I'm pursuing the
00:54first off I'm just wondering sort of how you've as a as a manager sort of dealt with a very sort of
00:59difficult situation when it comes to you know racist abuse for one of your players and and Georgia I
01:05suppose the teams will come together to support Jess but just how difficult have the last sort of well
01:0924 hours but also I suppose the tournament been yeah of course it's really sad that we have to
01:15be occupied by this it's ridiculous it's disgusting what's happening and that goes beyond football so
01:22we had to pay attention to that and support Jess of course she's not the only one who gets this abuse
01:27or this this racism and that's why she wanted to address it and she's fully supported by the team
01:34and by us and by myself yeah like Serena said then I think if anything it's probably brought us
01:40together as a team there's some things that we will never be able to understand and that's one
01:47of those and yeah we need to cut it out of society we need to cut it out of football and of course we
01:52don't know the steps that it takes in order for that to happen but right now all we can do is show
01:57our support our togetherness and we can be united in what we want to make sure is right
02:01thank you hi there Jane Diggle BBC and Serena how do you balance not giving the trolls any power
02:13and going on as normal to prepare for the match versus protecting your player and potentially not
02:22playing Jess Carter yeah well of course we had the conversations and although it's a hard situation
02:30Jess is a very strong person and she wants to move on to but she also felt and so that we that we had
02:38to address this you can't just let it go so we did she did we did and then we know there's there's the
02:47match going on and and we want to perform we're ready to perform she's ready to perform and to compete
02:53um and that says also a lot about her and about the team thank you
02:59hi Serena you could become only um the second manager in the history to lead their nation into
03:12three successive finals not sure you even know that but it's a pretty incredible achievement um
03:17yeah how much do you actually sit down yourself and reflect on these personal achievements um or
03:22are you always just thinking about you know the achievements as a collective and as a team
03:25i don't i'm just in the job now i'm working with the team and all that keeps that keeps me busy is the
03:33game tomorrow uh and we want to win and we are in full preparation of course which where we have
03:39been occupied with too but um that's the only thing that keeps me busy maybe in 10 or 15 years i'll
03:46think about that yeah i was gonna say yeah what
03:49i georgia how frustrating is it that particularly so often particularly female footballers in this
04:04case jess as the victims have to be the ones to sort of try to galvanize action to
04:08hopefully get a response in this case from social media companies um yeah i think the most important
04:14thing is jess has the power to be able to do that and she doesn't have the power on her own she has
04:19a power of the lionesses of us as players as staff as the whole of the fa um so it might sound like
04:26one person is fighting this battle but you never know how many people are actually behind her and
04:30stand with her and i think that's the beauty of football is if we want to make change we can do it
04:36as a collective and as a collective but we're more powerful and so you know what's your message
04:40been to the players obviously such a powerful moment yesterday as they now focus on the huge
04:44matter of a semi-final yeah well i that didn't need the message i think the team uh came really
04:51well together and we spoke about it and everyone wants to perform tomorrow too but also wanted to
04:57address this and get send the message into the world so um yeah i think also that says a lot about
05:04the team thanks we'll go to luke edwards at 10 above please thank you
05:10just just firstly to you george does it make it harder to pull on the national shirt knowing that
05:19this sort of abuse is happening um to us the people that are being abusive and saying these
05:26things and doing things like this they're not fans um so it makes absolutely no difference to us
05:32putting that shirt on because we know that we're wearing it for the people that we stand next to
05:37our families the actual fans that here to watch the game to enjoy the game and yeah i say it with
05:43power because i really believe it um i believe that people like that aren't deserved to be called
05:48fans and just on a slightly different tact uh serena have you fallen in love with england and the
05:55english people yes i have but not the ones that uh gee was just talking about yeah it has been
06:02incredible and it is incredible and there's just some people that do disgusting things
06:07thanks we'll just go in front to tom gary the guardian please thanks thank you hi both um george
06:17could i just ask you a bit more about the team's decision to no longer take the knee what was the
06:21reasoning behind that and why does that feel so important to you as players i think it's just to
06:25change it up um we felt like the knee was just a little bit repetitive um we felt like yeah it come
06:32to a point where the knee isn't doing what we wanted it to do um so now our decision is to stand
06:37and hopefully that will bring up more conversation more change um and yet hopefully get the topic
06:42talking emma from the bbc um hi serena um i just wonder on paper england obviously favorites got
06:55the better ranking better um performances in recent major tournaments so a lot of people would be
07:00considering them to be favorites going into the semi-final are you having to be wary of that and
07:05you know make sure that you don't potentially slip up in in a game that people expect you to win
07:11yeah i think um i think it would be really disrespectful to italy to think that we're the
07:17favorites um i think um they make the semi-final just like we did and that's very impressive for any
07:24team that makes the semi-final um so complacency is just the biggest the biggest mistake you could
07:32make we've seen them all you've seen them all how they've played um so there's yeah i don't think
07:38there's any thing that we could think that um we might be the favorite but we have to be at our
07:44very very best to win the game thank you kit shepherd from the times
07:49hi both um georgia we've heard from piara power who's the head of football's international
08:01anti-discrimination body fair and he's said today that by not taking the knee that the england players
08:07are ditching a powerful action over his words just what would your response be to that argument
08:12i think exactly what i said earlier um we've decided not to take the knee because we want
08:18more action to be made and we want to create yeah more of a talking point more of a point to make more
08:24change um and yeah i think that starts with social media it starts with people having access to be
08:31able to do those these hurtful things um so yeah our stance and our opinion stays the same and that's
08:38what we've decided as a collective thank you and just serena we saw everyone training this morning
08:44does that mean you're expecting to have a full complement to choose from tomorrow that's what
08:48it looks like yeah we'll get charlotte hi serena hi georgia um a question for both of you i just
08:56wondered if you could give us one positive and one negative example of how your lives have changed
09:03since euro 2022 as a lioness and as manager of the lionesses
09:08fans versus abuse yeah yeah sorry say again georgia i'd say fans versus abuse um yeah i'd probably go
09:18back to the point that it was before fans can be so powerful but then there becomes a point where
09:22a fan's opinion is a little bit too much and then it can be yeah over the line in terms of negativity
09:27um but i think what we created off the back of the euros is a lot a lot of positivity and i think
09:33that outweighs the negative but it's moments like this that we just do not stand for
09:37um yeah it's similar i think uh visibility of the women's game over the last years um that that's a
09:47that has a lot of impact um that you can now have a profession as a football player as a coach that's
09:53really really positive and the fans involved and yeah the the main negative is is the abuse and
09:59discrimination thank you thanks just in front of you thanks charlotte hi serena whose responsibility
10:07do you think it is to make football a safe space for everyone i think uh it starts with everyone
10:14taking responsibility and then you have the bodies um that's responsible for the all these platforms that
10:22should do something also and georgia on a slightly lighter note i know you like your tattoos if you
10:29were to get a tattoo now to sum up your experience to date in switzerland making it to a semi-final what
10:34would it be roller coaster nice good morning britain question for both of you both said you'd like to
10:44see more action can i just uh quiz you a little bit more on what that would look like practically
10:48for you as a team and also as protection for players like jess carter yeah i think we talked
10:55about it yesterday um and it was about if people wanted to stay on social media if they wanted to
10:59come off it um yeah it's standing by yeah your own personal experiences um i think we've had a few
11:08people that want to come off social media because they're fed up with it um and yeah i think yeah
11:14yeah i think that's all like the bigger question is not to answer for us i think that's the answer
11:21for other people yeah thank you katherine that daily talker
11:25hi um question for georgia um beth mead said this week that um the squad's been able to be
11:35vulnerable with each other and share tough moments and she said she felt like it's kind of brought them
11:39closer together and contributed to that never say die attitude that we saw against sweden would you
11:44you kind of feel the same yeah absolutely i think being vulnerable is probably one of the most important
11:49things because it brings the group so much closer together um i think when times are tough on the
11:55pitch you want to be able to rely on your mate and you want to be able to yeah look at them in both good
12:00and bad and understand that you're both on the right journey and you're both on the right path to
12:04exactly what you want at the end which is to win um and yeah we've talked a lot about
12:09vulnerability and we've talked a lot about opening our arms up and recognizing who's next to us and
12:14having the belief in the people that are next year and not the people that yeah aren't in the bubble
12:18hi georgia can i ask about your tactical role on the pitch how it's changed from previous tournaments
12:28there was uh there's been a few times where you've been out on the left flank shouting for a pass there
12:33was a bit against the netherlands where you were there for about three minutes i don't think a pass
12:37came in the end but is that something you've spoken about and worked on in training or is it just
12:41something that's happened naturally in games thanks um yeah it's just something that's kind
12:45of happened naturally um i'm a midfielder and i wouldn't say i've got many super strengths but i'd
12:51say i was a little bit of a good all-rounder um you can put me on the left put me on the right and
12:55i'll do exactly the same job and i think if anything this tournament i've learned a little bit more
13:01discipline um it was ella toon fighting the yellow card for a while whereas every tournament it's
13:05been me um so i've took that as a positive this round um but yeah i'm happy to do a job either on
13:12the left or either on the right and yeah i'm happy to move around for my teammates and link up with
13:17them um so yeah whatever's required from serena i'll put a shift in thanks michael flo lloyd hughes
13:24thank you
13:26hi both a question for both of you um both the all the recent matches that england played against
13:39italy have really been friendlies how do you think sides change in knockout football
13:45in your experience when you play a side that you've got a good record against but mostly in
13:50those friendly matches how do you think that those games change when it's tournament tournament's
13:55completely different um yeah you turn up to a tournament and it's just 90 minutes of
14:00might not even be the better team but it's who put the ball in the back of the net
14:03very competitive i think um we're now um the fifth game of the tournament uh both um of course
14:12semi-final some then something happens with teams um so it's going to be really really
14:18competitive i don't think you can compare it with the games we've played against them
14:22thanks can we take a question at the front thank you hiya angelina from talk sport george i wanted
14:29to ask this is your fourth consecutive major tournament semi-final does it ever get any less
14:36nerve-wracking does it get easier with time i didn't even know um so yeah you telling me that
14:42is have i made you nervous now sorry i'm already nervous i'm sweating to be sat here um no um yeah
14:48i'm very grateful to be in this position and i think it's just credit to the whole of england
14:54um in terms of yeah us getting this far the squad the depth that we have um and yeah just how
15:00important it is to have like i said such depth in the team that brings such quality and
15:05you can see it in the games that we've played so far and how important the substitutes have been
15:09and the finishes of the game and they've come on they've scored they've made a difference and
15:13exactly like the euros last time um we relied so much on alessia and tooney coming on and changing
15:19the game at about 60 70 minutes and it's exactly the same this year and yeah you see the strength
15:24and the depth within the squad and utilizing it is the most important thing thank you thank you
15:28georgia another one sorry um adrian from talk sport i spoke to you after the spain game in
15:35barcelona you played the first half and you worked so hard in that half and but you just come back
15:40from injury all the time you're out just tell us a little bit about the journey the emotional journey
15:44of not knowing whether you're going to make it or not and how was that for you and how does it feel
15:49now that you've made it and you're here to be honest i still have to pinch myself um i do feel like
15:55i'm super grateful to be here um i think when you are out injured and when i look well from the spain
16:02game before that it was probably six seven months before i'd even played um and yeah in that time
16:08you do realize how much you enjoy going to work every day how much you enjoy stepping out on the grass
16:13and yeah i really really missed it but i think you almost just slot back in um it feels like the time
16:21hasn't gone now i'm in this situation at the time i wouldn't say that but now and
16:25i'm in this situation i feel like yeah the time's gone really fast um and yeah i'm grateful to be
16:32here i'm grateful that serena had trust in me to be able to yeah fight through those months and to
16:37be here sat now um but yeah it wasn't easy but at the end of it it's worth it when we're about to
16:44play tomorrow and physically how are you now yeah i feel good yeah i feel good actually probably a lot
16:49better than i would have felt if i'd have continued a whole season um yeah i feel
16:53faster faster fitter stronger wow that was terrible um than i've ever felt before um so yeah i think i
17:01really needed that time to work in the gym work on my weaknesses um and yeah it was 10 years of
17:07playing football without an injury so i might have needed something thank you can we go to tom victor
17:13daily mirror please tom thank you hi both um just want to ask about leah williamson obviously she
17:24couldn't finish the game against sweden back in training today and uh just what does that say
17:29about her resilience and kind of fight to to be back in contention to feature it says um she really
17:35wants to play and she did everything um to recover as good as possible and she has so she could be
17:41training today and when she recovers well she's available tomorrow georgia um yeah of course she's
17:47our captain um we would like her on the pitch as much as possible um she leads in communication and
17:53in performance um so to have her on the pitch is obviously what england need and uh it's the
17:58obviously had the extra day they only played 90 minutes versus 120 how much is sort of the mental
18:04aspect of recovery going to be as important as physical in terms of being able to to make up for
18:09that difference yeah well we were just really happy that we had an extra day uh compared to all
18:14the other games we played so far so and this this extra day really helped us and um yeah we're in the
18:20stage now that's yeah tomorrow when we have to play we're ready thank you sarina georgia just talked
18:29about the importance of subs on substitutes and i wanted to ask you about chloe kelly's impact
18:35how did you describe her qualities as a player and what are you expecting from her on the semifinal
18:41well um of course uh what i said before in our squad we have for the same positions we have different
18:48players with different attributes to the game and that's what she brought when she came on and that's
18:52what we hope she will bring to and she showed that she was really ready um with her yeah she could
18:57cross the ball right and left and that's exactly what she did when she came on the pitch and that was
19:02necessary in the game and came on really sharp but i think all the substitutes that came on were really
19:06sharp and did their job um and it was a hard fight um but uh we went through so um yeah that's that's
19:15what we hope that uh the players bring when they come on the pitch and that that's what make the team
19:19strong thanks hello my name is christiana with the german press agency i would like to know from both of
19:28you how much you practiced penalties in the last few days and whether you've seen the some movement
19:35and improvement we practice hours and hours no we didn't um now of course um over the last months you
19:44know that when you go into tournament and you come in a knockout stage that you can go to penalties
19:48so it's something that players train penalties all the time also at club and you just want to be
19:55prepared as possible but also have that process from going into a penalty shootout what's what you can
20:00expect um hopefully it's not necessary but um we've practiced it now again
20:06thanks we'll go to the games at the guardian thank you
20:12hi um question for either of you but maybe to georgia um i think italy have played here a couple
20:21of times already um they've been very well supported i think maybe 10 000 fans in the stadium almost like
20:27a home game for them in switzerland how um how important is it that as well as the team being on it
20:31the fans of the lionesses are on it in there tomorrow yeah we know that they'll turn up um
20:37yeah we have no doubt about that um we love football as a nation and the lionesses fans never let us down
20:43um in the stadiums and yeah hopefully we can get the majority in the stadium tomorrow um i think it'll
20:50be really nice because it's a closer stadium the last few games we've had the running track around
20:54um so yeah i think it'll be quite nice because it'll be quite intense um and hopefully we'll be a lot of noise
21:00thank you we'll take two final questions tom gary at the guardian emma sanders from bbc tom
21:06uh hi serena um all the subs who came on played so well in the quarterfinal obviously making a big
21:13impact so have they given you any headaches for your selection um well we have headaches all the
21:20time because i think a lot of players can play and can start that makes uh i said a couple of times
21:24and that makes the team so um so strong um so we before every game we take a lot of things in
21:31consideration and so so we do also for tomorrow can i just check team news obviously you said
21:38is everyone else fit yeah yeah thank you everyone's fit
21:42i asked that question in the wrong context because it came after asking georgia stanley about the
21:49beauty fans but just what is your relationship like with england as a country and the people have
21:54you have you built a deep affection for our style of football for for the way we support football
21:59that depends on what you really mean with the question the the deep connection i think a deep
22:05connection you built with your family and a closer connection with the team because i'm i'm around
22:11them all the time and around the people i work with um i just what what i really see like the how
22:17football and sports is into this well this into england is just really impressive and just very nice to
22:24be part of okay we will take one final question from the gentleman at the back and then we'll conclude
22:30there hi serena i just uh one of you showed a lot of resilience against sweden when when you won
22:36that game what lessons did you learn tactically that you need to bring to this game now against
22:42italy yeah i think um well i think this is a different game um i think um yeah sweden was very
22:51very physical counter-attack i think it's italy can do that too um they are very they they can they're
22:59creative in their shapes they can do different things um but i wouldn't really say like there's one
23:06thing that i that we really would literally take over to the italy game okay thanks so much for your
23:14time we'll see many of you tomorrow night thank you have a good evening thank you
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