England women's coach: 'I was 10 years older when I beat Nigeria'

He received a red card from Lauren James in the 87th minute, had to play two more extra periods before defeating Nigeria 4-2 in the penalty shootout match of the 1/8 round on the evening of 7/8. "I just know I'm 10 years older," Wiegman told a post-match press conference. "I've never been in a game with so much tension."

He is currently fourth on the FIFA women's rankings, 36 places above Nigeria. The European representative is also unbeaten to 36 in the last 37 matches. But at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane yesterday, England encountered too many difficulties, and almost had to follow in the footsteps of the top 10 FIFA teams that had to leave early such as the US, Germany, Canada and Brazil.

Coach Wiegman admitted this was a slim victory, after she and the team had to manage to work out every little detail. After the match, when the pressure was relieved, the 53-year-old coach hugged the assistant and breathed a sigh of relief together. He will enter the quarterfinals, meeting the winner of the Colombia - Jamaica match.

Wiegman praised the efforts of the players when keeping a clean sheet for the whole match to win the final and avoid hammers from the British media. She also appreciated Nigeria with a very good organization, rich in physical strength and strong in spirit, causing England to be forced to play at times. According to Wiegman, this match is yet another proof that the Women's World Cup is increasingly balanced.

"Nothing was easy in this tournament," Wiegman said. "The play of the teams has improved a lot, with a lot of matches and not always the teams with higher expectations win."