Gareth Southgate told it will take 'THREE WEEKS' to recover from Euro 2024 final defeat by Sarina Wiegman, who also lost a major final to Spain with Lionesses

Almost a year ago, Wiegman came agonisingly close to winning her second major international trophy as Lionesses boss as her side faced Spain in the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup. However, a solitary goal from Olga Carmona Garcia shattered her dreams as La Roja lifted the trophy.

The Lionesses manager recently opened up about the Three Lions' heartbreaking defeat in the Euro 2024 final against Spain as she shared some valuable advice for Gareth Southgate. She told her male counterpart that it would take some time before he fully recovers from the shock of the loss but she urged the 53-year-old to never forget the pain as it would work as a motivation for him in the future.

Speaking to reporters, the Dutch coach said, "It takes about three weeks [to recover from a final defeat]. It’s very hard, especially if you have given everything and you don’t win. It can always go both ways, there is an opponent that wants to win too and has their qualities, but when you have given it everything it is really, really disappointing. You are asking yourself, did we do everything we could to control what we can control and then you have to accept it. It’s easier to accept a win, but for me, it took a bit of time.

"You can give yourself a couple of days for a hangover, but it is one of those things, there are moments when it will come back and you will think we should have done this or that. I think that is completely normal, you shouldn’t push that away because you work so hard every day, year after year, it’s your life."

She added, "You push so hard and you want to win it so badly when that doesn’t happen, it’s a huge disappointment but at the same time you have to keep moving on. I started thinking about that very quickly after the tournament. You don’t have time to stand still. You have to get ready for the next one because you want to keep performing at the highest level."

The England women's team will be next seen in action on July 16 as they take on Sweden in a Euro 2025 qualifying game.