Lionesses: England boss Sarina Wiegman 'had to pretend to be a boy to play football'

Sarina took over as England boss in 2020

Sarina Wiegman says she had to pretend to be a boy in order to play football as a child growing up in the Netherlands.

England women's manager is one of the most recognisable Dutch players of all-time having played over 100 times for her country before moving into coaching.

"When I started playing football as a six-year-old girl we weren't allowed to play, so I played illegally," she said.

The Lionesses beat North Macedonia 8-0 in Wiegman's first match in charge earlier this month.

Sarina leading a training session with the England Lionesses

"I had very short hair, looked a little bit maybe like a boy, my parents were really OK and I had a twin brother, so we just started to play and everyone said that's OK," she told the BBC.

"It wasn't normal then and now it's just normal, whether you're a boy or a girl, you can play football and that's just great.

"It was actually crazy before, that you couldn't, but that's just the way it is in development I guess."

Wiegman said it "makes her so happy" that "many things have changed" for women and girls in football.

"I've lived through this whole development and that's so nice to be aware of," she said.

Netherlands won the 2017 European Championships under Sarina's leadership

"I'm really happy when I see little kids playing, whether it's boys or girls, I just love to see them play and love to see them having fun because it starts with fun.

"I hope for every kid there's a pathway, whether you're competitive or whether you just want to play for fun and not at a high level, and then at all stages and all ages you can play football. I'm very interested in it but for now I really have my focus on the senior women's team."