Sarina Wiegman was the "missing puzzle piece" England required to get over the line and win a major tournament, former striker Lianne Sanderson has told Stats Perform.
England Women landed their first major title on Sunday with a 2-1 victory against Germany at Wembley in the European Championship final.
In doing so, Wiegman became the first manager to win the tournament with two different nations, having previously gone all the way with the Netherlands in 2017.
Wiegman, who officially took over as head coach last September, has a record of 12 wins from 12 matches at the Women's Euros.
Sanderson herself went close to winning the competition in 2009, a substitute as England tasted defeat to Germany in the final.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea player, who earned 50 caps for her country, believes Wiegman deserves huge credit for helping the Lionesses end their wait for major silverware.
"I genuinely believe she's the missing puzzle piece," Sanderson said. "She's done it in back-to-back tournaments, both times on home soil.
"You have to have the right players, but also the blend of a good manager, and I think she's shown that.
"A lot of the players said that she didn't really draw upon her experience with the Netherlands, that she wanted to leave it in the past. But the players have been fantastic."
Wiegman settled on a winning formula across England's six tournament matches as they became the first team to name the same starting XI in every match.
The Dutchwoman regularly got the big calls correct, not least in the final as both goalscorers – Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly – were introduced from the substitutes' bench.
Indeed, seven of England's 22 goals came via substitutes when excluding own goals – only Germany (eight in 2009) have scored more in a single edition of the Women's Euros.
And in the view of Sanderson, that decision-making is why Wiegman deserves such high praise.
"Everybody knew their roles and responsibilities," Sanderson said. "That was pretty evident. At times, I thought we should mix up the team, like against Northern Ireland.
"There were times where I thought she'd play Alex Greenwood instead of Rachel Daly [at left-back]. But she's the only manager that's kept the same side and that proved the correct call.
"Last year in the men's [Euro 2020], everybody tried to pick the team. I thought Jack Grealish should be playing, then he didn't play in the final.
"We always say we're all the England manager when it comes to tournaments. But ultimately, that's why they get paid the big money. That's why they're in the positions they're in.
"I genuinely wish she was there when I was there because I think she's been a major, major catalyst in this. And she's not even been there a year."
England's triumph has been hailed as a landmark moment for women's football in England, with the tournament attracting record attendances.
More than 87,000 spectators were present at Wembley on Sunday, and Sanderson believes the perception of women's football has already completely changed.
"I've been so thrilled and blessed to be at all the games for England. I think that yesterday shows you where the women's game is at, where it's going to be," she said.
"It is massive for the women's game. But it's massive for football in this country. It's our first major trophy win [for the men or women] since 1966.
"A lot of people were sceptical. They've got nothing to say now because those people that have those dinosaur mentalities will get left behind, and I just think it's absolutely incredible."
Medvedev battles into French Open second round after Koepfer triumph
Daniil Medvedev staved off a Dominik Koepfer fightback to record a battling victory in the French Open first round on Monday.
The world number five raced out the blocks on Court Simonne-Mathieu and eventually triumphed 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3 in Paris.
Medvedev, a five-time major runner-up and 2021 US Open champion, broke Koepfer's first service game in the French capital with that a seeming sign of things to come.
Though the 28-year-old dropped his serve in the first set, Medvedev had little trouble in responding with the score finely poised at 3-2 to claim first blood at Roland-Garros.
The fifth seed has only ever gone as far as the quarter-finals, three years ago, at the French Open but showed his clinical best to snatch the second set after holding all six service games for a narrow triumph.
World number 65 Koepfer battled back in the third but the resilient Medvedev responded by breaking his German opponent early in the fourth set, finally securing victory in just over three hours.
Data Debrief: Medvedev gets better of Koepfer again
Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Koepfer, with his most recent such victory seeing him reach the second round at Roland-Garros for the third time in eight attempts.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Medvedev is 27-1 against players ranked outside the top 50 at major events, with his only loss in that run coming against Seyboth Wild in the French Open first round last year.
Koepfer, meanwhile, extends to 1-17 against top-10 players in his career, earning his only such victory against over Gael Monfils – then ranked ninth in the world – at the 2020 ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.
Euro 2024 absence caps cruel period for Netherlands midfielder De Roon
Netherlands will be without Marten de Roon at Euro 2024 after an injury blow capped a cruel period for the Atalanta midfielder.
De Roon suffered a muscle injury two weeks ago in Atalanta's 2-0 Coppa Italia final loss to Juventus, subsequently missing Gian Piero Gasperini's side lifting the Europa League with victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
The Netherlands international was in the stands in Dublin for the 3-0 win over Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions that secured Atalanta's first European trophy in history.
Having already been named in Ronald Koeman's 30-man provisional squad for the Euros in Germany, starting in June, De Roon suffered another gut-wrenching punch after his absence was confirmed.
"I can't imagine I've had a week in my career, or in my life, that has had so many ups and downs," the Atalanta man wrote on social media on Monday.
"Lost the Coppa Italia, couldn't play the final, win the Europa League.
"In that last euphoric state, I spent a lot of time with the medical staff: it turns out I can't play the Euros.
"I will get over it, I will watch the squad and my friends as a fan, but for now it's a very tough day."
De Roon has won 42 caps for his country and featured at the last European Championships and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
His absence means Koeman has to cut just six players down from his provisional squad for the final 23-man selection, which will be announced on Wednesday.
Netherlands open their Euro 2024 campaign against Poland on June 16 before facing France and Austria in the group stages.
Koeman's squad assembled on Monday for their pre-tournament training camp, ahead of warm-up matches with Canada and Iceland.
Bochum avoid Bundesliga relegation after play-off penalty drama downs Dusseldorf
Bochum will be playing in the Bundesliga once again next campaign after staving off relegation with a penalty shoot-out victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf in the play-offs.
Heiko Butscher's side finished 16th in the German top-flight table in the 2023-24 season, though got the better of their 2.Bundesliga opponents to secure another season in the competition.
Needing to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first-leg play-off defeat, Philipp Hofmann stole the show with a goal in either half before Kevin Stoger's 70th-minute penalty sent the tie to extra time.
The pair could not be separated across an additional 30 minutes at Dusseldorf Arena, ensuring spot-kicks were required to decide the fate of the two Bundesliga hopefuls.
Andre Hoffmann missed Dusseldorf's first but Erhan Masovic also faltered, leaving a winner-takes-all scenario in a sudden-death shoot-out with the score at 4-4.
Maximilian Wittek then converted before Takashi Uchino fired wide, sealing a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory for Bochum after a 3-0 win on Monday snatched a 3-3 aggregate draw.
Dusseldorf finished third in Germany's second division this season and will be forced for, at least, another campaign in 2. Bundesliga after this play-off heartbreak.
This was the first time a play-off has gone to penalties since the Bundesliga reintroduced the fixture, with Bochum ultimately prevailing to keep their top-flight status intact.
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