'It doesn't feel like a crisis': Wiegman says England squad is 'happy' ahead of Women's Euros

England coach Sarina Wiegman laughed off suggestions of a “crisis” in the camp ahead of the Women's European Championship title defense after a chaotic week when key, experienced players pulled out of selection for the tournament.

Star defender Millie Bright declared herself unavailable for the Euros, saying she was not “100% mentally or physically,” while goalkeeper Mary Earps and midfielder Fran Kirby retired from international soccer. All three were in England's title-winning team at Euro 2022.

It robs Wiegman of 218 caps worth of experience for next month's tournament in Switzerland, and has led to talk of possible unhappiness in the squad and questions over whether the Dutch coach's lines of communication had come across as too strong or blunt.

Wiegman rejected those accusations in a news conference held after her 23-women squad — containing injury doubt Lauren James — was announced on Thursday.

“For me, it doesn't feel like a crisis at all,” Wiegman said after tough questions at which she occasionally laughed.

She attributed some of the scrutiny — or “noise,” as she put it — around squad issues down to the extra eyeballs on the women's game that is growing year on year.

“The difference between 2017, when I went into my first tournament (as Netherlands coach), and now is the attention and the visibility of the women's game has increased so much,” Wiegman said. "So there's more noise and there's more journalists here who write and show what we are doing.

“We just have to deal with it and focus on football.”

Wiegman insisted there was a good energy and connection between players in the team and that she was “pretty happy where we are right now.”

“We know what’s happening in the team and I think there's competition going on in the team — and I hope there's competition going on in the team."

Bright, England's captain at the 2023 World Cup when the team reached the final, underwent knee surgery on Thursday. Her club Chelsea described the procedure as “minor” and Bright wrote “successful op” on her Instagram account.

Bright had earlier said she doesn't believe she is in the right frame of mind or physical state to play in a major tournament.

She said in her podcast with England teammate Rachel Daly, released on Thursday, that she was making the "best decision for the team but also for myself" and would use the summer to mentally and physically get herself “back in tip-top condition and just happy again, I think, all round.”

Earps, another strong character in the England locker room, announced her international retirement last week after falling behind Hannah Hampton in the goalkeeper pecking order for her country.

Kirby, meanwhile, said she was planning to retire from England duty after the Euros but brought that forward after discovering she wouldn’t be in Wiegman’s squad.

“I knew it was the moment where I’d outstayed my welcome,” she posted on Instagram.

Wiegman said she believes it was important to be “honest” and “treat people in the right way.”

“Sometimes you have good news, sometimes you don't have good news,” Wiegman said. “I didn't beat around the bush with that — I just give that message. I can't control how people respond to that.”

James, the Chelsea forward, injured a hamstring against Belgium on April 4 and hasn't played for club or country since.

She was the biggest doubt ahead of Wiegman’s squad selection but was included among the attacking options that also featured Michelle Agyemang. She is a highly rated 19-year-old forward who has played once for England — scoring after 41 seconds.

England is in a group with France, the Netherlands and Wales.

The first game of the title defense is against the French on July 5.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

England coach Sarina Wiegman speaks with the players during the women's Nations League soccer match between Spain and England at the RCD Espanyol Stadium, in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

England women' soccer head coach Sarina Wiegman during a press conference at St George's Park, Burton upon Trent, England, Thursday June 5, 2025.(Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

England women' soccer head coach Sarina Wiegman during a press conference at St George's Park, Burton upon Trent, England, Thursday June 5, 2025.(Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has sharply rejected accusations by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claiming that it has been sidelining patient autonomy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The statements made by the US Secretary of Health are completely unfounded, factually incorrect, and must be rejected,” German Health Minister Nina Warken said in a statement late Saturday.

Kennedy said in a video post earlier on Saturday that he had sent the German minister a letter based on reports coming out of Germany that the government was “limiting people’s abilities to act on their own convictions when they face medical decisions.”

The American health secretary said that “I've learned that more than a thousand German physicians and thousands of their patients now face prosecution and punishment for issuing exemptions from wearing masks or getting COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic."

Warken rejected Kennedy’s claims, saying that “during the coronavirus pandemic, there was never any obligation on the medical profession to administer COVID-19 vaccinations. Anyone who did not want to offer vaccinations for medical, ethical, or personal reasons was not liable to prosecution, nor did they have to fear sanctions.”

Kennedy did not give provide specific examples or say which reports he was referring to but added that “in my letter, I explained that Germany is targeting physicians who put their patients first and punishing citizens for making their own medical choices.”

He concluded that "the German government is now violating the sacred patient physician relationship, replacing it is a dangerous system that makes physicians enforcers of state policies.”

Kennedy said that in his letter he made clear that “Germany has the opportunity and the responsibility to correct this trajectory, to restore medical autonomy, to end politically motivated prosecutions.”

Warken pointed out that there were no professional bans or fines for not getting vaccinated.

“Criminal prosecution was only pursued in cases of fraud and document forgery, such as the issuance of false vaccination certificates or fake mask certificates," the minister said.

She also clarified that in general in Germany “patients are also free to decide which therapy they wish to undergo.”

Former German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who was in charge during the pandemic, also replied, addressing Kennedy directly on X saying that he “should take care of health problems in his own country. Short life expectancy, extreme costs, tens of thousands of drug deaths and murder victims."

“In Germany, doctors are not punished by the government for issuing false medical certificates. In our country, the courts are independent,” Lauterbach wrote.

While a majority of Germans were eager to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic, there were also protests by a small minority of vaccine skeptics in Germany which were sometimes supported by far-right movements.

FILE - Robert Kennedy Jr., center, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department, walks between meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)