England beat Germany after extra time to win their first

England beat Germany after extra time to win their first Euro L’Équipe

Like the men in 1966, England footballers will have been waiting to be home to win their first major trophy at a packed Wembley Stadium. Sarina Wiegmann’s players waited for extra time to clear the Germans’ trap, who robbed injured Alexandra Popp in the warm-up and won their European Championship (2-1).

The game: 2:1

Without captain and top scorer Alexandra Popp, Germany seemed lost for a long time, despite the good will of surprise starter Lea Schüller. Enough to motivate the English, who have continued to move forward and showed some weaknesses during extra time.

The locals started better thanks to systematic attacks from the sides. The solid Henrich Hegering hinge was put to the test, as was goalkeeper Merle Frohms, who was challenged by Stanway and his 18th-minute conversion.

English supremacy never frightened the Germans, patient, whose first real opportunity came in the 25th. After a corner from the left, Hegering capitalized on a scramble and thought he had opened the shot on goal before Earps intervened at the last moment. After the break, the eight-time European champions regained the upper hand until Toone opened the top scorer with a solid chip, well initiated by Walsh (62′).

A perfect scenario to irritate more and more offensive Germans. This second act, much better than the first, was substantiated by Magull with a powerful shot just in front of the opposing goal (79th), which pushed both teams to 30 minutes of overtime.

With fatigue and fear, the two teams multiplied the errors in a very boring overtime. While opportunities were scarce, the Lionesses proved the solidity of their group with the winning goal from substitute Chloe Kelly (110th). Enough to capsize Wembley, no doubt still frustrated by the men’s defeat last year.

87 192

This Euro 2022 will have been a success in English stadiums. The final at Wembley will have welcomed 87,192 seats out of the 90,000 available, a record for a women’s and men’s European Championship.

Fact is: First defeat in the final for Germany

As the favorites of the competition, the Germans failed to lift this trophy for the ninth time. And for the first time they lost to England, who won their first major title there. But this isn’t the first time the side have gone into extra time in the finals of a Euro. Norway 1991 and Sweden 2001 had accomplished the same feat without winning the Grail after 120 minutes.