England win their first European Womens Championship

England win their first European Women’s Championship

Just

He celebrated football at Wembley. And he did it twice, if you will, even as a couple. The English choir won, a team that knew how to play with and without the ball, who liked them but also suffered. He won the game after a beautiful tournament crowned by a final that ranged from scary to dizzying and never got boring. But above all, women’s football won. England and Germany honored the cathedral and received an extra award, a unique trademark, a symbol of the new era. UEFA promoted the tournament like never before and people reacted as usual when talking about the ball. Wembley set an unprecedented European Championship attendance for both women and men: 87,192 spectators, the previous mark being 79,115 at Euro 1964 when Spain beat the Soviet Union at the Bernabéu.

England

two

Mary Earps, Leah Williamson, Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly, Beth Mead, Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp, Fran Kirby, Keira Walsh, and Ellen White

1

Germany

Merle Frohms, Giulia Gwinn, Felicitas Rauch, Kathrin Hendrich, Marina Hegering, Lina Magull, Sara Däbritz, Lena Oberdorf, Lea Schüller, Jule Brand and Svenja Huth

Gates 1-0 min. 61: You Toone. 1-1 min. 78: Lina Magull. 2-1 min. 109: Chloe Kelly.

Yellow cards Georgia Stanway (min. 22), Ellen White (min. 23), Felicitas Rauch (min. 39), Lena Oberdorf (min. 56), Lea Schüller (min. 56), Alessia Russo (min. 99) and Chloe Kelly (min. 111)

England honored Wembley by winning their first European Championship in a final that crowned the tournament’s top two teams. The Three Lions, on the other hand, still showed a march, a faithful reflection of their coach Sarina Wiegman. But Germany is Germany. Sometimes it shines, others less; always compete. And he didn’t give himself an easy defeat at Wembley, less so against England. Kelly elevated England in extra time in a final that sent a message to the world. For the audience record, but also for football. Europe is teaching the United States that Germany and Norway are no longer alone to challenge his scepter. England, Sweden, the Netherlands and also Spain are already there, which without their two top figures (Putellas and Hermoso) sent the champions on the ropes in the quarterfinals.

In the end he had a hard time waking up. The ball came and went. With no direction or owner, he went from English to German like a foosball table. A fearful and ruthless game that contradicted both the flashy, always vertical football of the English and that of the consistent and combative Germans. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s selection sought from the outset to block the Drei Löwen’s flanks. Your flyers fell silent, Germany waited. Immune to public pressure, to the VAR’s decision – he wasn’t considering a hand from Williamson in the box – even to the emotional smack of losing his franchise girl in warm-up: Popp.

After passing through the dressing rooms, the rhythm of the duel changed. Actually, Germany changed it. The wait was over. Germany was in the English field. But if anyone is able to envision multiple games in one without fear of ousting Weiss, the Three Lions’ all-time top scorer, it’s Wiegman. The Dutchwoman went 4-4-2 and didn’t flinch when her best striker of the tournament, Mead, was injured. Wiegman’s ingenuity sent Toone into the field. How long did it take to prove him right? A game. Toone met Frohms on the first ball he touched. What happened to him? A Vaseline. A newspaper archive goal in a historic tournament.

afraid of losing

Then yes. From the lazy rhythm finale to an intense back and forth match, symbol of two ambitious teams, fueled to withstand a wild pace of play. Germany squeezed. England countered. Magull slept lightly and slipped into the small penalty area to make it 1-1. The draw silenced Wembley and turned on the time machine. As at the beginning of the duel, the fear of losing prevailed, as if overtime were a painkiller for tension. And in a way it was. Overtime was all about emotions. England surrendered to their fans and Germany to the resistance.

With no pause in the ball’s circulation, the dead ball was presented as the solution. As much for a breath as for trying to break the tie. And so Kelly appeared. A goal of brawl and fight. A difficult goal in the small area. In short, an indelible goal for the Three Lions. So indelible that Bobby Moore, who won the 1966 World Cup, is no longer alone in the great history of English football. Now Williamson raised the euro. Also against Germany. Also at Wembley.

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