
'Relentless Sweden deserve more recognition'
'Stina is an incredibly powerful footballer'
While Williamson believes there are no standout players in a strong Sweden side, she is very familiar with the threat Arsenal team-mate Stina Blackstenius poses.She opened the scoring with a composed finish in the win over Germany, and netted in their 3-0 victory against Poland.The 29-year-old also came off the bench to score the only goal as Arsenal beat Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final in May."Stina is an incredibly powerful footballer. She's very intelligent with her runs. She's a hard player to play against in that respect," said Williamson. "We were celebrating her success at Arsenal - but not so much now! She's a great player and she has been for many years now. Her experience speaks for itself."It's different [to] playing each other in training with restrictions. It's rare that I get to play against Stina in this setting. I enjoy it, and I like Stina. "It's tough to remove all of that. You don't want to focus on it too much and there's lots of things that come into play when you play against a team-mate, but I think I've known Stina long enough that I know who she is and it's time to focus on us."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Liverpool continue talks over signing Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt
Liverpool continue to be in negotiations over the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike. Reports in Germany of a deal being agreed for a £69m fee are said to be premature by sources at the Premier League champions, although it is believed the France Under-21 forward does favour a move to Anfield. Ekitike is expected to eventually join Liverpool as they look to overhaul their striking department, a situation further necessitated by the tragic death of Diogo Jota earlier this month. Luis Díaz could well depart from Merseyside, with Bayern Munich an interested party in the Colombia international, and Darwin Núñez is still very much for sale despite a move to Napoli the Uruguayan wanted having gone cold. Neither departure will be at a cut price. A deal for Ekitike , who has an £86m release clause in his contract with Frankfurt, continues to be negotiated despite reports of Alexander Isak, who Liverpool are known to be interested in, being unsettled at Newcastle. Eddie Howe left the Swede out of the squad that lost 4-0 to Celtic in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, with the manager later admitting that was because of recent transfer speculation. Howe did go on to say, however, that he was 'confident [Isak] will be a Newcastle player come the end of the window' . Liverpool are prepared to pay a British record transfer fee to make Isak their new No 9 but the chances of them signing – or indeed being able to afford – the 25-year-old remain remote, hence the stepping up of their interest in Ekitike. Isak has also been linked with Arsenal, as previously was Ekitike, who scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in all competitions for Frankfurt last season. Liverpool have already signed Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez this summer, with Giorgi Mamardashvili linking up with the side after agreeing a move last August.


BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
All-rounder Green extends Leicestershire loan
Somerset all-rounder Ben Green has extended his loan spell with Leicestershire for two further County Championship has been an ever-present for Leicestershire in first-class cricket this season, scoring 283 runs and taking 29 wickets for the Division Two 27-year-old is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the second tier and registered his maiden first-class five-wicket haul during the Foxes' win over Gloucestershire in Holland also returns to the Leicestershire attack after missing the Championship draw with Glamorgan and defeat by Middlesex while on duty with Major League Cricket side Washington Foxes hold a 31-point lead in Division Two and return to four-day action on Tuesday away to Derbyshire.


Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Another last-eight exit for France has players wondering when their turn will come
BASEL, Switzerland, July 20 (Reuters) - France arrived at Euro 2025 riding on one of the hottest streaks in women's football, but another quarter-final exit from a major tournament left the shell-shocked players wondering when it will be their turn to celebrate. France had won 11 in a row before they kicked off against Germany on Saturday, but wilted against the eight-times European champions -- despite having 11 players to Germany's 10 for most of the game -- losing 6-5 in a penalty shootout. "We're wondering when it's going to be smiling for us at last," said Grace Geyoro. Geyoro put France ahead with a 14th-minute penalty in a game that ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time. Les Bleues have now been eliminated in the quarter-finals in seven of the past nine World Cups or Euros. They were also eliminated in the quarters in their last two Olympic appearances, in 2016 and 2024. Germany swept them aside in the 2022 Euro semi-finals. "I don't think we have a psychological problem," said France coach Laurent Bonadei. "We have opponents of quality, and it gets harder and harder. "But I think my players gave us hope; Rome wasn't built in a day." Bonadei, who was hired in August 2024, drew criticism when he left veteran centre-back Wendie Renard and France's all-time leading goalscorer Eugénie Le Sommer off his Euro 2025 squad in favour of younger players. Bonadei quoted Einstein in his decision at the time, saying: "'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.' I want different results for this team so I have gone with a different selection. "It's something I've been thinking about since the start of the season." France defender Sakina Karchaoui called the early exit "totally frustrating." "We had so much faith in this group, in what we've built up and so on," she said. "But we don't have to throw it all away; on the contrary, you have to take a lot of positive things from it. And one day it will pass, we know that." Bonadei pointed out after Saturday's loss that France will clash with Germany again in October in a two-legged Nations League semi-final. Germany, meanwhile, play world champions Spain in the semi-finals on Wednesday.