Rivalry billing for Euros tie may mean more for Wales – England's Alex Greenwood
A win against their fellow home nation – the lowest-ranked team in the tournament – would be enough to book defending champions England a place in the quarter-finals, while newcomers Wales would require a victory of four goals or more, as well as France beating the Netherlands.
Greenwood's cool demeanour and downplayed approach to the opposition was in direct contrast to Wales captain Angharad James, who, when sat at the same St Gallen table moments before and asked if she wanted to knock England out, said: 'Of course you do. It's in our blood. It's in our DNA.'
But quizzed as to whether or not she felt the same sense of rivalry, Greenwood conceded: 'Maybe not as much. I think, for me personally, it's another game.
'It's now the most important game that we're going to play and I think that's how I look at it, that's how I treat it. I think for the fans and everybody around it, the rivalry is brilliant.
'I think the atmosphere tomorrow is going to be great and something we should all look forward to, but from a personal perspective, it's another really important game.'
Greenwood reached a century of England caps in their tournament-opening 2-1 defeat to France, and added: 'Playing for England has always been a dream of mine since I could kick a ball and I think to make 100 caps for your country is generally something I never thought I would achieve.
'I'm really proud of doing that and really grateful for the people who helped me along the way.'
Wales do have a precedent when it comes to showing up against England, holding the Lionesses to a frustrating goalless draw in their 2018 World Cup qualifier.
At the time, then-Wales manager Jayne Ludlow said it was probably the best result in their history and the current side are eager to write more of their own with what is likely to be one final opportunity in Switzerland.
Both Wales skipper James and head coach Rhian Wilkinson said 'the pressure is all on England', leaving some wondering if Wales were trying to get in the Lionesses' psyche.
'Maybe, I don't know,' replied England boss Sarina Wiegman. 'But we have our own preparation and we know also what's on the line and we will do everything to win the game because we want to get through.
'There's always pressure on England, but we make it expectation. We expect from ourselves that we are going to play a good game.'
Dutchwoman Wiegman, who led the Netherlands then England to the European trophy in 2017 and 2022 respectively, revealed she had also been undertaking a little research.
'Yeah, I learned a little about the history and about the rivalry,' she said. 'But we focus on what we have to do and how we want to play and find a way to win.'
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The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Is Chloe Kelly the first player to score the decisive goal at two major finals?
'Chloe Kelly scored the goal that won Euro 2022 and the penalty that won Euro 2025. Including penalty shootouts, has anybody else scored the winner in two major international tournaments? And which women have dominated a whole competition?' asks Emma Pollard. For a player who has never started a knockout match at a major tournament, Chloe Kelly has had … a reasonable impact. She scored the winner against Germany in extra time in 2022, and the winning penalty in the shootout against Spain on Sunday. Kelly also set up Alessia Russo's equaliser in the final, played a key role in both goals against Sweden in the quarter-finals, kept England in the tournament with a nerveless penalty in the subsequent shootout, and then scored a 119th-minute winner against Italy in the semi-finals. We're not done. In 2023, Kelly scored the winning penalty in the shootout against Nigeria in the World Cup last 16. If you include the Finalissima against Brazil earlier the same year, Kelly has scored the winning penalty in three shootouts for England. That's more than every other man and woman in England combined. Eric Dier (Colombia, World Cup 2018) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (Switzerland, Euro 2024) are the only players to do it once. Kelly's substitute role means she hasn't dominated a World Cup or European Championship finals like Carli Lloyd in 2015 or, in the men's game, Diego Maradona at Mexico '86. But she is the first player to score the decisive goal – shootouts included – in two World Cup or European Championship finals. Hers is a modern kind of glory: from the bench, often involving extra time and penalties. Some greats of the women's game have stolen the show in different ways. Germany's Birgit Prinz scored in – and you'll like this – five finals between 1995 and 2009. Germany won them all, four in the Euros (1995, 1997, 2005, 2009) and one World Cup in 2007. Prinz was also part of the team that won Euro 2001, more of which below, but failed to score in the final. To find a recent example of a player grabbing the headlines at the business end of a tournament, you only need to go back a couple of years. The Spain left-back Olga Carmona followed an 89th-minute winner against Sweden in the World Cup semi-final by rifling in the only goal of the final against England. The most dominant performance across a whole knockout stage probably belongs to the aforementioned Carli Lloyd. In 2015, she was player of the match in all four of the USWNT's knockout games. She scored in all four, too, including the only goal against China in the quarter-finals, the opener against Germany in the semis – and a hat-trick inside the first 16 minutes of the final against Japan. For overall impact, that's very difficult to beat. A few other players are worthy of mention, though: Pia Sundhage (Sweden, Euro 1984) Semi-final first leg: scored Sweden's second equaliser in 3-2 win away to Italy Semi-final second leg: scored both goals in 2-1 win (5-3 agg) Final: scored Sweden's only goal across the two legs against England, which ended 1-1 on aggregate, then scored the winning penalty in the shootout (NB: The tournament began at the semi-final stage) Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands, Euro 2017) Quarter-final: second goal in 2-0 win over Sweden Semi-final: opening goal in 3-0 hammering of England Final: equalised in the 10th minute v Denmark, then scored in the 89th minute to seal a 4-2 win Megan Rapinoe (USA, World Cup 2019) Last 16: scored two penalties in 2-1 win against Spain Quarter-final: scored both goals in 2-1 win over hosts France Semi-final: didn't play v England due to injury Final: opened the scoring from the spot in 2-0 win over the Netherlands Those are the best examples we could find from the Women's Euros and World Cup. But if you have any from other tournaments – or we've missed something obvious – please get in touch. 'Excluding added time, England were ahead for one minute in the knockout rounds of Euro 2025,' notes Chris Williams. 'Assuming this is a record, how does it compare to previous tournaments?' Kelly's 119th-minute goal against Italy put England ahead for the only time in their three knockout games against Sweden, Italy and Spain. Including added time, they led for four minutes 52 seconds out of approximately six and a half hours. We'll focus on here on how that compares to previous major women's tournaments. We don't have the added time for previous tournaments so, for purposes of comparison, we've counted each match as lasting 90 or 120 minutes. Before this tournament, the winners of the women's Euros who spent the least time in front were Germany in 2001. They were ahead for a total of 33 minutes, but the context was very different. While England played 360 minutes of knockout football in this tournament, Germany played only 188 in 2001. There are two reasons for that: there were no quarter-finals and the final was decided by a golden goal. Germany won both their knockout matches 1-0. Sandra Smisek scored after 57 minutes against Norway, giving Germany a lead that lasted 33 minutes. The final against Sweden was settled by an iconic golden goal from Claudia Müller in the eighth minute of extra time. The moment she put Germany ahead, the tournament was over. Quarter-finals were introduced to the Euros in 2009. Since then, and before this year, this year the team who spent the least time in front were … England in 2022. The total was 107 minutes on that occasion: 24 in extra time v Spain, 56 v Sweden and 27 in the final against Germany. The briefest frontrunners among the World Cup winners are Japan's class of 2011, who were ahead for a combined total of 42 minutes out of a possible 330 across three knockout games. In the quarter-final against the holders Germany, Karina Maruyama scored the only goal after 108 minutes. Japan then came from behind to beat Sweden 3-1 in the semi-finals, a match in which they led for the last half-hour. In the final against the United States, Japan twice came from behind to draw 2-2, with Homare Sawa scoring in the 117th minute to take the match to penalties. Japan won the shootout 3-1. When the music stopped, they were in the winning chair. Any suggestions from further afield? Mail us with your answers. 'At the age of 19, is Michelle Agyemang the youngest England player to win an individual award at a major tournament?' wonders Alex Smith. Agyemang's impact on Euro 2025 had gone into English football folklore even before the tournament was over. The Arsenal forward still hasn't started an international match but was a threat from the bench in every game and scored dramatic equalisers against Sweden and Italy in the quarter- and semi-finals. Her story resembles that of Michael Owen, who was even younger when he took France '98 by storm at the age of 18. Owen won Fifa's young player of the tournament award after scoring against Romania and Argentina. 'In my mind, Owen was the only good thing to come out of France 98,' said Diego Maradona a few years later. 'He had speed, cunning and balls.' As far as we're aware, the other England players to receive official individual awards were all in their 20s and 30s: Golden BallBeth Mead (aged 27, Euro 2022) Silver BallLucy Bronze (27, World Cup 2019) Golden BootHarry Kane (24, World Cup 2018) Gary Lineker (25, World Cup 1986) Beth Mead (27, Euro 2022, shared with Germany's Alexandra Popp) Jodie Taylor (31, Euro 2017) Bronze BootEllen White (30, World Cup 2019) Golden GloveMary Earps (29, World Cup 2023) Best young playerMichael Owen (18, World Cup 1998) Michelle Agyemang (19, Euro 2025) 'Are the Lionesses the first team to win a major international tournament after going behind in every knockout game?' asks Danielle Patterson. We had a similar question last year, when England's men's team beat Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands after conceding the first goal. They didn't go on to win Euro 2024 – spoiler alert – and the only example we could find at that stage was China in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. This is how they did it. Quarter-final China 3-1 Vietnam (from 1-0 down) Semi-final China 2-2 Japan (4-3 pens; China's second equaliser came in the 119th minute) Final China 3-2 South Korea (China were 2-0 down after 67 minutes before a spectacular fightback culminated in Xiao Yuyi scoring an injury-time winner) We looked at other comeback kings and queens who didn't go on to lift the trophy; the link is worth clicking just for the story for the crazy story of Jürgen Klinsmann's South Korea at last year AFC Men's Asian Cup. 'Lucy Bronze revealed after Sunday's final that she had played throughout Euro 2025 with a fractured tibia,' writes Tom Walters. 'What other examples are there of footballers playing some or all of a major international tournament with serious injuries?' 'England's two backup keepers at Euro 2025, Anna Moorhouse and Khiara Keating, have just won a major trophy despite both having zero caps,' notes Tim Spargo. 'Has this happened before?' 'With Hugo Ekitiké joining Liverpool, which other players with palindromic surnames have featured in the Premier League (and beyond)?' wonders Michael Martin. 'Lauren James (four) and brother Reece (two) have won six trophies between them in the 2024-25 season. Have any other sets of siblings won more in a single campaign?' asks Magnus Blair. 'We all love it when a goalie comes up for a last-minute set piece,' states Simon Buckton, correctly. 'But has a goalkeeper ever been flagged for offside – or better still, had a goal disallowed for offside?' 'Port Vale have played Everton at Priory Road, Anfield, Goodison Park and now the Hill Dickinson Stadium,' notes Kevin Doran. 'Is there an example of any other team having played another team at four or more home grounds?' 'This week I'm savouring a veritable feast of Luxo-British football in the Conference League: Differdange v The New Saints, followed by Strassen v Dundee United,' writes Martin Davies. 'Both games will take place at Differdange's stadium. Have two British teams played European ties in the same stadium within 48 hours of each other before, or am I going to witness a first?' Mail us with your questions and answers
Telegraph
22 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Brian O'Driscoll interview: I took two years to get over Warren Gatland dropping me from Lions
'I avoided going on the piss on the Sunday with all the other lads,' recalls Brian O'Driscoll. 'I knew if I went on the piss, I wouldn't be right until Thursday. So, I went and had an ice cream instead. I trained Monday, trained Tuesday and when the squad was picked on Wednesday, I thought I might be captain, because Paul O'Connell and Sam Warburton were injured. I was making a cup of coffee when I got a tap on the shoulder, and I knew immediately it was not the kind of tap on the shoulder that a captain gets…' O'Driscoll is back in Sydney for the first time since that fateful moment, 12 years ago, when his world fell apart ahead of the British and Irish Lions' decisive third Test against Australia, the first time in his glittering career that he had been dropped, sparking furore among supporters and pundits back in Ireland. We are sitting in the 32nd floor of a high-rise building with a stunning view of Sydney Harbour below as the Ireland and Lions legend goes back to the darkest moment of his career, the sharpness of his recall revealing just how devastating a blow it was for a player who when fully fit had never been dropped before in his career. Just three days earlier he had been put up by the Lions management to do a press conference, heightening speculation that the veteran of the 2001, 2005 (when he was tour captain) and 2009 Lions tours, would be asked to captain Gatland's side following their 16-15 defeat in the second Test in Melbourne that had levelled the series. After defeat in Melbourne, the squad had travelled up to Sunshine coast resort of Noosa, in south Queensland. Without any warning, suddenly he found himself not even in the 23-man squad, with Jonathan Davies switching to outside centre to accommodate his Wales team-mate Jamie Roberts, who had recovered from a hamstring injury, in the midfield. The rugby world was about to explode. The tap on the shoulder had come from Lions assistant coach Rob Howley and a short meeting with him and head coach Warren Gatland followed. 'It was a quick conversation,' he adds. 'The only thing I said to them was that they should not have put me up for media if they were going to drop me, but they hadn't had any of their coaches' meetings by then. 'At the time I didn't even ask if I was on the bench or not, so when the squad was read out later it dawned on me that I wasn't going to be involved at all. But I got that. I was not a bench player, Manu Tuilagi [who was named on the replacements] had played a bit of wing too, and I had never really played there. 'But the thing for me, is that Foxy [Davies] and Jamie had gone so well together with Wales in the Six Nations. We had beaten them, but they had won the title. So, for me, the best chance of playing in the Test series was also with Manu. We played well together in the first match but then he got injured. Myself and Foxy were not a good partnership, we were both out and out 13s trying to make it work because the other two were injured. We weren't cohesive.' 'My wheels were not the same as they had been on the previous tours, but I had a greater intellect and understanding of seeing the game and timing the pass. I think I was seeing the game as better than ever.' O'Driscoll went to training and vowed not to let his aching disappointment affect his commitment. 'The big thing that I'd always said when I was captain of Ireland was that the strength of the squad was the non-playing 23 because they're the ones that prep the team,' he adds. 'All of a sudden, I was like, 'Whoa, I'm that guy. You can't be a poacher turned gamekeeper just because it doesn't suit you. Being a good team player can involve selflessness, and you can't be selective on that. It's when you find yourself in it, you gotta live it. And I was proud of my reaction. On the same day that I heard the news, I went to a community event, coaching some kids. They didn't know if I had been picked or not, so I had to make sure I was high on energy and gave them a good day, even though I went back to my room and was crying on the inside. I also did a bit of video work with Foxy and Jamie. I tried not to throw my toys out of the cot.' 'That really wounded me' He went out for dinner with his family on the Thursday night but was mindful not to drink, just in case he got a late call-up in the event that Roberts' hamstring injury recurred. 'I just wanted to be a good pro and be ready to play if I was needed' Yet when he came down to breakfast on the Friday, there was a message on the whiteboard saying that the non-23 players were not needed at training. 'That really wounded me,' he adds. 'They don't even need me to hold the tackle bags. It knocked me for six because I wanted to still feel part of it, to feel like I was still adding value in some shape or form. That Friday was a long day.' The match day itself also felt a weird experience. The Lions clinched the series with a thumping victory, but O'Driscoll did not feel part of the celebrations. 'I didn't want to be walking around with the trophy or be in photographs. I only had two-thirds ownership of it. I couldn't force it. If you are not on the field even for a couple of minutes, you feel a bit of a fraud. You have to have had an involvement; you have to have added value. Cheering from the stands was not something I had been used to doing 14 years before that. It was an unusual feeling. The lads went on and won well and the selections were justified. He hasn't been back to Noosa. 'It is a beautiful, a stunning place so I still have good memories of it. But less so of that team meeting room in our hotel. I don't know if I would want to go back there, where I got the tap on the shoulder.' 'Like anything, it takes a bit of time,' he adds. 'I had considered finishing after the tour but I am glad that I didn't. I went for one more year and had great memories to finish with, we won the URC with Leinster and the Six Nations title in the final game in France. 'But like any disappointment it stays with you for a while. There is nothing you can do. You can't change it. 'When I look back now it doesn't sting any more, but it probably took a couple of years for me to stop thinking 'I really wanted to have been part of that. Now it has zero impact, but jeez you would want it to be like that 12 years later.' 'Andy Farrell is infectious' O'Driscoll will be in the stands again this Saturday as Andy Farrell's Lions side attempt to make history by completing a clean sweep of victories against Australia, something that has not been done in the professional era. O'Driscoll believes that Farrell should be given the head coach job again in four years' time. 'Three-nil would be real throat on the stuff and Farrell will want that,' he adds. 'From all the sound bites, the players have loved this tour. Faz is infectious with creating a great environment, a fun environment and a competitive environment, and so if it ain't broke, why would you go and try and reinvent things and find an alternative if he was interested again, which I'm sure he would be.' Brian O'Driscoll is ambassador for Howden Insurance, the principal partner of the Lions Tour. He was speaking as part of their 'Insuring Greatness' campaign
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
You're just the groundsman – India coach Gautam Gambhir in spat with Oval staff
While England decided to take a break two days out from the fifth and final match of a tetchy series, India were back in the nets at the Kia Oval as they attempt to salvage a 2-2 draw. But even with Ben Stokes and company absent, it did not take long for tensions to flare in south London. Gambhir, who can expect to face serious scrutiny over his position if England claim another victory, was seen sharing terse words with Lee Fortis, Surrey's lead curator. The series has become increasingly tetchy (Danny Lawson/PA) Gambhir, a 58-Test veteran, was caught on camera wagging his finger as Fortis towered over him, repeatedly stating: 'You can't tell us what to do' and 'You don't tell any of us what to do'. Gambhir can also be heard adding: 'You're just the groundsman, nothing beyond.' Fortis, who has been named as the ECB's grounds manager of the year for the last three seasons, is understood to have been keeping a protective eye on the square during India's practice with plenty of cricket still to be played on it once the international summer is over. Gambhir did not take kindly to his intervention. After walking away in conversation with India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who appeared to take on the role of mediator, Fortis told Gambhir he may be forced to lodge complaint against him, drawing a response of: 'You can go and report to whoever you want'. Speaking later to the press, Kotak told reporters Fortis' objections to a coolbox being wheeled on to the square kicked off the spat. 'He was sitting on the roller, he shouted and told the support staff not to take it there,' he said. 'It is good to be a little possessive and it is also good to be protective, but not that much. Gautam just said do not talk to the support staff like this. 'If you want me to be very honest, most of the team knows that the curator is not the easiest person to get on with. So, that gives a lot of answers. When you're working with very intelligent and highly-skilled people, if you sound a bit arrogant or if you come across like…you can be protective. At the end of the day it is a cricket pitch. It is not an antique where you can't touch.' Whether India's frustrations included concerns over the Test pitch as well as their training provisions is not known but the Oval deck is expected to carry some live grass at the start of the game and provide greater pace and bounce than in the previous four matches. A time-wasting row with Zak Crawley (centre) and Shubman Gill (right) at the centre ignited tensions between the teams (Bradley Collyer/PA) England's attack has struggled for cut through at times, not least in the last innings at Old Trafford, where they mustered just four wickets in 143 overs. India's rearguard ended in rancour, with Stokes annoyed that Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja declined his offer of an early handshake as they each pursued centuries. Both men reached three figures, but did so with some persistent sledging in their ears from England fielders. Relations between the teams had been relatively serene until a time-wasting row midway through the third Test at Lord's, where Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were treated to some X-rated words from India captain Shubman Gill. England responded by accusing Gill of running down the clock himself during his own innings and Mohammed Siraj was fined for his furious send off of Duckett the next morning, though a brief shoulder to shoulder contact between the two was accepted as accidental.
