England leave it late again but get Italian Job done to keep title defence alive

The Journal

5 days ago

The 42
AS THE FINAL whistle sounded at Stade de Genève after another Euro 2025 marathon, bodies dropped to the ground and sprawled across the turf.
Italian tears, English elation.
The defending champions were back in the final after another great escape.
Drama to the very death.
England forced extra-time with a 96th minute equaliser, and won the game in the 119th minute.
Chloe Kelly stepped up to take the last-gasp penalty after Emma Severini was adjudged to have fouled Beth Mead. Many will argue it was soft, VAR was not used.
Euro 2022 final matchwinner Kelly smiled before dispatching her spot kick in the quarter-final shootout against Sweden last week. There were no pre-penalty smiles this time around, but the super sub looked relaxed.
Kelly did her usual buck leap: left knee up, hop, run-up and fire . . . Laura Giuliani got down to her right and stopped. Time stood still. Kelly reacted quickest — along with Ella Toone — and made no mistake with her rebound.
The Arsenal Champions League winner raced off in celebration, moving her hands up and down over and over as if to say, 'Calm down, we've got this'.
Euro 2022 was won by super subs, and in extra-time, and similar themes have unfolded in Switzerland. England have been far from convincing, but they have found a way.
Michelle Agyemang was Sarina Wiegman's other game-changer tonight, the 19-year-old keeping the Lionesses' title defence alive in the last minute of stoppage time.
Indeed, she rattled the crossbar just before her Gunners team-mate landed the killer blow and broke Italian hearts.
As mentioned on RTÉ, Agyemang's surname translates as 'saviour of a nation'. She levelled against Sweden, and again tonight, scoring her third goal on her fourth senior cap.
90+6, coolness personified in the box. The teenage sensation was lurking when Giuliani punched Lauren Hemp's cross clear; Agyemang took a touch with her right, set herself up and drilled home, as if she was playing in the park, to send Stade de Genève into raptures.
Kelly and Agyemang celebrate at the final whistle.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The character of this English team is undeniable, and they now roll into their third successive major final on Sunday — against the side they beat for Euro 2022 glory, Germany, or the team that beat them to 2023 World Cup honours, Spain.
The pain will linger for Italy, who lived up to their pre-tournament label of dark horses and contested their first Euros semi-final since 1997.
A tweet from former Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson
caught the eye in the aftermath.
'Heartbreak for Italy tonight,' she wrote, 'but reaping reward of investment into domestic game. Fully professional league from 2022, 21 of squad home based, competitive in Champions League, sustained performance in Nations League A, and tonight, moments from reaching the Euro 2025 final.'
Advertisement
In February 2024, Gleeson's Ireland drew 0-0 with the
Azzuri
in an international friendly in Florence. In fact, the Girls In Green went close to winning that night. Leanne Kiernan saw a second-half goal disallowed for a borderline offside call.
One needs little reminder of how Ireland failed to qualify for this tournament, and the path they have since travelled. Or indeed, the issues in the Women's Premier Division.
Meanwhile, Italy sent shockwaves around Euro 2025 with a quarter-final upset against Norway. 35-year-old Cristiana Girelli was their hero at the same venue last week, a 90th minute winner sending them into the last four.
But they would be the victims of late drama six days later.
Andrea Soncin's side continued their trend of opening the scoring — they did so in all five of their games — when Barbara Bonanseainto hit the roof of the net in the 33rd minute.
England had dominated up to that point, with Lauren James and Alessia Russo among those with chances, but Italy became the latest side to expose their defensive frailties as the deadlock was broken.
From a throw-in, Sofia Cantore spun off a hapless English body and tore down the right flank, linking up with Girelli for a one-two, before delivering across the box. With the defence at sixes and sevens, the cross missed everyone but Bonanseainto, who took a touch with her left and rifled into the back of the net with the same foot.
Leah Williamson and Lucy Bronze cut frustrated figures, having been caught out, as Bonanseainto wheeled away and made a heart with her hands in celebration.
As she celebrated with the bench, the cameras cut to Soncin, who was jumping around with two fans dressed up as Mario and Luigi. The duo had been shown during
Il Canto degli Italiani;
the rousing Italian national anthem a powerful moment, but this was dreamland.
Girelli in tears after the game.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
England did their utmost to bring them back to reality, the chances flowing either side of half time, but Italy stayed compact and carried a threat on the counter. Girelli limped off after the hour-mark; a blow for her side though they dug deeper and deeper.
English frustration grew, their lack of clinical edge compounded by their opponents' gamesmanship.
Wiegman sent out the Chloe Kelly bat signal, and seven minutes later, rolled the dice and went all-out attack with Agyemang and Aggie Beever-Jones replacing Russo and Leah Williamson.
Chaos ensued. The ball was cleared off the Italy line; England goalkeeper Hampton stepped up with a huge double save.
Soncin will have been scratching his head wondering how it was not 2-0 with four minutes of normal time to play: Hampton spilled Michela Cambiaghi's initial effort from Manuela Giugliano's corner, and Severini couldn't capitalise.
Agyemang's equaliser was a sucker-punch, but the underdogs responded well through a cagey first-half extra-time.
When Giuliani clawed away Mead's corner at the back post, penalties were in sight.
Anything could happen then.
But England, as they so often do, left it late.
And some how, some way, got the Italian Job done.
Written by Emma Duffy and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe
here
.