England's Hannah Hampton hits the headlines in latest act of unlikely career
Hampton, with an absorbent shoved up her right nostril after an extra-time collision in the penalty area caused a nosebleed, found the composure, focus and agility to save two Sweden penalties to help Sarina Wiegman's team win 3-2 in the shootout and book Tuesday's semi-final meeting with Italy after an unlikely comeback to draw 2-2 after extra time.
It was a coming-of-age performance for the 24-year-old from Birmingham, who also produced two pivotal saves when England had been 2-0 down, and surely banished any lingering uncertainty about her readiness to be England's first-choice goalkeeper. Hampton was confirmed by Wiegman as England's No 1 after Mary Earps retired from international football in May. It had been the direction of travel but those were big gloves to fill. Hampton's player-of-the-match performance in the quarter-final on her 20th senior international appearance means England fans have a new keeper to idolise.
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Having a professional football career is a remarkable achievement for the Chelsea player, formerly of Birmingham City and Aston Villa player, who was born with a serious eye condition and was warned by doctors not to play football. She underwent multiple operations as a youngster to try to correct her vision but still has depth-perception issues. Hampton, though, has defied the medical odds to thrive for club and country, winning a domestic treble of trophies with Chelsea this year. Her performance against Sweden, nosebleed and all, was her biggest moment yet with England.
'As a few of the girls have said, I'm better with one nostril so maybe I'll have it [a nosebleed] again in the next game to be honest,' Hampton joked after the match. 'The girls have got behind me a lot. They know how tough it's been for me while being in and around the England environment. To be able to go out and help them tonight, for the whole team to put on a performance like we did, it's a lovely moment.
'All the girls were ecstatic. They've seen all the hard work that I've put in and how difficult it's been and how they've helped me get to the point that I am now and being happy to be wearing an England shirt again. I just want to do whatever I can for the team to get that win. I don't care if I have one touch in a game or if I have multiple … We just didn't want to go home.'
Hampton appeared to be alluding to a period in the autumn of 2022 was she was dropped from the England team, with Wiegman saying at the time 'she has some personal issues that she has to solve so for her, at this moment, it's better for her to stay at her club'. On Thursday night, Wiegman was full of praise for Hampton and said there had never been doubts within the Lionesses camp over whether Hampton could deliver. The England forward Beth Mead said: 'Sometimes you need your goalkeeper to step up and Hannah did that today. Hannah made some amazing saves.'
It was the first Women's European Championship fixture to be decided by penalty kicks since 2017, no shootouts having been required when England hosted the tournament in 2022, and the nerve-shredding drama in Zurich appeared to be trying to make up for that long wait. Sweden twice missed kicks to win the contest and only five of the 14 spot-kicks were successfully converted. The player who scored England's crucial seventh penalty was the right-back Lucy Bronze, who also offered up some imagery that will define how the night will be remembered.
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The Chelsea defender required strapping around her right thigh late in extra time but, because the medical team were tending to Alex Greenwood and Hampton, Bronze applied the tape around her own leg while sitting on the pitch, epitomising the same battle-hardened attitude as her goalkeeper. The former Barcelona player then ripped off her bandages moments before stepping up to fire her penalty emphatically down the middle of the goal and put England on the verge of victory. When Sweden's Smilla Holmberg then blazed over the Lionesses were through.
Bronze, who had taken the captain's armband after Leah Williamson was substituted with an ankle injury but had worn it on her wrist rather than in the usual place above the elbow, said of her strapping: 'I thought: 'I just need to get through to make sure I can keep going.' But then I thought: 'It's going to hinder me in a penalty.' I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty, so I didn't take it off and then it was my penalty and I thought: 'I need to take this off, I'm going to smack it.''
The late-night drama delayed the News at Ten on BBC One and millions of television viewers will tune in again on Tuesday – on ITV – when England meet one of the tournament's dark horses in Geneva. It will be the Lionesses' sixth consecutive appearance in a major tournament semi-final, a sequence that began in 2015. Their impressive runs in the big events continue and new heroines are emerging all the time.
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