Lionesses hero Keira Walsh forgets rivalry and prays Euro rivals Spain ‘enjoy' final after World Cup ‘kissgate' scandal
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KEIRA WALSH is praying the Euro 2025 final is remembered for all the right reasons.
England face Spain in Basel on Sunday in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final.
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Keira Walsh is hoping the Euro 2025 final on Sunday is remembered for the right reasons
Credit: Getty
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The 2023 Women's World Cup final was overshadowed by Luis Rubiales' kiss on Jenni Hermoso
La Roja were crowned world champions with a 1-0 win in Sydney but their historic milestone was overshadowed over THAT KISS by then Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales on striker Jenni Hermoso.
That smacker, which Hermoso said 'tarnished' her country's triumph, was ruled as a sexual assault in February this year.
But Walsh is hoping Spain can 'enjoy' the final this time around with no more controversy.
The England midfielder said: 'There's a lot of respect between both the teams.
'The most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final. There's no controversy surrounding it.
'The girls deserve to be there, they play incredible football. So first and foremost, for them as human beings, that they can go out there and actually enjoy this game.
'They probably could have had more support. After the game there was a lot of controversy and I don't think for them there was enough spotlight on how incredible they played and how incredible some of their players were, it was all about the other stuff that had gone on.
'As a professional, that was disappointing to see. I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they probably deserved a little bit more than what they got.'
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Spain beat England 1-0 in the 2023 World Cup final
Credit: Getty
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Walsh has insisted she is not dwelling on the defeat
Credit: Getty
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Walsh also insisted that she is not dwelling on the World Cup final defeat ahead of the rematch. She said: 'It was a massive disappointment.
'From a collective we probably feel like we didn't have our best performance that day.
England star Chloe Kelly speaks about her crucial Euros penalty against Italy
'But as a football player you can become too emotional.
'This is a new game, new team, we know what we bring in this tournament so we're going to keep doing that and focus on the positives, not try to draw on that too much.'
The Lionesses have gone to extra-time in both their knockout matches — but have led for just ONE minute.
They came from 2-0 down to beat Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals before scoring a dramatic 119th-minute winner to book their final spot.
Walsh believes their impressive resilience is 'just a part of being English'.
She said: 'That's what we feel when we put the shirt on. It's that we give everything, we run ourselves into the ground.
'The beauty of this squad is that we know if we have to come off because we're tired, there's going to be someone else who can come on and finish the job.
'It's what we just speak about as a team, that English resilience and it's something that we really pride ourselves on.
'You can see from the last two games that it's something we really believe in.'
Chloe Kelly's last-gasp strike against Italy on Tuesday to secure the extra-time victory was the latest goal ever recorded at a women's Euros.
Walsh said: 'For us, you create those moments for yourself through belief, confidence, determination.'
That never-say-die spirit was also shown in Michelle Agyemang's 96th-minute leveller that forced extra-time.
Walsh added: 'I've heard people have been saying that it was luck. It's not by luck Michelle is in the box and scoring.
'It's not by luck that people are putting crosses into the box — it's thought out, it's purposeful.
'It's the absolute belief that no matter what minute it is, we're going to win it or we're going to get a result to take us to extra-time. That's the resilience of this team.'
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England left it late to book their spot in the Euros final
Credit: Getty
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Teenager Michelle Agyemang scored deep into injury time to force extra time
Credit: AP
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