England Women player ratings vs Italy: Hampton the hero as substitutes deliver
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Rhyl Journal
6 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Sarina Wiegman hopes impact of England's Euros win reverberates around the world
Three summers ago, it would have been impossible to imagine a goal more significant than the one scored by substitute Chloe Kelly in extra-time at Wembley to fire England to their first major trophy. But Kelly came through again when it counted most, emphatically netting the winning penalty in Basel as England completed their third-consecutive comeback victory to defend that title with a 3-1 penalties triumph over world champions Spain. 'I hope it will boost the women's game even more, not only in England, but beyond,' said Wiegman, who secured a personal hat-trick of European trophies after leading the Netherlands to glory in 2017, followed by the Lionesses' back-to-back wins. 'How I've experienced this tournament is that the level went up again, the intensity of the games went through the roof. That's what we've seen. 'We've seen it in the games, but also in the data we have. I think this tournament broke every record again and that's great, and I hope that that will boost the women's game everywhere. 'I don't really know what to expect now in England, I think it will boost again.' The Switzerland edition set a new record for the highest-attended women's Euros with 657,291 fans through the gates – indeed, one of the criticisms of the host selection during this tournament was that the women's game had perhaps already outgrown its privision of stadia. The final was the most-watched television moment of 2025 across all UK TV broadcasters, drawing a peak live audience of 12.2 million. Wiegman said she was 'very much looking forward' to celebrating their achievement – a first trophy for a senior England football side on foreign soil – on Tuesday back in London, where an open-top bus parade and celebration in front of Buckingham Palace are planned. After booking their place in Sunday's final, where England avenged their loss to Spain in the 2023 World Cup showdown, Wiegman said she felt like she was in a film. It's a good morning to wake up as EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS! 🙌 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 28, 2025 And she and could still scarcely believe the ending they wrote in Basel, exclaiming: 'How can this happen? But it happened!' Kelly netted the extra-time winner against Italy in the semi-final, while it took another shootout against Sweden in the quarter-finals to book their place in the last four – after 19-year-old major-tournament debutant Michelle Agyemang scored vital equalisers from off the bench in both contests. Arsenal forward Mariona Caldentey's 25th-minute opener on Sunday ensured England would need to script a threequel to their incredible series of comebacks. Alessia Russo drew the sides level after the break, ultimately forcing the shootout when the 1-1 stalemate remained intact after extra-time. Two saves by player-of-the-match Hannah Hampton and Salma Paralluelo's miss set the stage for Kelly, who picked out the top left and underlined her name in England's history books. It was, admitted Wiegman, 'the most chaotic and ridiculous tournament we have played'. Wiegman's players have praised their manager's pitch-perfect speeches throughout this campaign. On Sunday, she revealed: 'Right before we went on the pitch, I just said – I can't use all the words I said, I think – but the main message was 'enjoy it'. 'We've got so far now in this tournament, I think we created something again together. These are the moments you dream of, some couldn't even dream of because it wasn't possible when they were little kids. 'So go out there, enjoy it and play your very best game.'
The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Leah Williamson's defining moment seals her place in England history
Amid the chaos, there was another moment of calm. Leah Williamson had just made history as England captain but first she paused. While her teammates chased after Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton and as Michelle Agyemang and Jess Carter dropped to their knees on the pitch, Williamson turned to her beaten Spanish opponents and began to shake each of them by the hand. No England captain had been here before, with Williamson becoming the first player in the country's history to skipper a team to two tournament victories, as well as the first to lead a side to a title on foreign soil. And while there were many heroes on yet another improbable night, to complete a 'chaotic and ridiculous' tournament in the words of Sarina Wiegman, it was the clear-mindedness of Williamson that repeatedly shone through. To face this Spain team as a center-back across 120 minutes is to essentially be required to perform two jobs at once: first, to constantly evaluate the danger and protect the box by any means possible, and second, to show the bravery and sense to choose the moments where you play, to try and stop Spain from suffocating you by embracing the risks head on. Alongside the equally courageous Jess Carter, England's centre backs were largely faultless. In some ways it was the perfect game for Williamson to have in front of her, an opportunity to display the two defining aspects of her leadership. It helped that she faced a remarkably similar situation in Arsenal's Champions League final win over Barcelona two months ago, a game where they lived on the edge throughout but grew confidence from their defiance. 'I did get a feeling from the Champions League final,' Williamson said 'I thought this is our day today.' Against Spain there were the blocks and the clearances, reading the game superbly to always be in the right place. There can be an accumulation of hundreds of split-second decisions involved when an opponent like Spain moves at pace, and Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Mariona Caldentey rotate to pull a system out of shape. It can be easy to fall into a rudimentary sense of what defending is when required to repeatedly put your body on the line. Williamson did that, but she also played with a clarity to know to jump forward and press, or when to drop in and delay. Each gamble was an intelligent one. There was a moment midway through the second half and after Alessia Russo had equalised in the final where Williamson forcefully stepped up to intercept a pass into midfield, and then kept on going. She continued the run and slid as she squared the ball across the box, a delivery begging for a touch that didn't arrive. But it summed up how England found themselves and finally arrived at something resembling their potential after clawing a path through the tournament. Before the final, Williamson had spoken of how England could not afford to be 'fearful of losing' and that is basically what the Lionesses did after going 1-0 down, led by their captain every time she stepped out of the backline. It was embodied by the brilliance of Carter, back in the team after revealing the racist abuse she had received throughout the Euros but playing the final with a grin on her face after reaching extra time. 'She's a no-nonsense defender,' Williamson said. 'I've called her that before and she just gets sh-- done.' Carter was safe on the ball but secure. Williamson had to play, but only at the right times. She repeatedly found the moments to slow it down and trust Keira Walsh would be in position. Hannah Hampton produced the heroics in the shootout - and perhaps let's not talk about Williamson's own miss - but England's captain had a claim to be the player of the match before the penalties. Afterwards, standing on the pitch at St Jakob Park, Williamson said she felt a pressure to say 'something monumental', in part because of how effortlessly she stepped up to deliver the message and articulate the legacy of what England wanted Euro 2022 to be. It was a role Williamson performed so well that the image of her as a spokesperson for the Lionesses lasted much longer than her impact on the tournament as a player. Missing the 2023 World Cup through injury only prolonged that. But Williamson has left something monumental. In a tournament that has been won by England's grit, the captain of the European champions at both club and country also showed another way. All that remains now is a defining performance to stand alongside her place in history.
The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ben Stokes' handshake row is a distraction – this England decision will decide India series
Even the conversation, Ben Stokes said, was 'ridiculous'. Injury substitutes, he argued, should not be a part of cricket. About 20 minutes earlier, the India coach Gautam Gambhir had provided the opposite answer. 'Imagine if you have to play with 10 men against 11, how unfortunate that would be?' he said after Rishabh Pant broke his foot. 'You stick me in an MRI scan and you'd get someone else in right away,' countered Stokes, with his ample experience of playing through the pain barrier. Pant will not play when these sides, after the briefest of pauses, reconvene at The Oval on Thursday. Stokes, following the furore surrounding his offer to shake hands before Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja reached centuries, is left pondering a different kind of substitutes, whether due to injury or fear of it, ineffectiveness or exhaustion, but at the start, not mid-match. England responded to the draw at Old Trafford by adding Jamie Overton to the squad, just as Stokes had said that they would veer from their usual policy of naming the team two days early. In different ways, there are reasons to wonder if any of their fast bowlers can fulfil the same role in the fifth Test. Stokes will play, almost regardless of medical advice. He didn't bowl on Saturday, was troubled by his bicep on Sunday and yet still produced the day's most menacing spell. Jasprit Bumrah is the world's top-ranked bowler but Stokes is the series' leading wicket-taker. Given the astonishing exploits, and longevity, of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the threat Jofra Archer and Mark Wood posed at their best and Chris Woakes' record at home, it is a moot point if Stokes has ever been definitively England's best bowler. Now, at 34 and 115 Tests into his career, he is. But that reflects, too, on the rest of the attack. There is a case of changing each of the seamers. All four Tests have gone deep into the fifth day. The compressed nature of this series means these teams have played for 20 days since 20 June, with five more to come. It is a test of powers of resilience, but also strength in depth. Whether or not England have psychological scars from 143 overs in the field at Old Trafford, and only two wickets in the last 142 of them, they could be fatigued. Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four Tests. Archer has played the last two, after just one first-class game since May 2021. It would seem a risk to then play him in three successive matches. It would also bring the question of whether they come with diminishing returns after five wickets at Lord's and four more expensive ones at Old Trafford. For Woakes, the series has brought 10 wickets at 52; for Carse, nine at 60. The 36-year-old may have bowled better than the figures suggested, particularly in the last two Tests, but not dramatically better. Carse went wicketless at Old Trafford: banging the ball in too short, getting too little movement, his average for the series against left-handers is over 200. Which, unless Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Alex Carey suddenly and inexplicably start batting right-handed, could be an impediment in the Ashes. So England's chances of recording their most prestigious series win under Stokes' captaincy could come down to a second-string bowling unit. Liam Dawson, the only spinner in the squad, was summoned only because Shoaib Bashir was injured; the 35-year-old was more economical than the off-spinner probably would have been at Old Trafford, but arguably produced fewer potentially wicket-taking deliveries. Dawson's 47-over marathon in India's second innings was Jack Leach-esque: lending control but lacking the magic ball. Overton's last outing was inauspicious, with figures of 14-0-81-0 for Surrey at Scarborough. Gus Atkinson was omitted by his county then, sent to play Second XI cricket, where he took 2-64 and 1-29 against their Somerset counterparts. He has an outstanding Test record but has barely played this summer, though his total of six County Championship wickets is still four more than Overton's tally. Josh Tongue showed he could mop up the tail at Headingley but is short of top-order victims. They could comprise the fast bowlers, unless England press the weary into action again. And if India, who face a decision of their own about Bumrah, who has played the three Tests that was supposed to be his limit for the summer, win at The Oval; when their next matches are against West Indies in October, who they should be able to beat without him. And they, unlike England, definitely do need to take 20 wickets at The Oval. They need to win; though a lesson of the Bazball era is that someone will, with draws so rare. For both teams, there is a legacy at stake. For Shubman Gill and his new-look team, it could be the start of something; for Stokes, India and then an Ashes away provide the chance for a defining achievement. The first could depend on whether it is better to trust a tiring attack that, in two cases, has found wickets elusive or back-ups, in two cases, with little first-class cricket of late. It could be a decision with considerable repercussions. It all gives England bigger problems than a row than Stokes' offer to shake hands earlier than India were willing to. Sundar and Jadeja wanted to reach the centuries their efforts merited, even if it involved doing so against Harry Brook's odd attempts at off-spin. Its significance lay largely in revealing England's frustration at their rearguard action. But they will be rather more frustrated if a series victory slips through their grasp.
