Euros final: Spain are the favourites but with this England team, anything is possible
But then Sweden were favourites too when they were two up against the Lionesses in the quarter-final, and likewise Italy looked home and dry with a minute left of the semi-final.
It seems with this England, in this tournament, anything is possible. On the eve of their third successive major final, the Lionesses captain Leah Williamson admitted as much.
'You grow in a tournament and we're aware of that', said. 'We have to stay in it as long as possible until we take advantage of it and hopefully the saying is true, that 'the best is yet to come.''
Williamson also accepted that to beat Spain, the Lionesses could not afford to produce another lacklustre performance: 'We need to be at our best to beat Spain. I think they need to be at their best to beat us too.'
In fact, England were the last team to defeat Spain, earlier this year at Wembley, but they played again in June and then the Lionesses lost a tight contest.
La Roja's skipper Irene Paredes believes the familiarity between the teams means they know what to expect, and it won't be easy: 'We played against them several times. They made us suffer; we did the same so it will be a balanced game.'
But she says the weight of expectation does not phase them: 'we are a team who don't see this game as pressure but as an opportunity to continue writing history, do something big and to let people enjoy.'
If Spain do end up champions, few neutral observers would begrudge them given recent history.
After their World Cup triumph in Australia against England, their achievement was completely overshadowed by the Rubiales affair - when his behaviour at the presentation led to a conviction for sexual assault.
In the aftermath of that scandal, their win was almost forgotten about, and the squad itself never got to fully enjoy what should have been a life-changing moment, nor did they get the respect they deserved.
Despite revealing she has a full squad to choose from, Lauren James is a concern for Sarina Wiegman. James was withdrawn at half-time in the last match, and her presence makes the Lionesses a more formidable proposition.
Technically, the Chelsea player is England's best. She boasts a world-class catalogue of attacking skills but is also useful at protecting the ball and drawing fouls - something the Lionesses will need against a team who are averaging seventy per cent possession in this tournament so far.
While she wouldn't reveal her plans exactly, Wiegman indicated she is unlikely to tamper with her starting line-up, despite the impact her substitutes have had. She likes them as weapons to deploy later in the match.
Victory for Spain and they can finally step out from under that dark Rubiales cloud; if the Lionesses retain their title, just like 2022, the women's game in England will take another giant leap forward.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
How ‘warrior' Mohammed Siraj set the tone to announce a new era for India
Mohammed Siraj woke up on a drizzly morning in south London realising that the time was now. India were up against it and heading towards a fifth Test defeat against England and subsequently a 3-1 series loss. A scoreline that would not reflect the fierce battle between the two sides over 25 days, with each Test meandering to a climax over its full duration. Siraj had bowled 1,088 balls by this stage. Yet as much as his physical endurance, his composure was tested, too. That misfield on day four at The Oval, stumbling and staggering into the boundary after clutching Harry Brook for, what would have been, a match-turning score of 19. A mistake that cost India 92 runs before the most dramatic of six-run victories. 'When he woke up in the morning, he believed he could do it,' former India wicket-keeper and Sky Sports pundit Dinesh Karthik confirmed. 'Then he took a screenshot of something from Google that said, 'believe'. He put it out there because he wanted to get it done.' And believe he did. England started the day needing just 35 runs in their pursuit of 374. Prasidh Krishna coughed up eight runs from the rest of his over, finished overnight after the bad light and rain scuppered a premature conclusion to this enthralling Test. Siraj then dialled up the pace and added some menacing swing, too, with Jamie Smith bamboozled immediately. A couple of near misses followed a delicate nick back to Dhruv Jurel with his third ball, sparking bedlam. Siraj wheeled away, arms outstretched, but the chaotic celebrations were temporarily cut short due to umpire Kumar Dharmasena's bizarre move to verify that the catch was clean. Of course, it was, and Siraj had duly delivered the belief India needed to hunt down another three wickets for victory and a drawn series. The rest of the match-winning spell, ending at 3-9 from just 25 balls, saw Jamie Overton trapped lbw, before Gus Atkinson finally departed, despite a gritty effort to shield the one-armed, heroic Chris Woakes from this devilish Indian pace attack. His stumps rearranged to put the exclamation mark on this iconic win. While Jasprit Bumrah remains the finest bowler in the world, with his ailing body unable to allow more than three appearances in this epic series, Siraj has underlined his importance, confirming the duo, whenever they do line up together, as one of the great fast bowling pairs in the game. Cricket, a sport riddled by the quirks of trends and numbers, shows us that India win just 41.67 percent of the games he plays, but that rises to 71.43 percent without him, according to cricket statistician Ric Finlay. While Siraj's inclusion ensures a 53.66 percent win rate and just 40.00 percent without him. Naturally, it is daft to suggest India are better off without Bumrah, but there is something about Siraj and the emotional impact that numbers cannot measure with this fiery seamer and unique character. "You don't seem to look at the bowlers as much,' Karthik remarked when highlighting how batters usually get the credit. 'Not just today, but Siraj walked in today trying to be the man. He has bowled like an absolute warrior; he's done the donkey's work too. He's hit 90mph, I couldn't be more proud of him as a bowler." It is that energy and the ability to dig deep when others wilt. Take the wicket of Atkinson to clinch the match, clattering the stumps in this most chaotic of finales. It was clocked at 143kmph, according to CricViz, his fifth-quickest ball of the series. That, after 1,111 balls in this series, shows remarkable strength. As proven with others, such as Ben Stokes, and the aforementioned Bumrah, who, despite their brilliance, have been unable to hold up to this relentless pace of five Tests and 25 sapping days of play crammed into 46 days. 'He's a captain's dream,' concluded the gleeful India skipper Shubman Gill. 'Coming in for five matches, giving absolutely everything. Every team wants a player like him, and we're very lucky to have him.' If Bumrah is India's talisman, then Siraj has elevated himself to be his partner in crime and a sensational stand-in when needed. An intimidating presence for the opposition and an able supporter of his teammates when tensions spill over in highly-charged moments, as proven during the antics at Lord's after Zak Crawley's theatrics to delay play on day three. He is also the ultimate counter-puncher, as proven by the final delivery on day three at the Oval to rearrange Crawley's stumps. If Test cricket is about momentum, then Siraj can swing it as much as the ball. 'I've always had great admiration and respect for Siraj as a competitor,' Ben Stokes conceded following the fifth Test. 'He keeps coming and coming and coming. 'You know he'll always be in a fight with you. He's an example of what it means. I have respect for how he goes about his cricket and how he takes it on.' The tourists had a mindset throughout the series that they were 'not given a chance,' according to KL Rahul, with key figures Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma absent. But the India opener insists that the fifth Test victory is 'where the change begins' and that 'it means absolutely everything.' If that is the case, then Siraj's impact might just be felt for many years to come.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Everton close in on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as summer investment continues
Everton are progressing in their attempts to sign Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in a £25m deal. David Moyes is making headway in his chase for a fifth summer signing, while Chelsea are willing to let Dewsbury-Hall leave after a solitary season at Stamford Bridge. The 26-year-old, who excelled for Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca as Leicester won promotion, only started two Premier League games last season following his £30m move. And Everton are seeking to strengthen their midfield following the departures of Abdoulaye Doucoure and on-loan Orel Mangala. Chelsea have spent about £250m this summer and brought in about £135m but they could recoup more money by selling Armando Broja and Lesley Ugochukwu, both to Burnley. Everton are also interested in Southampton's Tyler Dibling. Lyon's Malick Fofana is another player they have considered in a bid to bring in someone who can play on the right flank after the summer departures of loanees Jack Harrison and Jesper Lindstrom. Moyes, who had said he wanted five or six more signings this summer, expressed confidence after the 2-2 draw with Manchester United in Atlanta that Everton were getting closer to new signings. The Scot has already signed striker Thierno Barry, midfielder Charly Alcaraz, defender Adam Aznou and goalkeeper Mark Travers this summer and a move for Dewsbury-Hall would take his spending past £75m.
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Excellent prospect' Ngumoha stars for Liverpool - but who is he?
Liverpool's second youngest ever player Rio Ngumoha shone again in pre-season to get fans wondering if he could be part of the first team this England Under-17 forward, who turns 17 later this month, scored and assisted in their Anfield return against Athletic Reds were playing the Basque side in two pre-season friendlies - at 17:00 and 20:00 was a mostly second string XI that started the first game, with Ngumoha on the left wing - and he caught the eye as he has done all scored in just the second minute as he ran onto a loose ball in his own half before racing forward and curling a fine effort in from 20 yards three minutes later he nodded a Ben Doak cross down for Darwin Nunez to convert from close fans were singing his name as Curtis Jones urged them to show their he caused the La Liga side all kinds of problems with his dribbling and trickery in the 4-1 and Harvey Elliott scored the other 16-year-old left to a standing ovation midway through the second half."He is such an excellent prospect," said ex-Reds defender Gary Gillespie on LFC TV."The difficult is managing expectations but it's hard to put a lid on it."Ngumoha's performance came on the back of an assist against AC Milan and goal against Yokohama F. Marinos in Asian looks a fine talent, if raw, and will be hoping more first-team competitive games are on the January, Ngumoha became the youngest player to start a match, and the second youngest to play, for Liverpool - aged 16 years and 135 days old - in the 4-0 friendly win over Accrington in the FA that was his only first-team appearance and he never made the bench for a Premier League could well change this season, especially with so many changes in the Liverpool front sad death of centre forward Diogo Jota in a car crash has been the main focus of Liverpool's pre-season. There were tributes to him before and during the game at Luis Diaz was sold to Bayern Munich and Nunez is a target for Saudi Pro League exit for Nunez would mean the Reds' only really strong frontline options would be Mohamed Salah, new signing Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo - giving a chance for somebody like Ngumoha to break is unless they managed to sign Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. An initial bid of £110m has been rejected."I'm not trying to rush because I'm still only young," said Ngumoha last week."But at the same time, I just want to show the manager what I can do and not get too complacent. I just want to do bigger and better things for me and the club."Ngumoha is not actually a Liverpool academy product, having only joined Liverpool from Chelsea's youth set-up last the time Blues legend John Terry wrote "this boy is and will be a top player".He's not looking wrong.
