Soccer-Spain deserved more, says Tome after painful loss to England

The Star

4 days ago

Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Final - England v Spain - St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland - July 27, 2025 Spain's Aitana Bonmati with teammates look dejected after the match REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) -Spain coach Montse Tome was left ruing her side's inability to take their chances as the world champions fell to a penalty shootout by England in the Women's Euros final on Sunday after they dominated a game that finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.
The Spaniards had 24 attempts on goal, but England's grit and determination dragged them to a shootout where they came up short, failing to convert three of their four spot-kicks as Chloe Kelly fired England to victory.
"I think this team deserved more. I think we worked hard for a long time to reach this moment, to reach this final against a high-level national team as an event and what we saw in the game makes me think that the team deserved it," Tome told a media conference.
"This is a sport, you must know how to lose, and today we missed the penalties."
Spain took a first-half lead but England equalised through Alessia Russo and battled superbly to take the game to a 1-1 draw and a shootout.
"I think we were better, but football is a sport where the best team doesn't always win.England are an excellent national team, they showed their level during the tournament. They draw, and then they defend themselves to get the penalties," Tome said.
The 42-year-old coach could not hide her disappointment that her squadhad come up short of another major title.
"This is our profession. what we worked for, what they worked for deserved a different ending," she said.
"That's why today I have the feeling that we almost reached it, but it's gone. I really value all the work done -- we wrote history during the whole tournament, and the team was good," Tome added.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by ed Osmond)