Alessia Russo's new England role noticed after Lionesses' Euros semi-final win
Alessia Russo was the pretender to Ellen White's throne in England's Euro 2022 run but the apprentice has now become the master. White retired from international football just weeks after the Lionesses' Wembley triumph, allowing Russo to grow into the role of starting striker over the last three years.
Now, as England prepare to face Spain in the final of Euro 2025, Michelle Agyemang has stepped into Russo's old role and begun learning from her Arsenal team-mate for country as well as for club. 'Michelle has been doing an incredible job but Alessia's been running herself into the ground,' England midfielder Keira Walsh said after super-sub Agyemang's goal against Italy helped Sarina Wiegman's team keep themselves alive in the tournament.
'I spoke to Alessia a little bit about it and it's almost like she's doing Ellen's role from the previous tournament. Ellen was incredible for 80 minutes and then Alessia would come on and finish the game for us, and those two [Alessia and Michelle] are kind of doing the same this tournament.'
Spain, like England, needed extra-time to book their place in the final after Germany took them the distance in Zurich on Wednesday night. Aitana Bonmati was their match-winner, spinning away from her marker before drilling a low shot beyond Ann-Katrin Berger at the German keeper's near post just when penalties were looming
Germany themselves came desperately close to snatching victory seconds from the end of the 90. Cata Coll was Spain's hero, though, with the goalkeeper showing incredible reflexes to claw away Elisa Senss' deflected effort and getting back up to deny Carlotta Wamser. READ MORE: Keira Walsh outlines hopes for Euro 2025 final as Lionesses face Spain repeat READ MORE: FA chief makes blunt social media demand after Lionesses star Jess Carter racially abused
Spain's own substitutes played their part on Wednesday, with forwards Salma Paralluelo and Athenea del Castillo almost combining for a breakthrough in regular time, and Bonmati feels her country's stacked bench is a match for England's much-heralded 'finishers'. 'I know [England] played 120 minutes twice but we knew it would be a long match [against Germany] and it was a long match,' Bonmati said.
'We trust in our squad, we believe in our players - the eleven starters but we have on the bench a lot of players that can do better in the second half and extra-time. 'We have a big squad and we trust in all of them.'
Walsh also recognised the depth of Spain's squad, appreciating that stopping Bonmati alone won't be enough. "She's an incredible player, but I think if you try and nullify her, I think Patri's been one of the best players at this tournament," she said. "So you can focus on Aitana and then you've got Patri, and then you've got Alexia [Putellas] and Mariona [Caldentey].
"For us we're not focusing on one player. We know what we can bring defensively and so we're just focusing on what we can do and then obviously we're going to have some chances as well that we need to take."
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Daily Mail
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