Jess Carter admits she was ‘scared' to play Euro 2025 final after racist abuse

Independent

3 days ago

England defender Jess Carter admitted she was 'scared' to play in the Euro 2025 final after suffering racist abuse during the tournament as she thanked her teammates for their support.
Carter returned to Sarina Wiegman 's starting line-up for the final against Spain and was the only change the England manager decided to make before the Euro 2025 final in Basel.
The 27-year-old Carter revealed after England's quarter-final win over Sweden that she had received racist abuse on social media throughout the tournament.
She dropped to the bench for the semi-final against Italy, even though Wiegman said Carter was ready to play if needed, but she returned to start the final against Spain.
And while Carter was excellent alongside Leah Williamson in defence, as the Lionesses won their second major trophy, Carter revealed she had been apprehensive to play in the final.
Carter told ITV: "I was super scared to play today for the first time in my life, but when I woke up and I saw my team, and the support I had and the belief I had from my team-mates, my family and my manager. I knew I could just come out and give it my all. That's all you can do."
Carter thanked the support she had received from the England fans and said it gave her the 'courage' to play after suffering racist abuse during the tournament.
'The support I felt from the fans was incredible,' Carter explained. 'I can't thank them enough because without the fans, my team-mates and my family, I don't know if I'd have every had the courage to back on the pitch and play again.
'I'm not normally someone who struggles with the hate they received because everyone is going to have their opinion. But this tournament has been tough and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back on the pitch and do me.
"Everyone of those fans, I'm not ever going to be able to show my thanks enough, but they have been incredible, and I hope they will continue to cheer on the Lionesses every single day."
England manager Wiegman explained that starting Carter over Esme Morgan, who had also impressed during the semi-final win over Italy, was a tactical decision but said she had 'belief' in Carter to deliver the performance required.
'Well, first of all, it says something about the team that we can make tactical decision,' Wiegman said. 'I've said a couple of times now that I was really happy, before the tournament, with my squad, and that we had players in the same position that can bring different things, and that was true with Esme and Jess.
'Italy was a different game than Spain and we felt we needed Jess now in the starting line-up, exactly for the reasons that you said, the fight and the duels, she can play, and she showed of course that she is a great personality.
'She was ready to perform, also against Italy, but that was a tactical decision and now we've made a tactical decision. I had all the belief in her and she had the belief in herself, that's the most important thing, that she could contribute to the team and you can tell that the team trusted her too.'