Women's Euro 2025 players to watch
June 26 (Reuters) - The Women's European Championship kicks off in Switzerland on July 2 when England bid to retain their crown. Here are some of the players to watch at the tournament.
Michelle Agyemang, England
The 19-year-old was named to Sarina Wiegman's squad for the Euros despite having only one cap but what a debut it was. Just 41 seconds after she came on against Belgium, the Arsenal forward scored a top-class strike, controlling the ball with her thigh before unleashing a volley into the top corner.
Agyemang was a ball girl for Wiegman's first game at Wembley as England boss, a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland in 2021. Now, she could be a spark off the bench for the holders in Switzerland.
Lia Walti, Switzerland
The 32-year-old midfielder is the hosts' lynchpin, a member of the national team since 2011 and captain since 2019.
Known as "Snake Hips" by her teammates for her ability to dodge tackles, Walti also anchors Arsenal's midfield and helped them to a Champions League title triumph over Barcelona in May.
Walti captained the Swiss at Euro 2022 and the 2023 World Cup and, while they have only one victory to show for their two trips to the Euros (2017, '22), the skipper is hoping the home crowd will help lift them to the knockout round this time.
Walti and her sister Meret have co-authored a children's book "Lia's Football Journey."
Marie-Antoinette Katoto, France
Now fully recovered from the devastating ACL injury she suffered in France's group game against Belgium at the last Euros, the 26-year-old Katoto will be one of the players asked to shoulder much of the responsibility as France seek to live up to expectations after falling short at recent tournaments.
Possessing pace, power and an insatiable desire to find the net, the striker is an elite finisher who established herself quickly in the domestic game, becoming the top scorer in Paris St Germain's history at the age of 23, and she is set to join Olympique Lyonnais ahead of next season.
With Katoto up front as the focal point, France are a different proposition, and her ability to score as well as bring others into play will be key if her country are to make a deep run in Switzerland.
Ewa Pajor, Poland
The Barcelona striker goes to Switzerland with a glittering CV at club level and will hope to carry that form into a Poland side that will lean heavily on her in a tough Group C.
Faced with Germany, Sweden and Denmark, Poland will likely have to concede possession and be patient, making Pajor's all-action efforts to get on the end of every ball into the box a key factor in their group games.
Pajor is not physically big, but she is immensely strong and quick and her instinct to be in the right place at the right time resulted in 47 goals in 46 matches for Barca in the 2024/25 season as they once again romped to the Spanish title.
Jessica Silva, Portugal
The 30-year-old Gotham FC forward is Portugal's lynchpin with over 120 caps, but there is a question mark around her form since she only recently returned from an eye injury.
Silva has played just six games for club and country since suffering a damaged retina and temporary vision loss when she was hit in the eye by a ball in March.
Silva will be determined to lead Portugal to the knockout rounds for the first time in their fourth straight major tournament since they qualified for their first at Euro 2017.
Jess Fishlock, Wales
Wales' most-capped player and record scorer will make her major tournament debut aged 38, a dream more than 20 years in the making after the Welsh women clinched their Euros berth.
Fishlock made her Wales debut at 16 and has 162 caps, but the Seattle Reign midfielder has never played at a World Cup, Olympics or Euros because Wales had never qualified until a 2-1 win over Ireland sealed their passage to Switzerland.
Signe Gaupset, Norway
The 20-year-old midfielder is heading for her first major senior tournament and while she may struggle to break into the starting lineup, Gaupset, who is on the radar of many big European clubs, gives Gemma Grainger's side a hugely useful option off the bench.
Long touted in her native country as a name for the future, Gaupset has grown at SK Brann, displaying excellent technique and physical strength to go with her vision, having netted 11 goals in 15 games so far this season.
Norway already have some of the world's best attacking players such as Ada Hegerberg, Caroline Graham Hansen and Guro Reiten in their squad, but Gaupset offers an option as a playmaking force that they have not had for some time.
Ellen Wangerheim, Sweden
The latest in a long line of goal poachers who have helped Sweden hang onto their status as one of the stronger nations in the women's game, forward Ellen Wangerheim heads to Switzerland with a point to prove.
The 20-year-old, who plays for Stockholm's Hammarby, showed glimpses of her potential with excellent Champions League performances last season against Barcelona, Manchester City and Austria's St. Poelten, earning a Euro call-up ahead of BK Haecken's equally talented Felicia Schroeder.
Wangerheim will have her work cut out to dislodge the likes of Stina Blackstenius up front, but her superb touch and ability to hold the ball up offer the Swedes a valuable attacking alternative if the rest of the attack is firing blanks.
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