England only had one key trait over Spain – but it led them to Euro 2025 glory

Independent

7 days ago

History repeated, once with force. Chloe Kelly again decided the European Championship for England, this time with a penalty that reflected all of the fight in this team.
It was proper grit, proper character… yes, proper England, who remain European champions. Sarina Wiegman's side produced another miracle, as she claimed a third successive winners' medal in this competition.
These are all historic feats in themselves, but they are elevated by the manner of it. It went to even deeper wells of resolve than Kelly winning it in extra-time at Wembley against Germany three years ago. And to manage that against this Spanish side, in this way, is the best reflection of this team's spirit. It shouldn't really have been possible given how they went behind.
It shouldn't really have been possible given the visible fatigue as Spain kept the ball and kept England working. Except, the two-hour-plus football match was almost the most appropriate distillation of England's ultimately victorious tournament.
Just like these Euros as a whole, Wiegman's side could have been beaten four times over in the match. They could have been beaten twice over in penalties.
And yet they're still here, left alone on the podium to lift the trophy, above them only sky. That's because they just don't say die.
The argument will persist that Spain are the best team in the world, and the best team in Europe. It doesn't matter. They still had to stay on watching England pick up their medals, substitute Michelle Agyemang going first to pick up the award for young player of the tournament.
And, this time, in the actual game, it was the player she usually replaces that proved the difference. Alessia Russo got all the rewards for her hard work. She got the goal that eluded her for so long, a supreme soaring header with its very trajectory seemingly symbolising a change in the game.
It, of course, came from another Kelly intervention, sent on for the injured Lauren James, to give something different. Something decisive.
Spain, who had previously been imperious after Mariona Caldentey's fine headed goal of her own, started to stumble. The passing wasn't as crisp. There was a laxness. Even Aitana Bonmati began to make bad choices, which culminated in her fateful missed penalty.
All of that is ultimately down to the spirit that has driven England through these Euros, instilled by Wiegman.
They might have only led for four minutes of actual play in the knock-out stages, but they still did what mattered.
No matter how many other arguments anyone might have about that or their performance, you can't fault their resolve. There is a unique defiance there that any team would envy.
Wiegman went into detail about that on the eve of the final, talking about how crucial she sees that together.
It wasn't just talk. They walked it, even if that meant hobbling through some tough moments. Lucy Bronze and George Stanway both symbolised that above anyone, having to go off injured in this final. And yet still the team persevered.
Stanway had put in an admirable shift, especially given how Spain utterly exhaust you in midfield. Behind her, Keira Walsh was a ferocious presence. She tends to be targeted in such games. She stood her ground, as did that defence.
That was perhaps the most admirable aspect of the performance, and the decisive factor in actually keeping level with Spain. Montse Tome's side just couldn't get beyond that Leah Williamson-led rearguard. England defended defiantly. There were so many moments when Spain looked to be in and around that six-yard box, only for one challenge, one crucial interception, to just put them off.
Vicky Lopez curled about four shots over. Salma Paralluelo had two big chances, including one effort when she could have just swept the ball in rather than backheeling it from three yards out.
There were so many what-ifs for Spain like that.
But, on the rare occasions when they did get beyond, there was Hannah Hampton. She again proved the penalty hero alongside Kelly, further vindicating another Wiegman decision.
Hampton was ultimately named player of the match.
Spain might well say that a goalkeeper being awarded that displays their dominance and that they threw this game away.
Finals, as Wiegman might tell them, however, aren't for playing. They're for winning.
The Dutch coach has instilled England with that quality. They were outclassed by France and Sweden, outpassed by Spain, but they're here on a Swiss pitch after all of them.
There, they'd given everything, the gripping tension of the occasion only further speaking to that spirit.
They even recovered from the mishap of Beth Mead slipping to double-touch that first penalty, so it had to be retaken and saved. It could have played on another team's mind. It could have been another crucial turn. Instead, Patricia Guijarro was to be the first Spanish shoot-out scorer and the last. Alex Greenwood and Niamh Charles scored, their names necessary to record for the historical posterity if it all. Hampton saved, even from Aitana.
England kept fighting this month. They kept going. And now they can keep calling themselves the European champions.