Aitana Bonmati back with Spain Euros squad after treatment for viral meningitis
The Spanish Football Federation shared photos on social media of the 27-year-old arriving at the team hotel late on Monday.
🌜 Y cuando creíamos que el día lo había dado todo de sí…@AitanaBonmati 𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮 𝗮 𝗹𝗮 @sefutbolfem 𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗶𝘇𝗮.
🙌 ¡Qué alegría tenerte de vuelta, Aita! 🙌#WEURO2025 | #JugarLucharYGanar pic.twitter.com/p4qtn3az1v
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) June 30, 2025
A post on X read: 'And when we thought the day had given its all… @AitanaBonmati trains again with @sefutbolfem in Switzerland. What a joy to have you back, Aita!'
The arrival of Bonmati, who has scored 30 times in 78 matches for her country, will be a big boost for the world champions, but it remains to be seen when she will be available to play.
Spain begin their Euros campaign in Bern on Thursday with a Group B fixture against Portugal.
They will then face Belgium in Thun on Monday before concluding the group phase against Italy back in Bern.
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The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
When is England v Italy? Women's Euro 2025 semi-final kick-off time and TV channel
England will look to return to the Euros final as they take on dark horses Italy in the semi-finals in Geneva. The Lionesses fought from two goals down and survived a penalty shoot-out to defeat Sweden in the quarter-finals. Sarina Wiegman 's side looked to be on their way home but Chloe Kelly helped change the game from the bench and Lucy Bronze and Hannah Hampton were the heroes to help the holders over the line. Italy scored a last-minute goal to defeat Norway in the quarter-finals and are playing in their first Euros semi-final since 1997 - and England's first-half performance could have given them plenty of encouragement. When is England vs Italy? The Euro 2025 semi-final takes place on Tuesday 21 July, with kick-off at 8pm UK time (BST) in Geneva. How can I watch it? England v Italy will be on ITV 1 and ITV X, with build-up starting from 7pm. What is the England team news? England have a few injury concerns after their gruelling win over Sweden, the biggest surrounding the fitness of captain Leah Williamson. But the Lion esses are 'very optimistic' that Williamson will be fit, with defender Esme Morgan offering a positive update on Sunday. Lucy Bronze also played through hamstring tightness while Lauren James appeared to be hobbling after playing an all-action role in England's comeback victory and Alessia Russo put in a huge shift in attack. Sarina Wiegman will give an update in her pre-match press conference on Monday. The nature of England's first-half performance means there may be some changes anyway, with Chloe Kelly pushing for more involvement after her explosive impact off the bench against Sweden. Jess Carter struggled in defence before England's reshuffle and Morgan and Niamh Charles could be involved if Williamson is unavailable and Wiegman decides to make more changes either side of Alex Greenwood. Possible England XI: Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood, Charles; Walsh, Stanway, Toone; James, Russo, Hemp What is the Italy team news? The 35-year-old Cristiana Girelli has inspired Italy at the Euros and has scored three goals, including two against in the quarter-final win over Norway. Italy can switch between a 3-4-3 with wing-backs or a 4-3-3 with wide forwards and their strengths lie in the middle of the pitch, with the technical ability and movement of Manuela Giugliano and Ariana Caruso. They can be a danger to England and do not have any reported injury concerns or suspensions before the semi-final. Possible Italy XI: Giuliani; Di Guglielmo, Salvai, Linari; Oliviero, Giugliano, Severini, Bonansea; Caruso, Girelli, Cantore Euro 2025 results and route to final
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
How Kelly's happiness saved England's Euros
When late substitute Chloe Kelly saved England's Euros defence in 103 seconds against Sweden on Thursday night, it proved two how good the 27-year-old is on the pitch. And secondly, how important her happiness is off the who only follow the Lionesses at major tournaments may be unaware of how close the woman who scored the winner in the Euro 2022 final was to not being cast in the sequel three years later. In the first England squad of 2025, Kelly was not selected amid a crisis at club return is the perfect example of how when a player is happy off the field, they thrive on February, Sarina Wiegman left Kelly out of her squad for Nations League games against Portugal and Spain. At the time, she had not played any football since mid-December, having made just one Women's Super League start in the first half of 2024-25. Kelly fell out of favour at former club Manchester City under ex-manager Gareth Taylor. She secured a loan to childhood team Arsenal, having posted emotional messages to social media saying she "wanted to be happy again" and accusing City of planting negative stories about her in the media., externalShe was eventually selected for the February squad when Beth Mead dropped out, and 13 appearances for Arsenal in the back half of the campaign - including starting the Gunners' Champions League final triumph over Barcelona - was enough to earn her place at Euro 2025. She has since joined Arsenal on a permanent Wiegman had not brought Kelly back England would now be out of the Euros, after she made the difference against Karen Bardsley said in 5 Live's quarter-final commentary: "England have to keep going and keep getting the ball to Chloe Kelly."Team-mate Esme Morgan was effusive in her praise following Kelly's decisive performance."She's been training amazingly in the last few days," Morgan, Kelly's former Man City club-mate, told BBC Sport. "So she was high on confidence coming into that game."She seems to thrive on those moments when the team needs her to pull a performance out of the bag. She was just incredible when she came on." 'Chloe and her husband' changed the quarter-final Kelly has spoken about Arsenal putting a "smile back on my face", and that - perhaps as much as her obvious talent - is so important to her as a is close to her family, as the youngest of seven siblings with five older brothers who gave her a tough football education in the five-a-side cages of husband Scott Moore is also a huge presence, as demonstrated by the instantly iconic shin pads Kelly wore against Sweden that featured a picture of the couple kissing on their 2024 wedding day on one, and their pet dogs on the BBC One commentator Robyn Cowen quipped on Thursday night in Zurich: "This game has completely changed since Chloe and her husband came on to the pitch."The happiness and support which drives Kelly also comes from the England squad, in particular the band of 'super subs' who have played an essential role for the Lionesses ever since Wiegman took is infamous for being stubborn in her starting XI selection - the same side started all seven matches at Euro 2022, and there has only been one alteration across four matches in means benched players like Kelly must accept their role - and it is something she has done with relish. Kelly has made 10 sub appearances in Women's Euros matches, the joint most in the history of the competition. She has not yet started a game at Euro 2025 and has played only 126 minutes total - but in that time, has created six chances and provided six successful include England's two goals versus Sweden. She came off the bench in the 76th minute, and the goals arrived on minutes 78 and 80. Four minutes, two goals - saved of course, it was off the bench from where she scored the most important goal in Lionesses history - extra time at Wembley against Germany, poked home from close range, shirt whirling above her head in this has led to a clamour in some quarters for Kelly to start against Italy in the semis-finals - she topped the BBC audience ratings against Sweden, with 8.48 out of 10 - but that is not her role. 'This is a positive clique' Kelly is one of England's "finishers" alongside regular subs like Beth Mead, Aggie Beever-Jones and Michelle Agyemang. She told a news conference at Euro 2025 that they have formed a "positive clique", with their own finger clicking says Maya le Tissier - who has not played a single minute in Switzerland - came up with the idea."We work really hard on the training pitch, in the gym, making sure we're prepared when we go on to the pitch and we have a great group of girls, so it's about enjoying the whole experience as a group," Kelly said."We're good people that support each other every day. We support each other very well as a 23, that's what it takes to win a tournament. In football sometimes cliques are negative, but this is a positive clique.""No matter how bad England were in that first half, you always know England have got goalscorers in that side," former Lionesses keeper Siobhan Chamberlain told 5 Live. "You know if they get their moment, England can get back into the game."All that positivity gave Kelly the confidence to turn the quarter-final around, right down to her penalty in that bizarre shootout. As all around lost their heads, she kept hers with a trademark hop, skip and a jump in her run-up to might not start for England, but she is Mrs Reliable in shootouts. She scored the winning penalty versus Nigeria at the 2023 World Cup and Brazil in the is happy, unbothered, and empowered to save her country, and more importantly her team-mates, whenever they need her."I didn't feel under pressure, I just wanted to create some goals for the girls and do my best," she told BBC Sport after the Sweden win."I think there are times against a top team where you are struggling a little bit, I think that's football. It's about sticking together in those moments; it's riding the storm together and knowing we've got resilient moments and can bounce back from anything."
Sky News
6 hours ago
- Sky News
Lionesses 'very optimistic' Leah Williamson will be fit for Euros semi-final after drama of Sweden shootout
The Lionesses are "very optimistic" captain Leah Williamson will be back for the Euros semi-final against Italy, according to teammate Esme Morgan. Williamson rolled her ankle during Thursday's dramatic win over Sweden - with Morgan covering her position - but the defender said it's looking good for her to return for the last-four clash. The 24-year-old said the team are "very optimistic Leah will be fine". She told Sky's Rob Harris it's a "big source of pride" that England's women have now got to the semis for six tournaments in a row. "Every tournament has a different journey. Obviously ours didn't start so well but we've had three must-win games that we've come through now. "It's really exciting and a lot of fun for the fans back home, seeing us get to these crucial moments of tournaments." Morgan came on with 20 minutes to go against the Swedes as England scored two late goals to set up a nail-biting penalty shootout. She praised her fellow sub Michelle Agyemang, 19, whose goal kept them in the game - as well as the inspiration provided by "freak" England legend Lucy Bronze. The tournament veteran converted her spot kick in a shootout that saw nine of the 14 penalties missed. "[She's] such an incredible leader in this team - we are all inspired by her mentality," said Williamson. "She's a freak really, in that she just has so much passion, energy, fight. And she infects everyone else with it." Morgan told Sky News that Sarina Wiegman's message was "just proud of the togetherness, of the fight we showed, that we were never beaten - we kept pushing and pushing to the very end". The 24-year-old also praised goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, who made the game-winning penalty save from Smilla Holmberg to take England through. The Chelsea player has big boots to fill after taking over from Lionesses ' great Mary Earps "I'm really proud of how she's handled, the noise, the pressure of taking the England number on shirt for the first time in a major tournament," said Morgan. "I think she's been brilliant and made a couple of incredible saves in the shootout to take us through." 0:28 The defender also revealed that some of the team stayed up late watching Love Island to try to tire themselves out and let the adrenaline subside after the last-gasp win. All eyes are now on Tuesday's clash with Italy in Geneva. The holders are strong favourites due to their record at big tournaments, with the Italians having never made a semi-final since 1997. If they win, it could set up a re-run of their World Cup final against Spain two years ago. The Spaniards will play either France or Germany in their last-four match on Wednesday.
