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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lioness Michelle Agyemang on going from ball girl to Euro 2025 hero
From ball girl to the Lionesses ' saviour: Michelle Agyemang has had quite the journey. Since being called up to the England senior squad for the first time in April, the 19-year-old striker has scored three goals out of four appearances - and brought her team back from the brink with an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time against Italy in the Euro 2025 semi-final on Tuesday (22 July). Reflecting on what the result meant to her, Agyemang said: "Four years ago, I was just a kid throwing the ball to some of these girls, and now I'm here playing with them. "It's a great opportunity and I'm so happy that I'm here."
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Chloe Kelly ‘had no doubt in her mind' about taking penalty
Chloe Kelly needed no persuasion to take the pressure-cooker extra-time penalty that sent defending champions England into the Euro 2025 final, according to defender Alex Greenwood. The Lionesses were on the brink of elimination by Italy when 19-year-old substitute Michelle Agyemang forced extra time, drawing the sides level with an equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time to cancel out Barbara Bonansea's 33rd-minute opener. Then, with another shootout minutes away, Beth Mead was brought down and Kelly stepped up to the spot, where she was initially denied by Laura Giuliani, but buried the rebound to complete England's second successive stunning comeback. 'That takes a lot of courage to step up to take that,' Greenwood said. 'I asked her, she had no doubt in her mind, she was confident enough to take it. 'All of our penalty takers were off, so who was left was probably me or Chloe. I missed the pen in the (Sweden) game, in the shootout, Chloe scored hers comfortably, so they (manager Sarina Wiegman and assistant Arjan Veurink) said, 'It's up to you, you or Chloe'. 'I asked her, I looked at her and said, 'What do you think?' She said, 'I'm confident'. That's enough for me. I don't need to ask her again. She's confident enough to take it, so she did. 'She's great. She's brilliant. I mean, she came on, she caused them massive problems, she did the other day. She scores a penalty. The way she carries herself off the pitch, I've not got enough good words to say about her.' Kelly's mere presence at this tournament looked anything but a certainty seven months ago. In January, the 27-year-old was so unhappy with her situation at Manchester City that she took to social media, candidly expressing her desire to leave a situation she said, at the time, had 'huge impact on not only my career but my mental wellbeing'. Kelly secured a deadline-day loan move back to former club Arsenal, and after a highly successful spell – including a Champions League trophy – was rewarded with a permanent contract after she became a free agent at the end of the season. Having risen to prominence as the substitute whose extra-time winner at Wembley sealed the Lionesses' first major trophy at Euro 2022, Kelly has once again been a marvel in Switzerland, proving she is a woman who can always be relied upon under maximum pressure. It was Kelly's crosses in their Sweden quarter-final comeback that allowed Lucy Bronze, then Agyemang, to draw the sides level in the final 11 minutes of normal time, and her calm, collected and clinical spot-kick was an anomaly in the chaotic shootout that ultimately booked their meeting with Italy. But even as late as February, she was initially left out of Wiegman's Nations League squad, when the England boss explained 'she hasn't played enough', though she was later drafted in when Mead withdrew with an injury. Asked after Tuesday's victory where her confidence comes from, Kelly smiled and replied: 'Myself. The moments when, in January, I felt like giving up football makes you so grateful for these moments here today, and makes you enjoy every minute of that. 'I think confidence comes from within, but also from around you as well. The players that we stand side by side with on the pitch breed confidence in each other. 'I think a lot of self-talk definitely happens, and the people you surround yourself with off the pitch, my family, is really important to me, and they breed a lot of confidence in me.'
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
The secret to Chloe Kelly's unbreakable confidence
England were seconds away from going home. Losing 1-0 to Italy in the Euro 2025 semi-finals, the Lionesses needed a hero. Up stepped Chloe Kelly, raising her arms as she prepared to deliver an inswinging corner from the left. But as the England fans behind the goal prayed for a moment of inspiration, it was immediately clear that something was wrong: Kelly dragged her cross straight out of play. It landed, horribly, into the side-netting. 'Obviously it wasn't the plan,' Kelly grimaced. Neither was it the plan to miss a penalty with the chance to send England through to the Euro 2025 final, but Kelly's response to both the failed corner and saved spot-kick remained the same. 'The reaction is as important as the action,' Kelly explained. 'For me, it was important to not dwell on the moment.' Instead, she followed up her penalty miss by scoring the rebound, telling everyone to 'chill' as they lost their minds. For Kelly, the 119th-minute winner in Geneva is the latest in a long line of iconic moments in an England shirt, to go alongside Wembley, Brisbane and Zurich. When the pressure is at its highest, Kelly has been able to rise above it and deliver, time and time again. 'She thrives in those moments where all eyes are on her and she knows she needs to produce, and she's just got this belief in herself,' said England defender Esme Morgan. 'She has always been like that. Chloe just doesn't care what other people think. She's her own person and she works hard. She knows what she's brilliant at. So when there's a moment to execute what she's brilliant at, she just feels 10 feet tall and ready to take it.' Right now, if you could bottle and sell what Kelly has, you would earn yourself a fortune. 'Chloe's just attitude, sass, confidence,' said Lucy Bronze. As if to illustrate this, when asked after England's win where her confidence and self-belief came from, Kelly simply replied: 'Myself.' No one in world football is taking on the game in the way Kelly is, from her high-stepping penalty run-up to her viral wedding photo shinpads and her grin before taking the penalty to keep England at the Euros during the quarter-finals. Yet it was only a few months ago that the 27-year-old was questioning her love for the sport and future in it. She was, she said, in a 'dark place'. Frozen out at Manchester City, Kelly was at risk of dropping out of Sarina Wiegman 's England squad. Her place at the Euros hinged on the success of her loan to Arsenal but it was on her move back to north London that Kelly's smile returned. Working alongside Renee Slegers at Arsenal, Kelly was told to be herself. She began to play with joy again and finished the season as a Champions League winner. That version of Kelly has shone through in Switzerland. Three years ago, Kelly was only just recovering from an ACL injury when she seized her opportunity to score England's winning goal in the Euro 2022 final. Three years later, Kelly is playing with the same determination to take nothing for granted, but with her self-belief at an all-time high. 'When she's on the pitch, no matter what, she's going to push her shoulders back, big up her chest and she's going to go for it,' Bronze said. At Euro 2025, Kelly's instructions from Wiegman are the same as they were in Euro 2022: to go on and change the game for England. She has now made 11 consecutive appearances as a substitute between both tournaments but her approach has remained consistent. 'Take the opportunity when it comes,' Kelly explained. 'We've got 23 amazing players in the squad and we're all ready.' England's super-sub has made yet another devastating impact off the bench at a major tournament. But above all, missing a penalty only to go again and convert the rebound was a way of encapsulating an entire career, illustrating that the biggest successes often come from bouncing back. 'The moments in January when I felt like giving up football, makes you grateful for these moments here today,' Kelly reflected. 'Confidence comes from within but from around you as well. The players I stand side by side with on the pitch, [we] breed confidence in each other. The people you surround yourself with, my family is really important to me and will breed a lot of confidence within me.' Bronze may have briefly stood over the penalty spot when England were awarded their last-minute penalty against Italy but there was no question who was going to take; no doubt, either, that Kelly would slow herself down, spin the ball on its mark, take a deep breath, and lift up her left leg to begin her run-up. The surprise was the save but the response was never in doubt. The initial celebration amid the chaos, as Kelly pushed her hands towards the ground, told its own story: 'It was more like, 'Chill out, I was going to score! Chill out, it was OK!'' Kelly laughed. Then came the second celebration, one that will go down well in north London, with her arm on the corner flag waiting and admiring the view like Thierry Henry. The message? Don't worry, England, I've got this.
