Lionesses star admits her surprise at Sarina Wiegman's words during England shootout win

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

England's Lionesses won Euro 2025 in July after beating Spain on penalties in the final, with Niamh Charles scoring from the spot in what was her first-ever senior shootout
Lionesses star Niamh Charles has shared her shock at being chosen by her manager Sarina Wiegman to take a penalty during England's Euro 2025 final victory over Spain. England achieved the extraordinary by winning the tournament in July, securing their status as consecutive European Champions after their 2022 victory.
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Despite only playing 77 minutes throughout the tournament and never having scored in a senior shootout, Wiegman entrusted the 26-year-old Charles with a penalty as England faced Spain in a nail-biting shootout following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
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With England facing another penalty shootout, after dispatching Sweden on their way to the final in one, Charles was taken aback when Wiegman nominated her as the third player to take a spot-kick at Basel's St Jakob-Park.
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The Wirral-born footballer recounted to The Athletic how she overcame her initial shock to focus on the task at hand. "It was a surprise," she said.
"It's very weird, I don't remember the moment I took it. I remember so clearly putting the ball on the spot. Because I put the valve down and was like, 'No, I don't want to kick the valve'. So I moved it. We'd spoken about it throughout the tournament about making it your time. I kept repeating in my head: 'Just do your job'. Take the emotion away from it.
"That's where it changes if I was in the first five versus when I wasn't. Against Sweden (in the penalty shootout), I supported the people who were in the first five more, I was more conscious of their feelings.
"When I was in the first five, as well as helping people before me and after me, it was focusing on my job. I was so aware of what I was going to have to do. You have to take the emotion out of it. We spoke about that as a team: make it methodical. Staff go there. Players there. Remove the emotion."
The Chelsea defender confessed she wasn't brimming with confidence before Wiegman's unexpected instruction. In preparation for Euro 2025, those in the England squad received a note asking whether they'd be willing to step up for a penalty should the need arise.
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Charles, who has only ever attempted one penalty – a miss for her previous club Liverpool – had been dedicating extra time to practising penalties after training in recent seasons. Despite this, she was reluctant to commit to the form.
"I didn't fill it out for ages, which probably shows that I hadn't put myself up there," she added. "I think I put six (penalty taker) onwards, like I do for Chelsea. I'm comfortable taking one, but if someone who has more experience wants to take one before me, that's fine."
Her penalty arrived at a pivotal moment. Following England keeper Hannah Hampton's save from Mariona Caldentey, the shootout was deadlocked at 1-1.
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Charles then stepped up and confidently dispatched her penalty. This was followed by Aitana Bonmati's miss and Chloe Kelly's decisive strike, which clinched victory.
Post-match, Wiegman admitted that despite the calm display during the shootout, the tournament had been anything but orderly for England's champions.
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"It's the most chaotic EURO I've been involved in," the 55-year-old coach said. "We just kept thinking, 'What do we have to do to help the team?' We came from behind every single game, quarter-final, semi-final and now the final; this team always have belief, they always think we can come back.
"We have players who are very talented too, otherwise we couldn't do that. The togetherness, the fight, the belief in this team is so incredible, I'm so proud of them."