England's never-say-die icons take on Spain: a bluffer's guide to the Euros final

The Guardian

3 days ago

The Lionesses, as England's women's football team is known, will defend their Euros crown on Sunday, after Sarina Wiegman's side snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Italy in the semi-final, scoring the latest of late goals to win 2-1 at the Stade de Genève in Lancy.
It is the team's third successive major tournament final – they won Euro 2022 against Germany at Wembley, and reached the World Cup final a year later, where they lost to Spain. But on Sunday they will have the opportunity to rectify two years of hurt, when they face La Roja again.
Spain beat an excellent Germany 1-0 in extra time on Wednesday night and will go into Sunday evening's match as favourites. But after a series of last minute victories, England will be hoping to hit their stride and take the trophy home once again.
The match at St Jakob-Park in Basel kicks off at 5pm BST and will be shown on BBC one, iPlayer, ITV1 and ITVX. You'll be in good company – the semi-final was watched by a peak audience of 10.2 million, ITV's highest viewing figures of the year.
Yes, but the thousands who have travelled to Switzerland to watch the Lionesses have been through the wringer.
First came an impressively bad opening performance against France, when they somehow only lost 2-1. Things did get better – England then trounced the Netherlands 4-0, before thrashing Wales 6-1 in their final group game.
But the knock-out stages of the tournament have been a white-knuckle ride. In the quarter final against Sweden, England were looking down the barrel of a 2-0 defeat when two English goals in 102 seconds propelled them into extra time and the greatest terrible penalty shootout of all time. Of the 14 penalties taken, only five were scored, with England sneaking home 3-2.
The semi-final against Italy was even more dramatic. England were 1-0 down with two minutes of injury time remaining when 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang scored a belter to take the game into extra time. With one minute of that to go, the super sub Chloe Kelly – who you may remember for a shirt-twirling celebration of her match-winning goal in the the Euro 2022 final – pounced on the rebound of her saved penalty in the 119th minute to put England through. It's been exhausting, frankly.
England are still one of the best teams in the world, with a depth of world-class players and a ferocious team spirit that only a fool would bet against. They have also proven on multiple occasions this tournament that while they may look like they are down, you can't count on them being out.
And while Wiegman has come in for some criticism for making late substitutions and overseeing some lacklustre performances, she is nonetheless making her way to Basel for her fifth major-tournament final in a row. For now at least, fans are keeping the refrain: in Sarina we trust.
Yes, although some of the best-known figures are not in Switzerland.
There is still plenty of experience in the team, including the captain, Leah Williamson, Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly. Lucy Bronze, arguably the greatest female player England has ever produced, continues to be a force of nature. As well as burying her penalty against Sweden, the 33-year-old captured the never-say-die mentality of the squad and provided most of the iconic moments of the competition when she strapped her own injured thigh in the quarter-final.
The name on everyone's lips before the final is that of the teenager Michelle Agyemang, who has twice come on to score and save England from elimination in this tournament. The Arsenal player spent much of last season on loan to Brighton and only made her international debut in April, when she scored after 40 seconds. With three goals in four games in an England shirt, fans will expect to see her brought on before the dying moments of the match. Chelsea's 24-year-old goalie Hannah Hampton had big gloves to fill at these Euros, but has proved her mettle, saving two penalties in the semi-final shoot out with a bloodied tissue shoved up her right nostril.
Are Spain any good by the way?
Yes, muy buenas. Realmente buenas, in fact. With a very on-brand love of possession (68% against Switzerland, 67% against Germany), Spain have a habit of simply keeping hold of the ball until they finally manage to pass it into the net.
The midfielder Aitana Bonmatí – who was only discharged from hospital after a bout of viral meningitis in June – is probably the best player in the world right now. She won the Ballon d'Or, Fifa's player of the year award, for the second year in succession in December.
The midfielder Alèxia Putellas, Barcelona's captain, is a double Ballon d'Or winner. And Patri Guijarro, who plays for, yes you guessed it, Barcelona, is probably a future Ballon d'Or winner. Mariona Caldentey has had a brilliant first season for Arsenal, after a decade with… Barcelona. They're a bunch of golden ballers, basically.