Euro 2025: England beat Spain as Bronze reveals broken leg

The Australian

6 days ago

England coach Sarina Wiegman said she was proud of her team after they won a penalty shootout against Spain to secure 'incredible' back-to-back Women's Euro titles on Sunday.
Defending champions England made an inauspicious start to Euro 2025 in Switzerland when they lost to France, but they went on to retain the trophy by overcoming Spain, who had beaten them in the 2023 World Cup final.
'I just can't believe it. I have a medal around my neck and we have a trophy,' Wiegman told BBC One TV.
'It has been the most chaotic tournament on the pitch — all the challenges we had on the pitch against our opponent.
'From the first game it was chaos. Losing your first game and becoming European champions is incredible.
'Football is chaos.'
England won the penalty shootout 3-1 after the match in Basel finished 1-1 following extra time, with Chloe Kelly converting the decisive kick.
'We said we can win by any means and that's what we have shown again today. I am so proud of the team and the staff. It is incredible,' Wiegman said.
The Dutch coach also praised Lucy Bronze after the veteran full-back revealed in a post-game interview that she had played with a fractured tibia during the competition.
'She had some issues with her tibia and of course we tried to manage that,'
Wiegman said of Bronze, who was substituted midway through extra time in the final and could hardly walk as she came to collect her medal with a heavily strapped right leg.
'Lucy Bronze, her mentality is incredible. The whole team has an incredible mentality, it's unbelievable.'
Meanwhile, England captain Leah Williamson said she had a feeling her team was going to win.
'(I feel) total disbelief — but at the same time, I knew it was going to happen. There's always a moment when I think, right girls, let's turn it on,' said Williamson, whose penalty during the shoot-out was saved.
'The way we defended as a team, nothing came through us. It felt like it was going to be our day.
'Relentless, we have players who absolutely love it. It's just unbelievable to do it again. And after that first game, no-one thought we would — and fair enough! But nothing has changed.'
Spain coach Montse Tome insisted that her team did not deserve to lose Sunday's Euro 2025 final after the World Cup holders were agonisingly beaten 3-1 on penalties by England.
'I think this team deserved more. We worked so hard for a long time to get here, to the final against a top-level side in England, and I thought the team deserved more, or at least to not be left with the feeling we have now,' Tome told reporters after the match at St Jakob-Park in Basel.
The game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Alessia Russo heading England level just before the hour mark following Mariona Caldentey's 25th-minute opener for Spain.
With no further scoring in extra time, it went to a shoot-out in which three Spain players including Aitana Bonmati all failed to score before Chloe Kelly netted the winning kick for England.
'This is sport and in sport you need to accept defeat, which is what happened to us in the penalty shoot-out,' added Tome, who took over from Jorge Vilda as coach shortly after Spain beat England in the final of the 2023 World Cup.
'I thought we played well in the first half, then in the second half their equaliser maybe left us a bit downbeat.
'After that we dominated possession in extra time but couldn't get the win.'
Spain, appearing in their first ever European Championship final, enjoyed 60 percent of the possession overall and had 24 attempts on goal to England's 10. But they paid the price for not putting the game to bed.
'I thought we were the better team but in football it is not always the best team which wins,' Tome added.
'England are a great side and have been so competitive throughout the tournament.
'They got the equaliser and then defended to try to get to penalties, and in the shoot-out we chose the penalty-takers who we thought would be most effective.' Patri Guijarro scored Spain's first penalty but then Caldentey and Bonmati both had their attempts saved by England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, and Salma Paralluelo put her effort wide before Kelly won it.
'They all said they were confident and I had confidence in them. In the end anyone can score or miss a penalty but the players gave everything,' the coach said