England star reveals Chloe Kelly's two-word message before crucial penalty in Euro 2025 semi-final vs Italy

The Irish Sun

4 days ago

ALEX GREENWOOD has opened on her conversation with Chloe Kelly prior to the England star's crucial late penalty in last night's win over Italy.
The Lionesses
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Chloe Kelly stepped up to take England's 119th minute penalty
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Kelly, 27, celebrates her winning goal
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But
And they were then presented with the chance to win the match late on in extra time, when
Having come off the bench, Kelly took the crucial spot kick.
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The 27-year-old's penalty was initially saved, only for Kelly to calmly slot home the rebound and send England into the final.
After the match, England star
The defender, 31, said: "That takes a lot of courage to step up to take that.
"I asked her, she had no doubt in her mind, she was confident enough to take it.
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Alex Greenwood was full of praise for Kelly after the match
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"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 No2 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'.
Supersub Chloe Kelly's late winner sends England into Euro 2025 final
"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."
Boss Wiegman later added: "I think Chloe thrives on these moments. She's excited about them, she loves those moments. You can tell.
"We always had the opportunity to bring fresh players on who bring a lot of quality.
"We ended up with more players up front, which was necessary because it was a wall we had to find a hole in. They did really good.
"When you go a goal down and have to come from behind against Italy, you know you have a problem.
"We had some serious challenges. We didn't play well in the first half, we had a lot of the ball but we didn't have the energy.
"The second half was better but they defended really well, and there wasn't much space in the final third."
The Lionesses will face either
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The Lionesses celebrate booking their place in the final
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