Latest news with #BallonDor
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
From hospital bed to hero: Bonmatí's goal sends Spain to first Euros final
Aitana Bonmatí began the Women's European Championship recovering from a hospital stay. On Wednesday, she steered Spain to another major final against England. The two-time Ballon d'Or winner scored the extra-time clincher in a 1-0 semifinal victory over Germany and set up a rematch of the World Cup final in 2023, when Spain beat England 2-1. Bonmatí's preparations for Euro 2025 were seriously disrupted when the Barcelona midfielder was hospitalized with viral meningitis less than a week before the tournament. 'I wanted to get to this game at my best level and that's thanks to all the people next to me, who helped me to reach this game at my top level because on my own it wouldn't have been possible," Bonmatí said. Bonmatí's goal created history for Spain. It was the first win in nine attempts against Germany and secured a place in the European final for the first time. 'I don't believe in destiny. I believe in hard work, my mentality, and all the support I have received,' the 27-year-old Bonmatí said. The match was seven minutes from a nerve-wracking penalty shootout when Bonmatí gathered a pass and got past Rebecca Knaak with a clever dummy and turn before squeezing home an audacious attempt from the tightest of angles. The goal also ended a rare drought for Bonmatí, who hadn't scored in her previous six appearances. 'It wasn't easy for her at the beginning of the tournament but she has a special personality to be at the maximum level,' Spain coach Montse Tomé said. 'She has a huge capacity to create spaces, where she can generate opportunities like today. 'And she managed to overcome the health issues she had at the beginning of the tournament. Good work was done with her to get her back to the level she's at now, she helps the team a lot.' Spain is aiming to add the European title to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years. To do that it has to get beat defending champion England in Basel on Sunday. 'Tomorrow we will think about England," Bonmatí said. 'Now it is time to celebrate.' ___ AP soccer:
Associated Press
a day ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
From hospital bed to hero: Bonmatí's goal sends Spain to first Euros final
Aitana Bonmatí began the Women's European Championship recovering from a hospital stay. On Wednesday, she steered Spain to another major final against England. The two-time Ballon d'Or winner scored the extra-time clincher in a 1-0 semifinal victory over Germany and set up a rematch of the World Cup final in 2023, when Spain beat England 2-1. Bonmatí's preparations for Euro 2025 were seriously disrupted when the Barcelona midfielder was hospitalized with viral meningitis less than a week before the tournament. 'I wanted to get to this game at my best level and that's thanks to all the people next to me, who helped me to reach this game at my top level because on my own it wouldn't have been possible,' Bonmatí said. Bonmatí's goal created history for Spain. It was the first win in nine attempts against Germany and secured a place in the European final for the first time. 'I don't believe in destiny. I believe in hard work, my mentality, and all the support I have received,' the 27-year-old Bonmatí said. The match was seven minutes from a nerve-wracking penalty shootout when Bonmatí gathered a pass and got past Rebecca Knaak with a clever dummy and turn before squeezing home an audacious attempt from the tightest of angles. The goal also ended a rare drought for Bonmatí, who hadn't scored in her previous six appearances. 'It wasn't easy for her at the beginning of the tournament but she has a special personality to be at the maximum level,' Spain coach Montse Tomé said. 'She has a huge capacity to create spaces, where she can generate opportunities like today. 'And she managed to overcome the health issues she had at the beginning of the tournament. Good work was done with her to get her back to the level she's at now, she helps the team a lot.' Spain is aiming to add the European title to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years. To do that it has to get beat defending champion England in Basel on Sunday. 'Tomorrow we will think about England,' Bonmatí said. 'Now it is time to celebrate.' ___ AP soccer:
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
From hospital bed to hero: Bonmatí's goal sends Spain to first Euros final
Aitana Bonmatí began the Women's European Championship recovering from a hospital stay. On Wednesday, she steered Spain to another major final against England. The two-time Ballon d'Or winner scored the extra-time clincher in a 1-0 semifinal victory over Germany and set up a rematch of the World Cup final in 2023 when Spain beat England 2-1. Bonmatí's preparations for Euro 2025 were seriously disrupted when the Barcelona midfielder was hospitalized with viral meningitis less than a week before the tournament. 'I wanted to get to this game at my best level and that's thanks to all the people next to me who helped me to reach this game at my top level because on my own it wouldn't have been possible,' Bonmatí said. Bonmatí's goal created history for Spain. It was the first win in nine attempts against Germany and secured a place in the European final for the first time. 'I don't believe in destiny. I believe in hard work, my mentality, and all the support I have received,' the 27-year-old Bonmatí said. The match was seven minutes from a nerve-wracking penalty shootout when Bonmatí gathered a pass and got past Rebecca Knaak with a clever dummy and turn before squeezing home an audacious attempt from the tightest of angles. The goal also ended a rare drought for Bonmatí, who hadn't scored in her previous six appearances. 'It wasn't easy for her at the beginning of the tournament, but she has a special personality to be at the maximum level,' Spain coach Montse Tomé said. 'She has a huge capacity to create spaces where she can generate opportunities like today. And she managed to overcome the health issues she had at the beginning of the tournament. Good work was done with her to get her back to the level she's at now; she helps the team a lot.' Spain is aiming to add the European title to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years. To do that, it has to beat defending champion England in Basel on Sunday. 'Tomorrow we will think about England,' Bonmatí said. 'Now it is time to celebrate.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'History again' - Bonmati celebrates as Spain set up Euro final against England
Spain star Aitana Bonmati said her team planned to take some time to celebrate reaching their first ever European Championship final following Wednesday's extra-time win over Germany, before quickly turning their thoughts to another title decider against England. "We have made history again, beating Germany for the first time and reaching a Euro final which we had never done before," a smiling Bonmati remarked after her extra-time strike secured a 1-0 victory in Zurich in the semi-final clash. "We feel proud to be part of this generation of players that is achieving so much, but this is not over yet," added the reigning Ballon d'Or winner before the Spain squad headed back to their training base in Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva. "They are already tearing things up in the dressing room and there won't be much silence on the bus journey back to Lausanne. "We will enjoy this but tomorrow we need to start thinking about England." The game on Sunday in Basel against the reigning European champions will be a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final, when Olga Carmona scored the only goal to hand Spain the title. England will have had an extra 24 hours to prepare for the match after beating Italy in their semi-final on Tuesday, although they needed extra time to win that match having been taken all the way to penalties against Sweden in the quarter-finals. "I know they played twice 120 minutes but we knew today could be a long match and it was," Bonmati said, in English. She knows that England's substitutes -- notably Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang -- have had a major impact in each of their knockout ties en route to the final, but insists Spain can trust in their own squad. "We believe in our players, the 11 starters, but we also have a lot of players on the bench who can do better in the second half or in extra time. We have a big squad and we trust all of them," she said. "England have a lot of players that we have faced a lot of times -- we know them and they know us so we have to prepare the best way we can to win." as/rcw
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
England learn their Euro 2025 final opponents as Spain strike late in extra-time to beat Germany and set up a rematch from the World Cup
England face a rematch of the World Cup final against Spain in Sunday's European Championship showpiece, after their rivals beat Germany 1-0 after extra time in the semi-finals. Spain and Germany were unable to be separated during the 90 minutes, with penalties looking likely to decide who would take on Sarina Wiegman 's side. Reigning two-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati would prove the difference between the sides, with a low effort from a tight angle beat goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger at her neat post.
