Latest news with #Beth Mead
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
England's rotten penalties against Sweden stink of poor planning, writes IAN HERBERT
Anyone can miss a penalty in the heat of the big occasion. Stuart Pearce and Gareth Southgate are testament to how it can feel. But nine misses out of 14 in one shootout? The sight of Grace Clinton's terribly weak connection after Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk had ballooned a kick over the bar turned England 's shootout against Sweden into one of the worst ever at an international tournament. It was not a glorious advert for the women's game. In the aftermath, there were no material explanations from England's players as to why four of their players managed to miss and Beth Mead offered the flat observation that the team had practised every day and 'sometimes it doesn't go to plan'. But this reasoning did not account for what appeared to be a scandalous lack of preparation. We are told everything is joined up when it comes to England's teams — men and women — with marginal gains disseminating out from one cognitive core at St George's Park. But when it came to the most critical moment for the national women's team since their World Cup final in Sydney two years ago, the learning was sorely lacking. There has always been a little resistance to the men's game being brought into an assessment of the women's. As Lionesses manager at the 2019 World Cup, Phil Neville would bring his Manchester United hinterland into the conversation and cite Sir Alex Ferguson. Some frowned on this and on him. But now is the moment to point out how England's men have set an example for shootouts which Sarina Wiegman should have borrowed from. When penalties became a source of fear for the men, Southgate applied his mind to taking out the fear. He set up an 18-month taskforce to tackle the reasons for a hoodoo which brought six defeats out of seven. It was about 'controlling the controllables', with a huddle before the shootout limited to the takers, each player assigned a 'buddy' to welcome them back into the pack post-kick and — critically — players being drilled in not rushing. In the shootout against the Swiss at last year's Euros, when England scored all five of their kicks, the average wait time for each penalty was 5.2 seconds, compared with Switzerland's 1.3. The evidence of Thursday's England kicks in Zurich was that the work Southgate undertook for the men had gone to waste. Wiegman's penalty takers' average wait time — the gap from the whistle to the start of the run-up — was 3.6 seconds, with scorers Alessia Russo (5sec), Chloe Kelly (7.6) and Lucy Bronze (4.1) showing it pays to take your time. Lauren James allowed herself just one second. Mead took 1.5sec before missing, Alex Greenwood an extraordinary 0.8sec before fluffing her kick and Clinton 5sec. The choice and order of kickers leaves Wiegman with more questions to answer. Two of the experienced takers, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone, had been substituted on 70 minutes, with England still trailing 2-0. So in sixth was Clinton, who had never taken a penalty before for England. Kelly, England's best player from the spot, was curiously only fifth, scoring England's best effort. The typically insouciant Wiegman provided no sense that England's problems would be a focus before Tuesday's semi-final against Italy in Geneva. She actually seemed to imply the ball had been a problem. 'Of course I was concerned,' she said. 'I know the players are capable of taking a penalty because they're really good. You can talk about the reasons — the fatigue, the ball, the whole picture of it, which is really hard.' But 'no', she replied to the question of whether extra work and thought were now needed. 'We have trained this. We know what players are capable of and we move on. Of course we prepare for a penalty shootout, because that's always a scenario, but I will not make it a big point.' The power of Bronze's decisive kick raised the question of why she, such an experienced player, had not been among the first five and was behind young Clinton. She stripped away strapping on her left leg and smashed her kick down the middle, later revealing she had been watching the Sweden keeper and seen her diving early each time. 'Statistically in shootouts it's risky for goalkeepers to stand still, so I thought, 'Go down the middle'.' Like most aspects of England's shootout, Bronze's logic seemed to have been thought out on the hoof. If the Swedes had not been even worse than England, the inquisition would have been far more severe.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Anatomy of a terrible penalty shootout – how England triumphed in chaos at Euro 2025
England lived to fight another day at Euro 2025 after surviving a chaotic penalty shoot-out to beat Sweden and reach the semi-finals. After England came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw following extra time, nine of the 14 penalties were missed in an extraordinary decider. The Lionesses were a penalty away from going home on two occasions but Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze were the heroes as they progressed. 'I think we're all frustrated in the sense that we had our system, we've practised them every day, we've got our routines, and sometimes it doesn't go to plan,' Beth Mead said. But after emerging through one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in major tournament history, England could still celebrate as they set up a semi-final with Italy. Here's how it all unfolded ✅ England 1-0 Sweden - Alessia Russo scores A confident penalty from England's No 9. That feeling would not last long. 'Penalty shoot-outs, statistically you're more likely to win if you go first, winning the coin toss played into that,' Lucy Bronze said. 'I love maths.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Filippa Angeldahl misses With a bloody tissue stuffed up one nostril, Hannah Hampton goes the correct way and saves to her left. 'I don' t really know what happened to be honest, all I remember is going up for that ball and someone has elbowed me I think,' Hampton said after the game. 'I thought I got away with it at first because there was nothing [blood] coming out, then I sat up and it was streaming. But as a few of the girls have said, I'm better with one nostril so maybe I'll have it again in the next game.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Lauren James misses It suits James' playing style to have a short run-up but this one didn't come off as she skipped around the ball and shot low. It lacks power and Jennifer Falk saves to her right. ✅England 1-1 Sweden - Julia Zigiotti Olme scores In perhaps the best penalty of the shoot-out, Zigiotti takes out the camera positioned in the top corner - Harry Maguire style. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Beth Mead misses Falk saves again, and to the same side. The goalkeeper has clearly done her homework and has printed off notes to attach to her water bottle. Mead's penalty was at a good height for the goalkeeper. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Magdalena Eriksson misses Eriksson strikes the bottom of the post with Hampton beaten. Neither side can claim the advantage after consecutive misses. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Alex Greenwood misses Falk guesses correctly for the third time in a row and is beginning to look unbeatable in the Sweden goal. ✅England 1-2 Sweden - Nathalie Bjorn scores It's Chelsea vs Chelsea but Bjorn keeps cool to beat her club team-mate. It's match point to Sweden now and they lead for the first time. ✅England 2-2 Sweden - Chloe Kelly scores After scoring winning penalties in shoot-outs against Nigeria and Brazil, it's Kelly's turn to keep England alive from the No 5 spot. Kelly grins as she stands over the spot, does her trademark run-up by lifting up her left leg, skipping, and burying the penalty into the corner. ' She made me laugh and then we both laughed at each other, it wasn't like a disrespect we just laughed at each other. In those moments there's a lot of pressure but I felt that and she just made me laugh.' Later asked what was going through her head , Kelly replied: 'I was bursting for a wee.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Jennifer Falk misses Sweden still have the chance to win it but there's an audible gasp in the stadium as goalkeeper Falk steps up to take Sweden's fifth penalty. 'I was more panicking that we didn't have any data on her or where she was going,' Hampton later explained. 'So I was like oh my goodness this is down to me. I was a bit surprised.' After making three saves, can Falk score in a battle of goalkeeper vs goalkeeper? No! Falk skies it and England stay alive. ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Grace Clinton misses It's back even again, as the pressure of sudden death falls onto the 22-year-old Grace Clinton. This was the weakest penalty of the lot and Falk saved comfortably. At this point, Sarina Wiegman starts to wonder if England had run out of lives. 'Well when you miss so many penalties I was really concerned,' Wiegman said. 'I thought it was done.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Sofia Jacobson misses It's the second match point for Sweden, but Hampton makes her best save of the shoot-out to tip it onto the post at full stretch! At this point, England players are starting to lose track of who needs what. 'We were trying to work out what was going on as the shootout was happening,' Kelly admitted. 'Michelle [Agyemang] was asking questions, I was like, if we score and they miss then we win.' ✅England 3-2 Sweden - Lucy Bronze scores In an iconic moment, Bronze steps forward and begins to tear the strapping from her left thigh after feeling muscle tightness towards the end of full-time. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty [but] I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty,' Bronze said. 'So I didn't take it off [but] then it was my penalty and I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.' With her captain's armband around her wrist, Bronze does just that. She smashes it down the middle. 'I watched the goalkeeper in every penalty and she dived quite early,' Bronze said. 'Statistically in shoot-outs it's risky for goalkeepers to stand still. Go down the middle.' ❌England 3-2 Sweden - Smilla Holmberg misses Now it's England's turn to hold match point, as the pressure falls on Sweden's 18-year-old right back. Holmberg goes for the top corner but blasts her penalty over the crossbar, the ninth miss from 14 penalties as England scrape into the quarter-finals and Hampton is mobbed by her team-mates.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Hampton's bloody nose and nine missed penalties: How ridiculous England v Sweden shootout unfolded
England lived to fight another day at Euro 2025 after surviving a chaotic penalty shoot-out to beat Sweden and reach the semi-finals. After England came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw following extra time, nine of the 14 penalties were missed in an extraordinary decider. The Lionesses were a penalty away from going home on two occasions but Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze were the heroes as they progressed. 'I think we're all frustrated in the sense that we had our system, we've practised them every day, we've got our routines, and sometimes it doesn't go to plan,' Beth Mead said. But after emerging through one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in major tournament history, England could still celebrate as they set up a semi-final with Italy. Here's how it all unfolded ✅ England 1-0 Sweden - Alessia Russo scores A confident penalty from England's No 9. That feeling would not last long. 'Penalty shoot-outs, statistically you're more likely to win if you go first, winning the coin toss played into that,' Lucy Bronze said. 'I love maths.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Filippa Angeldahl misses With a bloody tissue stuffed up one nostril, Hannah Hampton goes the correct way and saves to her left. 'I don' t really know what happened to be honest, all I remember is going up for that ball and someone has elbowed me I think,' Hampton said after the game. 'I thought I got away with it at first because there was nothing [blood] coming out, then I sat up and it was streaming. But as a few of the girls have said, I'm better with one nostril so maybe I'll have it again in the next game.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Lauren James misses It suits James' playing style to have a short run-up but this one didn't come off as she skipped around the ball and shot low. It lacks power and Jennifer Falk saves to her right. ✅England 1-1 Sweden - Julia Zigiotti Olme scores In perhaps the best penalty of the shoot-out, Zigiotti takes out the camera positioned in the top corner - Harry Maguire style. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Beth Mead misses Falk saves again, and to the same side. The goalkeeper has clearly done her homework and has printed off notes to attach to her water bottle. Mead's penalty was at a good height for the goalkeeper. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Magdalena Eriksson misses Eriksson strikes the bottom of the post with Hampton beaten. Neither side can claim the advantage after consecutive misses. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Alex Greenwood misses Falk guesses correctly for the third time in a row and is beginning to look unbeatable in the Sweden goal. ✅England 1-2 Sweden - Nathalie Bjorn scores It's Chelsea vs Chelsea but Bjorn keeps cool to beat her club team-mate. It's match point to Sweden now and they lead for the first time. ✅England 2-2 Sweden - Chloe Kelly scores After scoring winning penalties in shoot-outs against Nigeria and Brazil, it's Kelly's turn to keep England alive from the No 5 spot. Kelly grins as she stands over the spot, does her trademark run-up by lifting up her left leg, skipping, and burying the penalty into the corner. ' She made me laugh and then we both laughed at each other, it wasn't like a disrespect we just laughed at each other. In those moments there's a lot of pressure but I felt that and she just made me laugh.' Later asked what was going through her head , Kelly replied: 'I was bursting for a wee.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Jennifer Falk misses Sweden still have the chance to win it but there's an audible gasp in the stadium as goalkeeper Falk steps up to take Sweden's fifth penalty. 'I was more panicking that we didn't have any data on her or where she was going,' Hampton later explained. 'So I was like oh my goodness this is down to me. I was a bit surprised.' After making three saves, can Falk score in a battle of goalkeeper vs goalkeeper? No! Falk skies it and England stay alive. ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Grace Clinton misses It's back even again, as the pressure of sudden death falls onto the 22-year-old Grace Clinton. This was the weakest penalty of the lot and Falk saved comfortably. At this point, Sarina Wiegman starts to wonder if England had run out of lives. 'Well when you miss so many penalties I was really concerned,' Wiegman said. 'I thought it was done.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Sofia Jacobson misses It's the second match point for Sweden, but Hampton makes her best save of the shoot-out to tip it onto the post at full stretch! At this point, England players are starting to lose track of who needs what. 'We were trying to work out what was going on as the shootout was happening,' Kelly admitted. 'Michelle [Agyemang] was asking questions, I was like, if we score and they miss then we win.' ✅England 3-2 Sweden - Lucy Bronze scores In an iconic moment, Bronze steps forward and begins to tear the strapping from her left thigh after feeling muscle tightness towards the end of full-time. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty [but] I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty,' Bronze said. 'So I didn't take it off [but] then it was my penalty and I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.' With her captain's armband around her wrist, Bronze does just that. She smashes it down the middle. 'I watched the goalkeeper in every penalty and she dived quite early,' Bronze said. 'Statistically in shoot-outs it's risky for goalkeepers to stand still. Go down the middle.' ❌England 3-2 Sweden - Smilla Holmberg misses Now it's England's turn to hold match point, as the pressure falls on Sweden's 18-year-old right back. Holmberg goes for the top corner but blasts her penalty over the crossbar, the ninth miss from 14 penalties as England scrape into the quarter-finals and Hampton is mobbed by her team-mates.
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Bronze and grit help England beat Sweden
ZURICH :England heroine Lucy Bronze said it was "grit, determination and hard work" that pushed the team to win their UEFA Women's quarter-final against Sweden, as her teammates and coach paid tribute to her action-packed performance. The defending champions clawed their way back into the match after conceding two first half goals and scoring twice in the second half to take the match at Zurich's Letzigrund stadium to extra time and penalties. Bronze scored England's first goal, and the Chelsea defender went on to get the decisive goal in the penalty shootout, where England triumphed 3-2. The team was determined not to lose, Bronze said. "It wasn't beautiful, but it got us through." When asked about her own performance, she said: "I just keep going and going and going. "Hopefully that can just leak into the rest of the team. I think we have the type of team where we can influence each other, to push each other, to go for more." Coach Sarina Wiegman and teammate Beth Mead both paid tribute to Bronze. "Lucy Bronze is just one of a kind. I have never, ever seen this before in my life, and I'm... a very lucky person that I've worked with so many incredible people, incredible football players," Wiegman said. "What defines her is that resilience, that fight." Mead, a second-half substitute, also praised Bronze's performance. "I mean she did it all, and I think Lucy really showed her experience in those moments," Mead said. "She's our most experienced England player, and I think she was one of the players that very much got that determination out of us all today."
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The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Inside England's ‘positive clique' and the celebration keeping the Lionesses together
There are cliques forming in the England camp. This could be seen as problematic. At a major tournament, it could indicate squad disharmony and fractures between groups, instead of a unified approach. Not for the Lionesses at Euro 2025. There is instead the 'positive clique'. It is named after the positive clickers, the group of substitutes who began on the bench against the Netherlands and Wales but celebrated goals from Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones by snapping their fingers and embracing each other on the sidelines. It was their way of staying together, but it momentarily left others in the starting line-up confused and out of the loop. Ella Toone admitted after the Wales win that she stood on the touchline and wasn't in on the joke, while Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh were still in the dark by Wednesday morning and had to ask for an explanation on their way to training. But the message from the rest of the England squad was clear. 'In football sometimes cliques are negative but this is a positive clique,' Chloe Kelly said. 'We have a little group of us, a group chat, 'the finishers' as you call it, and the positive clicks we call it on the bench before the game. You probably saw we were all clicking, like 'what are they doing?!', but it was just a positive click. We said that if one of us comes on and scores, let's do that as our celebration.' The goals from Mead and Beever-Jones and the celebrations with the substitutes highlighted the work and commitment behind the scenes. 'I think we underestimate how hard it can be for the bench sometimes and for the players that don't get on the pitch as much,' Mead had explained after the 6-1 win over Wales. 'Before the game started, we were all snapping as a little bit of our motivation, a little bit of energy amongst each other. Then we actually said if anyone came on and scored we'd celebrate with each other and show appreciation. So I did that.' Kelly, one of Wiegman's super-subs from Euro 2022 who has so far come off the bench in all three games at Euro 2025, may not be one of them but there are players in Sarina Wiegman 's squad of 23 at the Euros who know they are unlikely to play any minutes at all at the tournament. Instead, their role is to push the starters, to bring energy and maintain the vibes, all while being prepared to play a part if required. 'We work really hard on the training pitch and the gym, probably sometimes it goes unnoticed but it's just about sticking together and being at our best when called upon,' Kelly said. 'Training hard to get the best out of each other, but also the girls that are starting the game making sure that they're fully prepared.' Wiegman's approach before a major tournament is to tell her players exactly what role they are expected to play. It was Maya Le Tissier who set up the 'finishers' WhatsApp chat and Kelly said it has helped those who know they are unlikely to feature that they still have an important part to play in the tournament. 'I was saying to Lotte [Wubben-Moy] throughout the tournaments that we've been playing in, whether that was the home Euros, Australia or here, the group of finishers have been incredible, supporting the team that are playing and being ready for your moment,' Kelly said. 'The level of training is really high in the gym and we're just grafting. It's been really nice to see that as a consistent thing with England - the finishers being ready for their moment and taking it when it comes but also absolutely grafting.' The 'finishers' aren't the only group chat that is popping off during the Euros, either. There is still the burning remnants from England's Euro 2022 WhatsApp, yet to have been muted or achieved, and where players like Millie Bright and Fran Kirby are sending the current squad positive messages after they were unable to be a part of Euro 2025. 'It's just mostly 'good luck', 'well done' or 'we believe in you',' Leah Williamson said. 'When players have been part of a set up, especially that aren't necessarily here, those players are still in that group chat as well and for them to reinforce their belief in the team and want to be part of it, that speaks volumes of the group.'
