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The Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Why teenage wildcard Michelle Agyemang is the key to England's chaos theory
For a striker, Michelle Agyemang is unusual in that she doesn't like goal celebrations. In a very Gen Z, self-conscious way, the 19-year-old finds the idea of them to be 'cringe' and 'embarrassing'. But Agyemang's initial shyness only partly explains why she is yet to celebrate, at least in a traditional sense, or even smile, after either of her two goals for England, which have remarkably come in just three substitute appearances for her country. Agyemang has only ever come onto the pitch for England when they have been losing. When she scored her stunning volley against Belgium in April, only 41 seconds into her senior England debut, the Lionesses still trailed 3-2 and a goal of such quality was greeted by a wave to the travelling England fans and a hasty jog back to the halfway line. There was more intensity when Agyemang equalised in normal time against Sweden in England's Euro 2025 quarter-final, instinctively finishing Beth Mead's knock-down in the box, but the moment became lost in the wider frenetic energy of the night as she immediately scrambled the ball out of the net, bumped chests with Lucy Bronze, and roared towards the touchline. She encapsulated the same rage the Lionesses had to play with in order to stay alive. 'I refrain from celebrating,' Agyemang had explained earlier in the tournament. 'If it comes out, if it comes out.' And while there is a romantic element to Agyemang's sudden burst onto centre stage, and her journey from one-cap call-up to rescuing England from the brink of exiting a major international tournament, the reason Agyemang can't yet celebrate also underlines the selflessness of her role at Euro 2025. She is the teenage wildcard who has turned into the emergency option when England are chasing a game - and in the chase, the scorer is often obscured by the hurried dash to set up kick-off. There is a job still to do. Following her impact as a substitute against France and Sweden, there have been some premature suggestions that Agyemang could start for England. She does not yet have the all-round game of Alessia Russo or the quick feet of Aggie Beever-Jones and, for all of Agyemang's relentless work-rate at the Euros, there have been times where the ball has bounced off her. She is as aware as anyone that she is far from the finished product but, at the same time, Agyemang has not been assessed under the same conditions. The games in which she has come on have already been blown up into mangled, disorderly chunks. Agyemang, though, has thrived in this chaos because her introduction has been the detonator. She carries a presence that forces opposition defences to drop an extra five or 10 yards, to occupy the second centre-back next to Russo and stand as an inviting target. Wiegman saw her impact at first against Belgium, and how a defence that had grown comfortable dealing with what England possessed suddenly panicked when an extra, unknown forward was thrown in. The same thing has happened now with France and Sweden. 'This is basically why we selected her,' Wiegman said on Thursday night. Agyemang is a handful, the right sort of nuisance. She has the instincts and force to change a game. Part of it is her physicality, unique among England's 23-player squad, another is the determination to make an immediate impression. Leah Williamson tells a story of the first time Agyemang trained with Arsenal's senior team and she was 'flattened' within the first 10 seconds. With England, Wiegman has had to tell her new rookie to take it easier in training. Bronze, the oldest player in the England squad who is given new energy by the fearlessness of England's young faces, loves it and tells her to go harder. She is also unfazed by how quickly this is all happening. Four years ago, Agyemang was a ball-girl for Wiegman's first game in charge of England at Wembley. Three years ago, she watched the Euros final on TV. If England beat Italy on Tuesday, she could be playing in it. Agyemang spent last season on loan at Brighton, despite the hype around her at Arsenal, where she scored three times. Her goal against Everton in April came in front of a few hundred people, while her equaliser against Sweden was watched by a TV audience of 7.4m and delayed the News at Ten on BBC One. Senior players in the England team are naturally protective of the youngest member of the squad. Bronze accompanied Agyemang through the media mixed zone after England beat Sweden on penalties with an arm around her, keeping her under her wing. Yet Bronze also urged her to take in the moment and open up on the experience. 'Use your words, Miche!' Bronze said after a camera was thrust into Agyemang's face. 'You're good with words!' Agyemang is intelligent and softly spoken, confident but reserved, until she's asked by Wiegman to get ready and is thrown into the fray. 'I think when you're going in to change a game when there's not much going your way, it can actually be more beneficial,' Agyemang remarked following the France game at the start of the Euros. 'You can just go and take the game by the scruff of the neck.' The Lionesses saw how she had shaken France and transformed the game despite England's opening defeat and knew Agyemang could bring a similar momentum shift in the quarter-final. 'I was like, 'Come alive now Miche, come alive now!' Chloe Kelly said, before setting up Agyemang with her second assist in three minutes. 'When we finished the game the other night I just said: 'Miche, you are clutch!'' praised Esme Morgan. 'Because that's twice now she's stepped up in pressure situations. She's someone that we know we can turn to in stressful moments, to be a presence, holding the ball up and linking play, making runs in behind. She's a really hard worker and has an incredible sense for the positioning she should take up in the box to get on the end of things and finish chances.' Yet for Agyemang, the reality is her tournament would likely have looked very different had everything gone to plan for England. Beever-Jones was Wiegman's preferred replacement when England were comfortably ahead against the Netherlands and Wales and may be so again should the Lionesses lead Italy in their semi-final on Tuesday night. But, clearly, this has not been a tournament where everything has gone to plan. And if the holders find themselves behind and on the brink again, England know there is another option, one to blow the game into pieces while remaining the coolest head amongst the rubble.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
How cancer survivor Ann-Katrin Berger rescued Germany with the save of Euro 2025
The header from Janina Minge looped horribly for Germany, taking on a sort of vicious arc that could only come from a bad accident, or a cruel twist of fate. Ann-Katrin Berger had already taken a couple of paces off her line in anticipation of Selma Bacha's in-swinging cross, then made another two quick steps forward as she decided she was going to try and collect it. When Minge leapt, sending the ball back towards goal, Berger seemed stranded out of position, the goalkeeper's left foot touching the six-yard line. It's a goal, it has to be. Germany are a player down and hanging on for penalties but this is the first time since their early red card that those in white have stopped. They stand frozen to the spot as if momentarily accepting their fate. Berger, though, is still alive to the moment. If there is anyone who knows anything about refusing to accept the hand that life has dealt it is the 34-year-old goalkeeper, who has spun around and taken huge strides while France's players are raising their arms in celebration. Perhaps the secret to how Berger reacts so instinctively is the message written in ink on her neck, the symbols of her tattoo spelling out the phrase 'all we have is now'. Berger's tattoo covers up the scars left behind by her treatment for thyroid cancer. First diagnosed in 2017, Berger learned that her cancer had returned during the last European Championships in 2022 and as Germany reached the final. After four years of living cancer-free, she faced another fight. But Berger recovered and then returned for the second time to play at the highest level. An unused substitute and back-up to Merle Frohms at Euro 2022, Berger is now Germany's No 1 after making her tournament debut at the age of 34. Phenomenal athleticism by Ann-Katrin Berger! 😲 Incredible save to deny the ball looping into her own net — ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 19, 2025 'I feel like I'm not really an emotional person but I'm glad that I'm here and I'm glad that I have the team-mates I have,' she said. 'What happened here makes me proud to be here. Whatever happened in 2022, I'm looking forward now to the future. Now I live my best life and I'm in the semi-final.' To get there, Berger had to first reach Minge's backward header. She scrambled back, then, while tracking the flight of the ball over the top of her right shoulder, threw herself towards the line with her left arm fully outstretched. As Berger then started to fall towards the ground, she found enough power in her left arm to claw the ball off the line and away from danger. It was the save of the tournament and it kept Germany level as they survived to reach the penalty shoot-out. It would have been fair enough for Berger to feel invincible at this point, which is rather how Germany played penalties. 'I knew she would save them,' said Sjoeke Nusken. Berger first saved from Amel Majri, diving to her left and landing on the shoulder that already took a heavy blow when she rescued Germany in extra time. Then, at 3-3 and sudden death, Berger stepped up to take Germany's fifth penalty, two nights after Sweden's goalkeeper Jennifer Falk had missed from the same position against England. This time, Berger barely blinked as she found the corner. "I think credit should go to the team, not me,' Berger said. 'Because maybe it was the decisive moment in the penalty shootout, but everyone here should talk about t the performance of the team, because that was amazing and incredible." Strapped to Berger's water bottle was a cheat-sheet with the penalty records of France's likely takers. But tellingly, Berger admitted afterwards that she did not look at it. She was living at the moment, epitomising Germany's resistance, and her second save of the shoot-out to deny France's Alice Sombath sent them through to the semi-finals.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Omir Fernández scores in stoppage time to rally Timbers to 1-1 tie with Minnesota United
PORTLAND, Ore. — Omir Fernández subbed into the match in the 86th minute and scored in stoppage time as the Portland Timbers rallied for a 1-1 draw with Minnesota United on Saturday night. Fernández used a pass from defender Juan Mosquera to score his first goal of the season. Mosquera collected his fourth assist when Fernández found the net in his 13th match with Portland after making eight appearances with the Colorado Rapids to begin the season.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Dániel Sallói scores in 74th minute for Sporting KC in 1-1 tie with NYCFC
Dániel Sallói scored a goal in the 74th minute for Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night in a 1-1 tie with New York City FC, the first regular-season matchup between the clubs since 2018. Kansas City (6-11-6) lost 3-0 at home to Seattle last Saturday to snap a three-game unbeaten streak. Sallói skipped a volley into the net in the 74th minute to make it 1-1. Andrés Perea scored his first goal of the season in the 22nd to give NYCFC a 1-0 lead. Perea, on the counter-attack, rolled a shot into the net from just outside the area. John Pulskamp stopped three shots for Sporting. Matt Freese had four saves for New York (10-8-5).
CBC
3 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Pridham's 10th goal leads Ottawa Rapid past Calgary Wild
Delaney Baie Pridham scored her NSL-leading 10th goal of the season in Ottawa Rapid FC's 3-0 win over Calgary Wild FC.
