Archive for July 25, 2025
That‘s passion!
The Lionesses in my opinion have not been up to their best so far throughout this year’s Euros in Switzerland, but anyway have reached today’s final against Spain, and their games in the knock-out stage against Sweden and Italy were super-exciting and proved that the English team has passion and a “never-say-die-attitude” which could help them in the upcoming final against Spain. And passion also was shown by BBC commentator Vicki Sparks and pundit Karen Bardsley when England was on the brink of losing to Italy in the semi-final only to be saved by an equaliser deep in injury time (video below).
Sarina Wiegman’s team were only runners-up in their group after losing their first game against France (1-2), and needed a penalty shootout in the quarter finals to overcome Sweden (2-2 [0-2] a.e.t.; goals: Bronze 79′, Agyemang 81′).
In the semifinal against Italy the reigning European champions (2-1 victory over Germany in 2022) were 0-1 behind from the 33rd minute because of an unstoppable shot from Bonansea under the crossbar, and again substitute Michelle Agyemang was needed to save England from defeat with a goal deep in injury time in the 96th minute (video below). In extra-time it was a harsh penalty against the “Azzurre” then which spared England an other penalty shootout. In the 119th minute Chloe Kelly drilled home the rebound after her penalty was saved to send England delirious and into the final. One day later Spain defeated Germany 1-0 a.e.t.
The Euro 2025 final is a repeat of the Womens’ World Cup final in Australia when La Roja defeated England 1-0 in Sydney (goal: Olga Carmona) – a win which was overshadowed by the controversy which followed when the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips, a kiss which was “not consensual” according to the player. Rubiales was forced to resign and later found guilty of sexual assault by a Spanish court. Hermoso was left out of the Spanish squad for Euro 2025.
Spain are a real force in Switzerland 2025, they defeated Portugal, Belgium and Italy by a combined score of 14-3 in the group stage, and then saw off a stubborn Switzerland side 2-0 (0-0) in the quarter-finals, before scoring an extra-time winner against Germany in the semifinal (goal: Bonmatí from an “improbable angle”, 113′). England have to do much better than so far in this Euros to win against a team which is leading all categories of the statistics at this tournament. Spain are playing in a league of their own so far:. 17 goals, 67% possession, 89.2% passing accuracy, 123 clearances, three goals conceded, three clean sheets.
Though England have not completely convinced me so far, they scored the second most goals (15), have the second highest possession percentage (57.2%) and the second most shots on target (94) of all sixteen teams. However, the Lionesses showed a defensive weakness which will hopefully not be exploited by the Spanish strikers. With six goals conceded, England only rank seventh in this category.
England’s two time saviour from the bench Michelle Agyemang was born on 3 February 2006 in Essex and plays as a forward for Women’s Super League club Arsenal. She’s a life long Arsenal fan and joined the Gunners as a six-year-old. She attended Holy Cross School Primary School in South Ockendon, Southend High School for Girls and is currently studying Business Administration at King’s College London. She is of Ghanaian descent, her surname literally translating to “saviour of the nations“. Last season she played for Brighton and Hove Albion being loaned out after having signed her first professional contract in May 2024, and so far has only six times played for Arsenal’s first team.
According to Wikipedia and an article in the Express her father is a Manchester United fan, her brother is a Chelsea fan, her sister is a West Ham United fan. Growing up, Agyemang’s favourite players were Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott.
The Women‘s Euros 2025 final – England vs. Spain will take place on Sunday, 5 p.m. (BST) in Basel, St. Jakob Park.
EXTRA TIME 
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