England have defended their European crown in essentially the most dramatic of circumstances – ousting Spain by way of a nail-biting penalty shootout.
Chloe Kelly, the hero for the Lionesses in 2022, reprised her position as she buried the decisive penalty to seal a 3-1 outcome within the shootout after the competition had ended 1-1 following common and further time.
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Given the extraordinary nature of their achievement, talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham stated: “Actually unbelievable. Lionesses? Extra like goddesses.
“Has there ever been a journey prefer it at a serious event? Any surprise the followers are going loopy.”
Here is how the Euro 2025 closing unfolded
Mariona Caldentey, who had her penalty saved by Hannah Hampton within the shootout, opened the scoring for the world champions within the twenty fifth minute.
Ona Batlle floated in a cross from the best and was powered house by Caldentey previous Hampton, who was merely rooted to the spot.
Caldentey’s objective got here after a dominant begin to the competition from the Lionesses, with Alessia Russo having the perfect of the early possibilities.
England’s hopes took a blow shortly after Caldentey’s opener when Lauren James was compelled off with damage within the thirty eighth minute.
The choice by Sarina Wiegman to begin an evidently undercooked James was closely criticised, though it heralded the earlier-than-anticipated arrival of Kelly.
Kelly would show to have a telling affect when she supplied the help for England’s equaliser, as her cross was nodded throughout by Russo within the 57th minute.
From that second onwards, it was an onslaught of purple shirts as Spain peppered Hampton’s objective with shot after shot.
Regardless of having the Lionesses on the ropes, the world champions did not land the telling blow as the competition dragged into additional time.
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As soon as extra Spain would dominate the possession rely and regularly uncovered their rivals.
However, very like the tip of normal time, the Lionesses in some way held agency and repelled fixed waves of assault.
And so they saved cool heads when it mattered most, with Alex Greenwood, Niamh Charles and Kelly netting from the spot.
“They confirmed resilience, they refused to be overwhelmed, they had been correct England,” Durham stated.
“They’re correct champions not as soon as, however twice. They gained it in 2022, they’ve solely gone and gained it once more in 2025.
“You beauties. The whole lot’s stacked in opposition to them. You’ve got to don’t have anything however admiration for each single a kind of gamers and the employees. A lot thrown at them, they’ve handled all of it, they’ve gained all of it.”
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Amid the outstanding nature of their triumph, Durham analysed how each one among England’s heroes carried out within the closing version of Participant Scores!
How did Durham fee the Lionesses?
Regardless of the rollercoaster of feelings that was the ultimate, Durham had no hassle when it got here to breaking down how the Lionesses carried out.
That is as a result of he awarded each single participant a ten/10 – and that features boss Wiegman.
From Hampton all through to unused substitute Lotte Wubben-Moy, Leah Williamson to Wiegman, Durham solely had the very best of reward to share particularly given the ‘chaos’ that transpired earlier than and through the event.
Talking on talkSPORT, Durham stated: “That they had an inventory of accidents earlier than and through the event, additionally they had gamers who gave up on England weeks earlier than the event and it was chaos.
“They’ve needed to cope with racial abuse mid-tournament and the gamers who did come right here, those who wished it extra, by no means gave up. They by no means cried about it, they bought on with it.”
Adrian Durham’s England participant scores
Hannah Hampton – 10
Alex Greenwood – 10
Jess Carter – 10
Leah Williamson – 10
Lucy Bronze – 10
Georgia Stanway – 10
Kiera Walsh – 10
Lauren James – 10
Ella Toone – 10
Lauren Hemp – 10
Alessia Russo – 10
Remainder of squad
Chloe Kelly – 10
Michelle Agyemang – 10
Beth Mead – 10
Niamh Charles – 10
Grace Clinton – 10
Aggie Beever-Jones – 10
Khiara Keating – 10
Maya Le Tissier – 10
Esme Morgan – 10
Jess Park – 10
Lotte Wubben-Moy – 10
Sarina Wiegman – 10
Durham summarised his justification for each participant receiving a ten out of 10 in simply three phrases: “Gained the Euros.”