England beats Spain to win Women’s EURO in Basel

England's team celebrates with the trophy after winning the EURO. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

England secured the European Football Championship title for the second time in a row after dramatic penalty shootout.

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In the end, there were no Spanish rhythms ringing through the sold-out St. Jakob-Park in Basel. Instead, “Sweet Caroline” boomed from thousands of English throats. The Lionesses had just successfully defended their title in a game where a different outcome would have been more likely given the balance of play and the number of chances. The Spanish had 22 shots on goal, compared to just eight for the English.

“That’s football – a sport where the better team doesn’t always win,” summed up Montse Tomé, coach of the defeated Spanish team, adding with visible disappointment: “We deserved a different outcome”.

Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch coach of the English team, was also incredulous. After winning the title with her home country in 2017 and triumphing with England three years ago, she completed the European Championship triple. “I don’t know how we did it. I’m just happy,” said the four-time world coach.

When asked about the seven matches her team played in this tournament, she said: “I have to admit, this is the most chaotic and crazy tournament we’ve ever played. We kept coming back and the belief in ourselves is incredible.”

No knockout in the knockout games

The English women fought their way to the title. It wasn’t just the opening defeat against France that was indicative of the difficult tournament Sarina Wiegman’s team had. The Lionesses really struggled against their opponents, especially in the knockout games. But in matches against Sweden in the quarterfinals and against Italy in the semifinals, they pulled themselves out of the noose and somehow fought their way through to the next round.

There was a sense of déjà vu in the final when the English women found themselves trailing, not only in regular time but also in the penalty shootout. But here too, they turned the tide and refused to let the indomitable Lionesses get the better of them. The second European Championship title in a row is a well-deserved reward.

“Tonight we’re just going to party,” Wiegman said at the end.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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