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Reflecting on England’s 2023 World Cup final defeat to Spain, Keira Walsh said: “Obviously it was a massive disappointment. From a collective we probably feel like we didn’t have our best performance that day. But as a football player you can become too emotional and if you pull too much on that then you can be too emotional. This is a new game, new team, we know what we bring in this tournament so we’re going to keep doing that and focus on the positives, not try and draw on that too much.
“Obviously we think about it a little bit but, for us, we’ll put it to the side and focus on Sunday. As I said, we’ve got so many new players in this team who are really confident and can bring so many new things to this team which is exciting, so we can just focus on the positives.”
On the rivalry between England and Spain, Keira Walsh said: “It is a rivalry. There is respect between the teams and they play incredible football. We know that we can do on our day as well so it’s going to be an exciting game and hopefully it’s a good one for the fans to watch.”
England midfielder Keira Walsh has been speaking to the media this morning. On Sunday’s final, she said: “There’s a lot of respect between both the teams. I think the most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final. There’s no controversy surrounding it. The girls deserve to be there, they play incredible football. So first and foremost, for them as human beings is that they can go out there and actually enjoy this game.”
Sophie Downey
“It took just one moment. One clever movement into space, one cutting through pass and one brilliant finish for Spain to finally undo a resilient German defence. When Aitana Bonmatí angled home a shot from a tight angle deep into extra time, she not only sent her side through to a final of a women’s Euros for the first time but also proved so much about the strength, both physically and mentally, of this dominant Spanish team…”
Aitana Bonmatí revealed after yesterday’s game that she intentionally aimed for the front post before scoring the decisive goal against Germany.
She said: “Yes, the truth is that we had studied it. Well, Marisa, the goalkeeper coach, had told me that she [Berger] made certain movements and that sometimes she left the near post clear and that’s how it was. I didn’t think about [taking that shot] twice because I didn’t want it to reach penalties.
“Scoring in a game like this one is super special and if I can help the team writing history, it’s very special. For the first time we have beaten Germany with the women’s national team, and for the first time we are in the final of the Euros. We have written history.”
Spain recorded their first-ever win over Germany last night.
Aitana Bonmatí was the hero last night as Spain clinched a 1-0 win over Germany in Zurich. If you want to relive the action, be sure to give Nick Ames’ match report a read.
Preamble
The final has been set. England will face Spain for the Euro 2025 crown on Sunday, a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final. La Roja booked their place in the Basel clash with a 1-0 win over Germany last night thanks to a late strike in extra time from two-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí.
I’ll be bringing you all the reaction from that match throughout the day, as well as more reaction from England’s dramatic semi-final win over Italy.
The final countdown is officially on. Join me!
