The Lionesses beat Italy to reach the Euro 2025 final; Sarina Wiegman's decisions have been constantly questioned but she will still feature in her fifth successive major tournament final in Basel on Sunday; Sky Sports' Laura Hunter looks at England's lows and highs so far
Pictured: Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang saved the game as England came back to beat Italy.
Chloe Kelly stood still, hands on her hips, watching Laura Giuliani with intent eyes. A moment of calm amidst unimaginable chaos.
Then came her signature jump. The run-up was meant to throw the goalie off-balance, but it didn't work this time. Giuliani had guessed correctly.
England had pinned their hopes of a third successive major final on Kelly's ability to beat Giuliani from the penalty spot. They needed another moment of redemption. Something like Michelle Agyemang's sensational goal in the sixth minute of added time to level the scores at 1-1.
Kelly's response was belated. Not straight away, but she took her penalty with the poise we've come to associate with her coming off the bench. England had shied away from responsibility once again.
Pictured: England have reached the final of a third major tournament in a row.
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The whole episode felt like déjà vu and completely unrecognisable. Was it all a fluke? The Lionesses had led for a grand total of five minutes in the knockout matches at this tournament. There had been fitness issues – they had lost the duels in every game except the win over the Netherlands – and they had to bail out too often.
“Here we are again, it's really, really special,” said a relieved Sarina Wiegman after the match. The Dutchwoman is preparing for yet another Euro final. In 2017, 2022 and 2025. Wiegman has been to each of them.
And yet, somehow, this final victory seemed undeserved, full of despair. This time, Wigman was lucky. “We’ll make a movie someday,” she added, referring to the heist-like drama that unfolded at the end.
Pictured: Chloe Kelly has been named as one of Sarina Wiegman's substitutes at Euro 2025.
If they had made a film (and Netflix is certainly ordering How Football Came Home Part II right now), I might have been tempted to skip ahead. It was tough watching most of England’s tournament. They had nine lives, and eight of them were long gone.
A defeat by an inexperienced Italy, reaching their first semi-final since 1993, would have been a crushing failure. The average age of Italy's players was the fourth highest at the tournament (28.34), yet they were fresher, more energetic and more effective than an England team two years younger.
Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was England's best player on the night, making four saves and preventing 1.18 expected goals. Hearts sank in the 87th minute when Emma Severini missed a chance to give Italy a 2-0 lead and seal the match. It would have been fair
Sourse: skysports.com
