BarcelonaNothing will be the same after this Euro. All those people who did not believe in it, who defended that women’s football was a fad and who affirmed with their mouths full that this was going nowhere have once again encountered the illusion and stubbornness of footballers, staff and hobby The arguments are already counted in buckets and this summer’s European competition has consolidated some foundations that are impossible to collapse. England, the host of the big event, has placed the crown. “God save the Queen“, cries their anthem. Now they are the queens, but of all Europe.
The European competition has broken records and blazed new trails for women’s football. The umpteenth example, the stage of the final: for the first time in history, Wembley has opened its doors to host the final of the European Cup. With the stands packed to the brim – tickets sold out in a few minutes when they went on sale – the locals enjoyed a match where the fans pushed them to lift the first continental title of the his story Precisely on the same stage where their male counterparts lost the European Championship last summer.
There was not a single seat left. The temple of English and world football has surrendered to the boots of the 22 footballers who have competed in a final at the height of the great championship played on British soil. The match that was supposed to crown the best European team had the two best teams in the competition. The English and German players made a superb journey to the final, a talent that was evident in the match. From the opening whistle, the Germans imposed their script. Pausing the ball and timing the game, the visiting team tried to outwit the hosts. The chances were split equally between the two teams, but they went to the dressing room with the score 0-0.
In the second half, the pace picked up. Adrenaline in the clouds, Germany tried to nullify the British attack with suffocating pressure as they besieged the Earps goal. England, however, were undaunted and, with a pass in space, Keira Walsh left Ella Toone alone in front of the German goalkeeper. The England striker, wearing a soft vaseline, sent the ball into the back of the net in slow motion to the delight of the 87,192 fans present at Wembley. A figure that has broken the record for attendance in a European Championship match, both male and female.
The final was coming up for the locals. The fans, crazy, were already starting to celebrate the British victory when Tabea Wassmuth, in the 79th, leaked a ball inside the small area for Lina Magull, who pushed her to return the tie to the scoreboard and force the extension Very little happened in the first part of extra time. Both teams have played more to not let the final slip away than to win it. With equality in the light, the final 15 decisive minutes have arrived.
The lionesses have bitten like never before at the key moment. Chloe Kelly pounced on a dead ball inside the box to turn on herself surrounded by defenders to send it into the back of the net and shake the foundations of Wembley. With the fans on their feet, the hosts celebrated the goal that propelled them to the Olympus of football.
Football and women’s revolution
Beyond vindicating the strength and presence of women’s football in our lives, the European Cup has been a perfect stage for vindication. The role of women on the bench, still clearly in the minority compared to their male counterparts, has once again been a focus of attention. If we look back, the last great triumphs in country competitions have come from the hand of a woman as the captain of the ship. The last seven Eurocups, five of the last six World Cups and the last five Olympic tournaments have been won by a team led by a female coach. This edition has also followed the same pattern. Of the 16 teams that have participated in the championship, six were led by women. Although inferior during the tournament, three of them reached the semifinals. What’s more, the two benches at Wembley have had Sarina Wiegman (England) and Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany) as tenants in the final.
But to understand how we got here, we need to look back and see where we came from. In women’s football, progress has been made with leaden feet and the progress is palpable, but not so long ago women were forbidden to set foot on the grass. Just over a century ago (1921) the English Football Association (FA) prohibited clubs from letting their pitches to women’s teams, a restriction that remained in place for fifty years. During the First World War, with men at the front, women began to fill the factories and fill the positions that were reserved for men inside and outside the factories. The playing fields also became theirs, but with the end of the armed conflict, the dissenting voices raised the cry to heaven and on December 5, 1921, women’s football was banned in England under the premise that it was “not appropriate for women”. Moreover, it was not the only country that did it: Germany banned it from 1941 to 1970 and the Spanish Federation did not officially recognize women’s football until 1983.
Now, a hundred years later, luckily, things have changed. This July’s European Championship has staged the transformation and evolution of women’s football and it has been shown that this revolution is unstoppable. The photograph of the Lionesses lifting the European Cup into the sky will forever remain in the minds of those who have seen this sport grow.
