Football EM: England climbs the throne for the first time

The decision in a balanced final was made by “Joker” Chloe Kelly, who finished with a stab after a corner kick and scored only her second goal for England (110th). Ella Toone, a substitute, had previously made it 1-0 (62′). In the meantime, Lina Magull scored to equalize (79′). Before that, the two teams had largely neutralized each other, especially in the first half.

In the end, England celebrated their first triumph in women’s football after three consecutive semi-final appearances in major tournaments. For the English Football Association, whose president Prince William presented the trophy at the legendary location, it was only the second title in adult football – after winning the men’s World Cup final in Wembley in 1966 against Germany. Speaking of men: Only a year ago, the men lost their European Championship final against Italy on penalties at the same place, and the women have now made up for lost time.

Last but not least, team manager Sarina Wiegman played a big part in this, as she managed to pull off a stunt. The 52-year-old Dutchwoman led her own country, now England, to the European title five years ago. Under her leadership, the team has not lost in their 20 games so far.

Worthy final at Wembley

Hardly anything better could have happened to the tournament than this final. On the one hand the hostesses from England, on the other hand the record champions from Germany – and that in the football cathedral Wembley Stadium in London. “It will be a big football festival,” said the German national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg in advance of the “classic”. The Germans had previously won their eight European Championship finals, most recently nine years ago.

After 25 days, the 13th European Women’s Championship came to a dignified end. What began with the opening game between England and Austria (1-0) in the legendary Old Trafford in Manchester in front of 68,871 fans also ended with a European Championship record in terms of spectators. 87,192 made their way and, as in the three and a half weeks, ensured a great atmosphere in the homeland of football. In the end, 574,875 people came to the stadiums, doubling the previous record from the EM 2017 (240,055).

Short-term failure of DFB captain Popp

From a sporting point of view, the clearly best teams of the tournament were also in the final, both conceding only one goal and scoring 20 and 13 goals respectively. That was more to be expected in England, the “Lionesses” went into the tournament as favorites, Germany came in after a few difficult years as a dangerous outsider. However, they gave up this role at the start with a 4-0 win against Denmark.

As far as the starting line-ups are concerned, both coaches remained true to themselves, especially Wiegman. The 52-year-old fielded the same eleven six times, which has never happened in the history of the European Championship for either men or women. Voss-Tecklenburg would also have loved to field the same formation as in the semifinals against France, but Alexandra Popp of all people had to sit out injured at short notice. The captain, who, like Beth Mead, had scored six European Championship goals before the final, had to pass due to muscular problems. Lea Schüller made her comeback from the start in her place.

Balanced beginning phase

The final, led by Ukraine’s Kateryna Monsul, started evenly as expected. Both teams also put their bodies well into the duels, there were intense duels, both wanted to have at least the perceived command on the pitch. Naturally, no team didn’t take a big risk, and there was rarely a real flow of play, so there were half chances not only at the beginning.

After a cross from Fran Kirby, Ellen White finally headed in, but it was too harmless for goalkeeper Merle Frohms (3rd). On the other hand, Sara Däbritz hit defender Lucy Bronze’s head in the sixteenth minute (10′). The latter had another chance a few minutes later, but her header was ultimately too harmless (19′). That was at a time when the English women had taken matters into their own hands again.

Few chances at first

Overall, however, it remained an open matter, especially since the two teams kept their respective weapons in check on the outside positions. “They manage to neutralize the strengths on the wings,” judged ÖFB record player and ORF expert Nina Burger. As is so often the case in such situations, a set piece created a chance, but goalkeeper Mary Earps had the better end against Marina Hegering. Captain Leah Williamson also got the ball on her arm in this confusing situation, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not consider this to be a punishable offense.

The really big chances were scarce in the first half, the game was balanced in terms of ball possession and the two defensive lines showed their strength. It’s not for nothing that they only conceded one goal in five games. England could have gone into the break with a lead, but White missed the goal in the box after a Mead cross (38′). In the last third, both teams presented themselves not yet worthy of the final.

Germany comes out strong

After both teams had more or less neutralized each other in the first half, it was up to the coaches. Voss-Tecklenburg chose the first move and brought the first “joker” with Tabea Wassmuth, who came into the game for the pale Jule Brand. And that almost paid off right after the restart. The Wolfsburg striker had space on the left and aimed too imprecisely in front of Earps (48th).

Only two minutes later, Germany had the next chance: Lina Magull was presented with the ball about 13 meters from the goal and wanted to shine with the “Spitz von Wembley”, but the ball rolled past the goal. Wiegman had seen enough and brought her “Joker” into play in a double pack. In addition to Toone, that was Alessia Russio for Kirby and White. It should pay off.

“Joker” Toone beats for England

England was initially able to free itself from the clutches of the opponents and designed the game open again. But first Hegering and Mead crashed into each other, which resulted in an interruption of several minutes. England briefly played only ten men, but suddenly that was enough: Keira Walsh had space and time in their own half and sent Toone off. The striker escaped the German defense and put the soulful lob over Frohms (62nd). Now the London “cauldron” was almost over.

Mead, who, like Popp, was a European Championship goalscorer with six goals, left the field injured and hoped that her team-mates would carry the lead over time. But Germany still had an answer.

Magull scores a deserved equalizer

Magull refueled in the penalty area from the right and hit the post massively (66′). The pressure was gradually increased and the equalizer was deserved. The Germans combined again on the right, Wassmuth served Magull from five and the Bayern player completed the short corner past Earps (79′).

The rest of the regular season didn’t bring much more chances for either side, and it wasn’t enough for a “lucky punch”. It went into overtime, and then the game tipped back into the safety category. Both teams approached the danger zone, but for the time being there were no chances. That changed again after changing sides.

Kelly heaves “Lionesses” to the throne

After 110 minutes, the time had come and a set piece matched the balance of power. From a corner, Bronze extended in front of the goal and Kelly converted past Frohms on the second try. At first she didn’t know if the goal counted, but then she took off her jersey and waved it in the air with joy (110th), probably because she tore her cruciate ligament a year ago and returned it in time to the home team. EM had done.

England took the second lead, Germany only had a chance through defender Giulia Gwinn, but the ball landed in the side netting. Referee Monsul blew the whistle a few minutes later, the cheering knew no bounds, and in the end only a refrain could boom out of the loudspeakers: “Football’s coming home”.

Comments on the game:

Sarina Wiegman (England Team Principal): “It’s incredible. The players really wanted to win and they worked every day to improve. It was a very close match, but we won it.”

Chloe Kelly (England winner): “Oh my god, it’s unbelievable. These are the things that dreams are made of. Thank you to everyone who helped with my rehabilitation. I always believed that I could be here, but then also to score the winning goal – just wow. I just wanna party We are a very special group.”

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany team boss): “There has to be a loser. We were close after the 1-1. The second goal is extremely unfortunate. Goals decide games, and England did one more. We’ve always said we want to act as a team, win or lose. At half-time we called for more courage. We threw everything in, every player gave everything. We just keep going now.”

UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, Finale

Sunday:

England – Germany 2-1 aet (0-0, 1-1)

London, Wembley Stadium, 87,192 spectators, SR Monsul (UKR)

Torfolge:
1:0 Toone (62.)
1:1 Bruise (79.)
2:1 Kelly (110.)

England: Earps – Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly (88./Greenwood) – Stanway (88./Scott), Walsh – Mead (64./Kelly), Kirby (56./Toone), Hemp (119./Parris) – White (56./Russo)

Deutschland: Frohms – Gwinn, Hendrich, Hegering (103rd / Doorsoun), Rauch (113th / Lattwein) – Oberdorf, Däbritz (73rd / Lohmann) – Huth, Magull (91st Dallmann), Brand (46th / Waßmuth) – Schüller (67./Anyomi)

Yellow cards: Stanway, White or Rauch, Oberdorf, Schüller