The European Championship ended with a england champion and reinforced. The country had been showing a clear commitment to women’s football for a year. And he has just proved it. In the year of women’s records, the country that invented football has managed to leave a legacy.
Audience and attendance records
The hosts lifted the continental trophy in front of their fans in a record competition, smashing the total attendance records. With 87.192 aficionados in the stands of Wembley in the final, surpass the maximum record of the men’s in 1964, between Spain and the Soviet Union, which was played before 79,115 spectators in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
It was also the third women’s game with the highest attendance, only surpassed by two women’s FC Barcelona matches at the Camp Nou, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals and semifinals, with 91,553 spectators against Real Madrid and 91,648 against Wolfsburg.
Euro 2022 has doubled the 240,055 viewers of the 2017 edition in the Netherlands, raising the presence to 574,875 fans. In this way, the final phase of 2022 has the highest attendance figures for a women’s Euro, after the mark of five years ago was already surpassed during the second day match between France and Belgium.
On the other hand, Euro 2022 has been the most watched female competition in the history of TVE, signing a record of media 1,485,000 spectators. Spain’s matches also helped to reach the record by adding a total of 3,056,000 spectators and a share of 27.1% during extra time in the quarterfinal against England.
England, the highest scorer in history
The group led by Sarina Wiegman has marked an era. They have starred in a perfect championship, 6 wins out of 6, 22 goals for and only 2 against. With this balance, they have surpassed Germany in 2009 as the highest scoring team in a European Championship (21 goals).
The English national team was the great winner of this European Championship, by team, atmosphere and the superiority shown. And they fulfilled their role as favorite by defeating Germany in extra time. By beating the eight-time champion, they begin a new era in women’s football and add their first title to the list of winners.
The Spanish team: a European Championship with a view to the World Cup
Spain has not lived the Eurocopa of the change that hoped. The injury to Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso, first and second best player in the world, before the appointment began, had an impact on and off the field. In the first games, the lack of goals punished the national team, which failed to qualify as first in the group.
She faced the future champion in the quarterfinals, a match in which she competed and was even superior during the first 70 minutes. But England came from behind and left Jorge Vilda’s team out. Despite this, and with the World Cup scheduled for July 2023, the team has reason to believe in its potential and fight to give a better version next season.
Popp equals Platini milestone (1984)
There are many successes that Popp has achieved in this competition. But the most outstanding is that she has become the first soccer player in history to score in five consecutive games. There is only one player with the same numbers. Michael Platini he did it in the 1984 European Championship. He is also, together with Mead, the top scorer in the European Championship. Both have scored six goals, equaling Inka Grings’ record in 2009.
The footballer has become a reference for Germany in this European Championship. After missing the last two appointments due to injuries -torn ankle ligaments in 2013 and torn meniscus in 2017- she has shown her worth in this tournament. “Many people I had already ruled out and I was able to show that I’m still a player to be reckoned with”, she explained emotionally after finishing the first game against Denmark. Her character and temperance on the pitch have encouraged her teammates to compete at the highest level. At 31 years old, she has surpassed her internal battle against injuries and is ready to continue making history.
First tournament with compensation for clubs
The 2022 Women’s Euro Cup was the first tournament to implement UEFA’s initiative to financially compensate the clubs that they have players in the summer tournament. The sum of minutes, the risk of injury and physical wear and tear are factors to take into account before starting a season, since they condition the start of the championship, and UEFA has decided to reward the clubs for it.
Several players, both in women’s and men’s football, had complained of have no rest sufficient between club and national team competitions, as the number of matches per season grows due to new competitions and tournaments.
What did you say Courtois, “we are not robots” and the life of the player must be valued because between matches and trips the players have very little time to rest. To value these ‘extra hours’ of the soccer players when playing the European competition, UEFA has decided to pay the club for absent days of the player who is with his team. The reward per player are 500 euros per day missing, leaving Barcelona a total of 148,000 euros in compensation.
Mead: Golden Boot and MVP
Beth Mead He has been the key piece in the English team to lift the European title. The Arsenal winger has signed a Euro of film, getting the Eurocup itself and the Golden boot and MVP of tournament in individual aspects, a full of titles. Mead has been involved in 11 of the 20 goals his team has scored throughout the tournament, scoring six goals and dishing out 5 assists.
Mead’s records in the Euro are world star, but we must not forget the great state of form that the English arrived before the tournament, with 20 goals and 13 assists in the last 18 games. The Arsenal star is reevaluated in this European Championship after leading his team to the title.
The trainers ask for a step
Three of the four semifinalists were trained by a woman, and this has been the most feminine Euro, having 6 coaches out of 16 in the entire tournament.
The European Championship, in addition, signs another record, since an international competition I had never had so many moms, becoming 14 in the entire competition. The reconciliation of football and motherhood It is already a reality due to the help that the players receive from the Federation to make it easier for them to combine work and family.
In the Spanish team, the only mother is Irene Paredesbut in the selection of Iceland They have five mothers. The reality is that a starting eleven of mothers could be made in an international competition, and having a bench.
Huerta, first Spanish referee in a European Championship
The Spanish Marta Huerta de Aza refereed the opening match of the Women’s European Football Championship between the hosts England and Austria, which was played at Old Trafford in front of almost 70,000 spectators, becoming the first Spanish referee to be the main referee in a European Championship.
Huerta de Aza was accompanied in the band by Guadalupe Porras, while two other Spaniards, Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez and Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez they were appointed as VAR and AVAR referees, respectively. Huerta de Aza and Guadalupe Porras are also preselected by FIFA to be in the next absolute Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which will take place next summer 2023.
Winning a European Championship: England 8- Norway 0
The second game of the group stage between England and Norway broke the record for the game with the most goals in a Women’s European Championship. the English they took out the artillery by thrashing the supposed second best team in the group, leaving a record that would be difficult to beat.
The English players managed to score six goals before the break and slowed down in the second half, being able to destroy the Norwegian team that lived like a roller passed over them. As data, the English National Team beat its own record by overcoming the 6-0 it scored against Scotland in Euro 2017.
double champion
Sarina Wiegman She is the record woman in this European Championship. The coach of the English national team has achieved two milestones in one by being the first coach to win two European Championships with two different teams, and to win the European Championship coaching a country that is not yours by birth.
Wiegman in 2017 he won the European Championship coaching his country, the Netherlands, by winning the final against Denmark 4-2. The former soccer player has wanted to continue breaking records and has achieved them with the English team, after signing a tournament without any fissure.
