England wins back-to-back Women's Euro Championships

England wins back-to-back Women’s Euro Championships

The England Lionesses made history today by winning their second Women’s Euro Championship in a row. Today, England played against the talented Spanish team, a matchup in which many people expected Spain to win. Spain, the defending Women’s World Cup champions, had a dominant showing in their Euro campaign while reaching the final, scoring many goals in the group stage, and winning their knockout stage games without needing penalty kicks. England, on the other hand, lost their opening game to France and played the most overtime games, winning both of their knockout stage games in penalty kicks. For England, things never really looked pretty, but that’s the thing, soccer doesn’t always have to look pretty. Now it was gametime, when the whistle blew, and Spain started where they left off, controlling the play and keeping England waiting. In the 25th minute, Spain’s Mariona Caldentey scored off a header, putting Spain up 1-0. Some would say this is where Spain might take off, but what many failed to realize is that this year’s group of Lionesses thrived in games where they were down. England had gone 2 for 2 in the knockout round in comeback wins. Sunday’s game was no different for them because in the 57th minute, Chloe Kelly (super sub) assisted Russo by sending her a perfect cross to head into the back of the net. With the score deadlocked at 1-1, the game had to go into overtime. After two 15-minute halves, this game had to be decided by PKs. Beth Mead was the first to take one for England, but after a double touch on her shot that went in, she had to retake it, this time having it blocked by the Spain goalkeeper, Cata Coll. Spain made theirs, giving themselves the advantage once again. A familiar story for England had them coming from behind, a task that never seemed to rattle them. England’s goalkeeper Hannah Hampton went on to save Spain’s next three shots, including 2x Balon’dor winner Aitana Bonmati. This helped set up her teammate Chloe Kelly to hit the game-winning PK. Her shot hit the back of the net, and all of England went wild. Not only did they win it once, but now they can call themselves 2x European Champions. For England’s head coach, Sarina Wiegman, this is her third straight title, as she was also the head coach of the Netherlands in 2017 when they won. The England women’s national team has made a name for itself and has shown the people that things may not always be pretty, but it’s all about what you do to get the win.