I don't think it's sunk in yet even 24 hours later, but England are European Champions for the very first time in their history.
It's been a brilliant competition to watch over the last month and it's come to the best possible end. England beat Germany by 2 goals to 1 after extra time. It's the first trophy won by the women's team, ever. It's the first title for England in almost 60 years. The Queen sent the team a message, that's when you know it's a big deal.
It's more positive advertisement that'll do so much for the development of women's football. It's highlighted how talented this team and manager have proven themselves to be.
In the words of Frenchie:
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THE GAME
I had no idea the result going in. I didn't have a nailed on winner in my head, which probably sounds nuts, as I knew the strength of this England team having watched them breeze through the whole tournament, but in the back of my mind I knew Germany's record in these finals as well as their strengths as well, and I also knew that this wouldn't be a walk in the park.
This was a physical game. I feel like Germany went in with the intention to be hard in the tackle, of course enforce that mad press that they've done all tournament, and from what it seems, try and get several of our players flustered and into the book quite quickly.
It was no doubt the toughest challenge we've faced in the tournament so far - and we've had a tough fought road. Spain were one of the bookies favourites, Sweden are the top rated national team at the moment, and Germany have an insane record in EUROS finals, winning every single one they've been in.
Throughout all of it though we had a class, tactically minded manager in Sarina Wiegman, someone who has safely cemented herself as one of the best coaches in football right now. Wiegman has absolutely gotten the best out of this squad, opting to stick with a nailed on XI for each match as well as bringing on mostly the same set of substitutes around the 60 minute mark, the likes of Russo, Toone, Greenwood and more,. This is quite unorthodox in football, especially in a major tournament where teams might want to make switches based on the opposition. A good chunk of the England squad didn't see any minutes of game time, but given the squads reactions when the final whistle blew, they probably didn't care one bit.
The defense was rock-solid, with only 2 goals conceded across the entire tournament. Manchester United keeper Mary Earps absolutely made some quality saves, and was brave and solid against a Germany team who had moments of real dominance and several big chances. Millie Bright and captain Leah Williamson was the nailed on CB pairing; Williamson shifting to that role very well after usually playing in the midfield, and Bright demonstrating impressive reading of the game, following one of my favourite defence tactics of just booting the ball far away from danger as much as possible, settling for throw ins as long as the ball isn't in the box for long periods of time.
Our front 4 were also strong. each grabbing a good handful of goals between them. The first goal in this game, a perfect ball over the top from midfielder Kiera Walsh to super-sub Ella Toone, who chipped the Germany keeper to send Wembley nuts. Even though Germany soon equalized it felt great and showed great technique under pressure.
But the winner by Chloe Kelly in extra-time, her first international goal (what a time to get it) will be the one we come back to, the celebration, all of it. And from there we pulled out the corner tactics, expertly I might add, to secure the victory.
Of course we can't forget about the insane back-heeled goal from Russo in the Sweden game, a great split second decision after the initial shot was blocked and the Sweden defense was ready to pounce and intercept. It represents great confidence and belief in this team and these players, something that Wiegman has no doubt tried to rouse within the camp.
THE RESULT
You don't need me to tell you that his is huge, this is massive.
The celebrations that came at the full time whistle were nuts, commentators, players, staff lost for words, commentating through teary eyes and stuttered breaths. You can just tell how much this means to everyone involved with the tournament and everyone watching the team throughout the last month.
Getting to this point in the tournament will have no doubt already done heaps for the development of the women's game, but actually getting England etched on the trophy itself will do so much more. It's England's first European Championship, our first trophy in nearly 60 years.
Something I noted was the fact that the players in their post-match interview thanked the travelling fans first and foremost. A new capacity record was set, 87,000 travelling fans packed into Wembley, and 17.4 million watching the live broadcast on TV. They seemed overwhelmed at this; there's limited capacity for stadiums of this size in the WSL, whereas in the men's Premier League this kind of thing is the norm week in and week out.
This will have done so much for developing the women's game. It'll inspire a whole generation of young girls to watch, play, support football, and that's really special. This group will go down in history and will continue to inspire generations and generations of new female footballers. It shouldn't just stop there, either. The women's game needs to receive further funding and support. More support for youth development, stadium capacities, advertising, investing in the grassroots to really boost support for women's football. This was talked about in depth on the BBC coverage with passionate speeches from several pundits.
"The Lionesses have brought football home. Now it’s down to the rest of us to make sure it stays here. You think it’s all over? It’s only just begun." - Gabby Logan
I've come across plenty of comments on Twitter, Instagram, everywhere, people just making general statements. It's come to be expected around women's football over the last few years (it's why the whole 'Hope United' campaign exists). You scroll through a YouTube comments section on a video of a female manager being interviewed, and there's comments telling them to 'get back to the kitchen' or to criticize every word they're saying because, 'what do they know about football?'. It's outdated and horrific, and it makes me ashamed.
Going off topic for a bit, here's a video of an interview with Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes, doing an end of season roundup. I watched this video when it came out, and thought it was a cool insight into the details of the team's season, where they won the FA Cup and league titles, the league coming down to a nail-biting battle with Arsenal, with us finishing a point ahead. Scrolling through the comments, you can see all sorts of rubbish; making claims that the view count (who cares about the view count?) is so low because no one wants to watch a video a video about women's football. Claims that 90% of watchers are male, and therefore we don't care about videos like this. This is from a few months ago (posted May 2022) so people can complain all they want about people promoting the women's game, because videos like this are proof that things still aren't perfect.
Women's and men's football have several differences, of course they do. There's no avoiding the fact that men's football is going to be more powerful, faster shots, more intense tackles, most likely a more energetic and lively fan base (in both a good and a bad way). The men's Premier League is one of the top leagues in Europe. That may appeal to some fans a lot more than the women's game, and that's perfectly okay. But it's so tiring to hear people bring it up at every opportunity, especially after such a iconic moment such as this. And there is absolutely still a long way to go, but changes are being made.
I mean, even after the game people want to criticize the performance and say that the performance didn't match the result. It's true! For large parts of the game we weren't at our; after our first goal we dropped off massively and allowed Germany to equalize. At points we weren't quick enough and allowed them to press us. We panicked in several situations and gave the ball away cheaply. But in the end we fought hard and held on in extra time and we won, so why the negative comments? We knew from the start that we were never going to dominate from start to finish; Germany are just too good a team for that. In the end we came out as winners, and that's all I care about.
I can put my hands up and say that I don't follow every Chelsea Women game as closely as the men's team. That being said, I still keep track of results, watch highlights, interviews, things like that. It's the same thing with the Under-23s as well, or the development squad. You try and keep tabs on every single part of the club. Nobody is begging you to pay attention to the women's game, but a first international trophy and the first one since 1966 going to a women's team, is pretty big advertisement.
Either way, I'm so pleased that this group of players are able to experience something like this - it's something that is very well deserved given the talented squad we've got at the moment and I'm sure that we'll be an equally threatening side at the World Cup next year.