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Jonathan Liew
“The Letzigrund looks gorgeous under a pale pastel evening sun. The noise washes over the athletic track where Carl Lewis and Asafa Powell once broke the world record, and where Sweden are now flying out of the blocks and leaving England trailing in their dust.
We do not yet know that in many ways this is simply the prologue, that this devastating early two-goal flurry is actually relatively benign in comparison with the carnage that will follow…”
Anil Patel has messaged in from Zurich after watching the match at Stadion Letzigrund last night:
“I was at Stadion Letzigrund last night and at half time was wondering whether to sell my tickets for the semi-final in Geneva. I also thought to myself that I’d take extra time and the lottery of penalties at that point. The glory of football, the reason it’s the best sport, is that sometimes it’s about skill, tactics and professionalism, and sometimes it’s just pure chaos.”
Sarina Wiegman said England never doubted Hannah Hampton’s ability after the Lionesses goalkeeper made two crucial shootout saves to help send England through to the Euro 2025 semi-finals amid remarkable drama in Zurich.
Nik has messaged in with some thoughts on England’s team selection and route to the final:
“Sarina must swap Carter out, the weakness here is too much to be ignored. We may ride it out against the Italians but will be punished by Spain or France in the final, if we get there. I don’t think Germany have enough to make it to be honest.”
Speaking to BBC Sport at full-time, England manager Sarina Wiegman said: “It was hard. One of the hardest games I’ve ever watched. Very emotional. We could’ve been out four or five times during the game. When you’re 2-0 down at half-time it’s not good. We started really badly and then at the end of the first half we got better and in the second half we got better but we didn’t create anything so we had to change shape. Then we scored two goals so that was crazy already.
“Then we go into extra-time, some players injured, some players cramping, Hannah Hampton with blood all over the place. Then we go to the penalty shootout and we miss a lot but they miss even more and we’re through!
“I need to decompress I think!”
Following last night’s match, England striker Michelle Agyemang said: “It was a crucial moment as they were under so much pressure, sometimes it’s hard to convert those into goals, but we did what we did and we are here now today, so we can’t be happier.
“These games build your character as a player, it is great to be a part of and I am grateful to have been on the pitch and shared that moment with the rest of my teammates, and, you know, our fight, resilience and character was shown today.”
I want to hear from you today! Feel free to email me with your thoughts on last night’s match. Who impressed you the most? Who was your Player of the Match? Thoughts on the penalty shootout?
Also, let me know your score predictions for tonight’s game!
Tom Garry rated the performances of both Sweden and England last night. Click here to see who impressed the most…
England appeared down and out when Sarina Wiegman made her first three substitutions at the 70-minute mark last night. Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang especially made all the difference as the Lionesses scored two goals in 103 seconds.
For the first, Kelly delivered a perfect cross to Lucy Bronze at the back post, who headed past Jennifer Falk to close the gap. Then, just moments later, Kelly sent another ball into the box which was headed down by Beth Mead to Michelle Agyemang, who scored her first major tournament goal to fire England level.
The very definition of impact substitutions.
If you want to relive the drama from last night, be sure to give Suzanne Wrack’s match report a read…
Preamble
Wow. Have we all recovered from last night’s match yet? I think I’m just about getting there!
In case you somehow missed it, England came from 2-0 down to beat Sweden in arguably the most dramatic way possible. Hannah Hampton was the hero as the Lionesses won 3-2 on penalties after NINE spot-kicks were missed.
I’ll bring you all the reaction from that Euro 2025 quarter-final clash throughout the day, while also counting down to kick-off in tonight’s match between Spain and Switzerland.
Join me!
