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A32 sports
Dialuna 1 augustus 2022
England beats Germany in extra time to win Euro 2022
(AP) — Just when it seemed Eng-
land might again be weighed
down by expectations and histo-
ry, Chloe Kelly made the break- looked to be tiring, even with the a corner. Cue the celebrations, chants lineup by Schüller while Svenja Huth
through.
Kelly's goal in the second half of ex- substitute players. The game had fin-
tra time — the first time she had ever ished 1-1 after 90 minutes at Wem- "I always believed I'd be here, but to first half in which Ellen White shot
scored in a competitive international bley Stadium with Lina Magull for be here and score the winner, wow. narrowly over the bar for England,
game — propelled England to its first Germany canceling out Ella Toone's These girls are amazing," said Kelly, while Marina Hegering nearly forced
major women's soccer title on Sun- goal for England.
day, beating Germany 2-1.
By the time Kelly scored, England minute after Germany failed to clear the warmup. She was replaced in the
boost of the home crowd, and strug- on Trafalgar Square, and congratula- took over as captain.
gling to deal with Germany's fresh tions from the queen.
Then Kelly prodded in a loose ball leading scorer with six goals — after
at the second attempt in the 110th she reported a muscle problem in
The game was goalless after a physical
who returned from a serious knee in- the ball in for Germany at a corner
jury in April. "This is amazing, I just before Williamson and Earps inter-
want to celebrate now." vened.
Kelly took her shirt off to celebrate
her goal, earning a yellow card but Either team could have had a penalty
also a shout-out from Brandi Chas- in the opening half, first when the
tain, who celebrated in similar style ball seemed to touch Williamson's
when her penalty kick won the World arm as she cleared, and later when
Cup for the U.S. in 1999. "Enjoy the Hegering dived to clear the ball and
free rounds of pints and dinners for collided with Lucy Bronze.
the rest of your life from all of Eng- Ella Toone latched onto a long pass
land. Cheers!" Chastain wrote on from Keira Walsh to get in behind the
Twitter. German defense in the 62nd minute
and cleverly sent a lobbed shot over
After the final whistle, the England goalkeeper Merle Frohms and into
players danced and the crowd sang the net for the opening goal.
their anthem "Sweet Caroline." The Toone's goal, six minutes after she
good-natured atmosphere inside the entered the game from the bench,
stadium Sunday drew contrasts with sparked celebrations as England man-
the violent scenes when the England ager Sarina Wiegman — the winning
men's team lost its European Cham- coach with the Netherlands in 2017
pionship final to Italy at the same sta- — raised both arms in joy.
dium a year ago. Facing its first defeat in nine Europe-
The tournament-record crowd of an finals, Germany came close when
more than 87,000 underlined the Lea Schüller hit the post and then
growth of women's soccer in Europe leveled the score in the 79th when
since the last time England and Ger- Lina Magull knocked a low cross past
many played for a continental title 13 England goalkeeper Mary Earps, tak-
years ago. ing the game to extra time.
On that occasion, Germany surged When the game went to extra time
to a 6-2 win over an England team there were echoes of another Euro-
which still relied on part-time players. pean Championship final at the same
Two years later, England launched its venue the year before, when the Eng-
Women's Super League, which has land men's team had a 1-0 lead but
professionalized the game and grown lost on penalties to Italy, but Kelly's
into one of the main competitions goal changed all that. England took
worldwide. control of the game in the final min-
utes, denying Germany chances for a
That has meant increasing competi- second equalizer.
tion for Germany, which was a pio-
neering nation in European women's After the final whistle, Popp joined
soccer and increasingly faces well- her teammates on the field and, with
funded rivals like England, Spain and midfielder Lena Oberdorf, was com-
France. forted by England's Georgia Stanway.
England's title comes 56 years after
the nation's only major men's title Wiegman remains unbeaten in 12
which was also an extra-time win at games as coach at the European
Wembley over Germany at the 1966 Championships after winning the
World Cup. Queen Elizabeth II's tournament first with the Nether-
congratulatory message called the lands and now with England. One
England team an "inspiration for girls of her first moves after England won
and women today, and for future gen- was to share a hug with 35-year-old
erations." midfielder Jill Scott, the only remain-
ing player on either team from Eng-
The players, too, are conscious of land's 2009 loss to Germany.
how their success has important con-
sequences. The game was refereed by Ukrai-
"We talked and talked and finally we nian Kateryna Monzul, who fled her
did it," England captain Leah Wil- home country after Russia invaded.
liamson said. "It's the proudest mo- One of Europe's leading referees,
ment of my life so I'm going to lap Monzul left her home in Kharkiv --
it up and take every single second in. a major city which has been heavily
The legacy of this tournament and bombarded by Russian forces -- and
this team is a change in society. We've spent five days living in a basement
brought everyone together." at her parents' house before leaving
the country and eventually living and
On Sunday, Germany was without working in Italy.
captain Alexandra Popp — the team's