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- England beat Italy 2-1 in comeback win
- Agyemang and Kelly score in Euro semis
- Wiegman reflects on "unbelievable" night
England’s Euros title defence looked to be over as Italy resolutely held on to their 33rd-minute lead from Barbara Bonansea. But Agyemang’s 96th-minute equaliser and then fellow substitute Chloe Kelly’s 119th-minute finish, after her penalty was saved, sent the Lionesses through to another final. After the match, manager Wiegman declared, “We’re going to make a movie” about this one day as she reflected on a special night.
She told BBC Sport: “We’re going to make a movie some day! Well this is a movie, my goodness, it’s unbelievable. Here we are again, it’s really, really special. When it finishes like that, I’m enjoying it but it’s a little bit dramatic.”
On Agyemang, who also scored a late goal in England’s quarter-final triumph over Sweden, the Dutch coach added: “She has something special. She’s only 19 years old, she’s very mature, she knows exactly what she has to do. When you talk about little things that she picks up straight away, because she’s not only in the 18-yard box very dangerous but when we have to go to her as a target player, she keeps the ball really well too. Even when you saw her shot hit the crossbar, that was not just a shot, she was aiming for it. If she continues like this she has a very bright future.”
The Lionesses have been agonisingly close to getting knocked out of this tournament in Switzerland but have shown off their remarkable powers of recovery twice now. A penalty shootout win over Sweden has been backed up by a smash-and-grab victory over Italy, leaving England one game away from a stunning back-to-back Euros triumph.
The Lionesses will now await the winner of the second semi-final on Wednesday, when Spain take on Germany. England lost to Spain in the final of the 2023 كأس العالم in Australia and New Zealand and will likely need to improve if they want to beat them or the Germans in the showpiece event on Sunday.
