Hannah Hampton's sleeve notes and Beth Mead's double-kick: England's penalty triumph dissected

Telegraph

3 days ago

Chloe Kelly – who else? – scored the winning spot-kick following two huge saves from goalkeeper Hannah Hampton as never-say-die England shocked world champions Spain in the European Championship final. It was, for the second time in the tournament, an incredibly dramatic shoot-out. Here are the key spot-kick moments that helped the Lionesses make history.
Wiegman's last-minute planning
With four minutes of extra time still remaining, Sarina Wiegman started sketching out a plan. She conferred with her analysts before jotting down her apparent list of final takers and in order.
Several automatic takers had already been removed from action, including the iron-willed star of the Sweden spot-kicks Lucy Bronze - who astonishingly later revealed she had played the entire tournament with a fractured tibia. Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Lauren James and Ella Toone had also been substituted, so it wasn't clear who would take a kick.
The only certainty was Kelly, who was the only successful taker against Sweden left on the pitch.
Hannah Hampton's notes on her arm
Goalkeepers referring to notes on opposition goalkeepers has become increasingly common. Indeed, a year ago Jordan Pickford used the notes on his water bottle to great effect against Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the Euros. That, though, is slightly risky - could a water bottle be hidden or thrown away? Hampton had a better idea; to avoid any risk of Spain taking a peak at her research, Hampton kept a list of takers, data and their likely choice of side glued to the inside of her arm rather than the traditional water bottle.
That meant that while the outfield players were getting ready to shoot she stood with a member of staff cutting the sleeve of her shirt and using an adhesive to stuck the list to her skin.
It would prove a master-stroke as she would go on to make two crucial saves - one against a player of the match and another against the back-to-back Ballon D'or winner.
Mead's double-kick penalty chaos
If nerves weren't shredded enough already, veteran campaigner Beth Mead would have to take her penalty twice - with her second effort saved. During her initial kick, she had slipped in her run up and while her botched kick went in, the referee quickly ruled she had struck the ball twice.
A recent clarification in the law by Uefa following an accidental double kick penalty in the men's Champions League by Julian Alvarez last season ensured Mead could retake the kick.
But the second effort was hit at a comfortable height to be punched away.
Momentum swings back and forth
Momentum swung dramatically backwards and forwards in the ensuing kicks. After Mead's miss, the momentum was with Spain as Patri Guijarro's cool, calm and collected effort then planted into the corner. Alex Greenwood's excellent left-footed effort into the bottom right corner helped calm English nerves but, then Hamton came to the fore, saving from the excellent Mariona Caldentey.
Hampton repeated the truck against the world's best player Aitana Bonmatí either side of Niamh Charles's low, hard effort into the corner.
Leah Williamson, so impressive over 120 minutes, then hit a poor penalty for an easy save but next up was Leila Ouahabi with an even worse effort blazed right of the post.
Chloe Kelly, of course
'I was cool, I was composed and I knew I was going to hit the back of the net'. Of course she did. Not content with winning the Euros for England last time and settling that other penalty drama against Sweden last week, this would be a champagne moment to match the lot.
The familiar lifted left knee before leaping into her stride as she did in the quarters, but this time the kick was even more emphatic as she fired into the roof of the net.