'Incredible crowd love' gave Carter courage to play
The Gotham FC defender, 27, received a rapturous reception when she came on as a substitute late in extra time as the defending champions held out for a comeback victory."It meant everything," Carter told BBC Sport of the crowd's response."Without that I wouldn't have felt the confidence to come out on to the pitch, whether for the last three minutes or not."I'm not sure I would have had the courage to be available to support my team. They've allowed me to do that, so I can't be more grateful to everyone who has shown support."I'm super grateful to them. I hope they bring that energy for every single minute of every single game for every single one of our players because they were loud and amazing. "The love I felt was incredible, so thank you so much."England's players said they decided to stop taking the knee because it was "clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism", while manager Sarina Wiegman said the impact of the anti-racism gesture was "not good enough".
"I was trying to focus on not crying," added Carter, when asked to describe her emotions on the touchline."[Standing together] was about bringing awareness back to racism, that it's still here and present and that people are still having to put up with it."I'm not saying massive change is going to be made but we wanted to make the point again to people sending hateful comments. We're here to try to do well for your country, perform for your country. "I don't mind the comments about not playing great, I can handle those ones, but the colour of my skin has nothing to do with my feet. I'll continue to give everything for my country."On her decision to open up about the abuse, the former Chelsea defender said: "It was really tough for me to step up and speak about something. I'm not really a person to do that, I keep my head down and keep going."But it got to a point where I didn't feel comfortable or confident in myself."I spoke with my team and everyone has been incredible. The support from my team has been amazing."Having gone a goal down, England looked set for defeat in Geneva but were rescued by a 96th-minute Michelle Agyemang equaliser, before Chloe Kelly scored in the final minute of extra time after her penalty was saved.Wiegman's side will face Spain or Germany in the final on Sunday, 27 July at 17:00 BST.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Hannah Hampton's sleeve notes and Beth Mead's double-kick: England's penalty triumph dissected
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.
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
GB's Jones takes Challenger title in Palermo
Briton Francesca Jones claimed her second Challenger Tour title in dominant fashion with a 6-3 6-2 win against Anouk Koevermans in 24-year-old will climb into the world's top 100 for the first time when the new rankings are released on Jones lost in the first round at Wimbledon earlier this month but has since won successive Challenger Tour events on broke her Dutch opponent to lead 5-3 and then served out to take the opening carried that momentum into the second and broke again in the opening game, before going up a double break at 4-1 and sealing the reached her first WTA semi-final in 2023 but struggled to build on that run and has never been beyond the first round at a Grand Slam event.
South Wales Guardian
19 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
You've made nation proud – Prime Minister Keir Starmer congratulates Lionesses
England beat world champions Spain 3-1 on penalties in the Euro 2025 final after a 1-1 draw to defend the title they won three years ago. In a post on X, the Prime Minister said: 'Champions! Congratulations @Lionesses – what a team. What a game. What drama. 'You dug deep when it mattered most and you've made the nation proud. History makers.' Champions! Congratulations @Lionesses — what a team. What a game. What drama. You dug deep when it mattered most and you've made the nation proud. History makers. — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 27, 2025 The Prince of Wales was spotted in the stands applauding and celebrating with those around him – including his daughter Princess Charlotte. William was among those to heap praise on striker Michelle Agyemang, who was named young player of the tournament. As the presentation ceremony took place, William exchanged words with Agyemang, appearing to say, 'Well played, fantastic, well done'.
