Déjà vu: England and Spain meet again in a final, this time at the Women's European Championship

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

ZURICH (AP) — Here we go again.
There's a sense of déjà vu about the Women's European Championship final that pits defending champion England against World Cup winner Spain.
The two nations faced off in the World Cup final two years ago with Spain edging an open match 1-0.
'I think obviously that was a massive disappointment and I feel like from a collective we probably feel like we didn't have our best performance that day, but I think … if you're trying to pull on that too much then you're going to be too emotional with too many things going on,' England midfielder Keira Walsh said on Thursday.
'Obviously you think about it a little bit but I think for us, put it to the side and focus on the game on Sunday. We've got so many new players in this team who are really confident and bring so many things to this team, so it's exciting and we can just focus on the positives.'
Both teams needed 120 minutes to get through their gruelling semifinals. England's super-subs had their part to play again on Tuesday with late goals first taking the match to extra time and then securing a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Italy.
Spain needed a moment of magic from two-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati to get past a resilient German side 1-0 on Wednesday.
It will be a first Euros final for Spain but even before the tournament it had been the favorite to add the European title to its collection after winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years.
Spain's triumph at the World Cup was marred by the Luis Rubiales scandal, after the-then head of the Spanish soccer federation kissed player Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony.
Rubiales was subsequently charged with sexual assault and convicted a few months before the start of Euro 2025, bringing an end to one of the worst chapters in the history of Spanish soccer.
Walsh, who made 100 appearances for Barcelona over two-and-a-half seasons, was playing in Spain at the time and witnessed the fallout first hand.
'I think the most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final, there's not the controversy surrounding it,' she said. 'I think just for the girls this time and as a friend and another football player, for them just to go and enjoy it.
'They play incredible football and they deserve to be there, so as a human being I just want them to go out and enjoy the game of football.'
Walsh doesn't feel Spain's star-packed squad received enough credit after the World Cup triumph.
'Obviously after the game there was a lot of controversy and I don't think for them there was enough spotlight on how incredible they played and how incredible some of their players were, it was all about the other stuff that had gone on,' she said.
'I think as a professional that was disappointing to see. Obviously I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they probably deserved a little bit more than what they got.'