Lionesses celebrate dramatic penalty shootout win as heroic Hannah Hampton hailed
Hannah Hampton was the hero as England came from 2-0 down to beat Sweden in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Zurich. The Lionesses moved into the semi-finals of the Women's Euros in dramatic style after a chaotic finale – and there was no doubting the player of the match.
Hampton made two crucial saves when one-on-one with a Sweden forward to keep Sarina Wiegman 's side in the contest. And after goals from Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang turned things around in a matter of minutes, Hampton came up trumps once again in the shoot-out.
While her Swedish counterpart Jennifer Falk kept out a remarkable four Lionesses' penalties, she was left heartbroken when she blazed her own spot-kick over the bar. Hampton made two saves of her own before Bronze smashed in her sudden-death effort before another Sweden effort went over to send England through to face Italy in the last four.
Hampton only assumed the No.1 jersey recently, sparking the controversial international retirement of Mary Earps on the eve of the tournament, but the Chelsea goalkeeper looked the part on Thursday night.
What made her performance in the shoot-out all the more impressive was the fact she had only minutes earlier sustained a bloody nose in a collision at a corner.
Social media was alight with praise for the 24-year-old afterwards. 'Even with a tampon in her nose she smashed it,' one fan wrote on X. Another added: 'Build Hannah Hampton a statue!'
A third said: 'Give her all the Swiss chocolate she wants. Well deserved. MVP of the game. When the team needed her she stepped up and did that countless times. Never blamed team. True Lioness hero.'
Another said: 'Hannah Hampton is a hero. Literally gave blood, sweat, and tears to ensure her country got through to the semi-finals.'
After being mobbed by her team-mates, Hampton spoke to the BBC. 'Right now, I don't know [where my emotions are],' she said. 'It's all gone so quick, that last bit and the penalty shootout. We're very happy, obviously, you can see the celebrations, cheering with the fans. They were behind us the whole game, even when we were 2-0 down.
"They knew we could bring this back and you don't ever write us off. It was stressful. Stressful watching, stressful playing. Every time I saved one I was thinking 'please put it in' so we have a bit of a cushion. I'm just happy and relieved now."
Wiegman's decision to make Hampton her No.1 has paid off and the England boss showered her with praise post-match. 'She didn't have [any] doubters in our bubble. I think she had a very impressive performance,' Wiegman said.
'She had some very good saves in the second half. She had one penalty on the right side that was an incredible save. Pretty big contribution today.'
Hampton believes the comeback shows the fight in the squad, with the substitutes playing a massive part in the win. 'It shows proper England is back,' she said.
'We're going in the right direction. I think you know that everyone would be putting their bodies on the line. Literally you could see that out there. We said at half-time, 'we don't want to go home, so it's down to us to turn the game around'.'
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