England hero Chloe Kelly criticised for 'cocky gesture' during Euro 2025 final
Arsenal forward Kelly struck England's winning penalty in Basel after the final finished 1-1 after extra-time.
Pre-tournament favourites Spain took the lead midway through the first half through Mariona Caldentey but Alessia Russo equalised for the Lionesses just before the hour mark.
England withstood plenty of Spain pressure in extra-time before winning the shootout 3-1, goalkeeper Hannah Hampton making two superb saves.
Kelly scored the winner in the Euro 2022 final win and was England's hero again as she blasted her spot-kick past the helpless Cata Coll, who had saved two previous penalties.
It was at that moment that Kelly made a 'cocky gesture', according to sections of the Spanish press, as she wheeled away in celebration in front of Coll.
Kelly initially went to sprint to her right – in the opposite direction of the diving Coll – before quickly changing direction and running in front of the Spain goalkeeper.
Coll gestured angrily at Kelly as she ran past but the England star paid little notice and was soon celebrating back-to-back European titles with her teammates.
Kelly appeared to be focused on the celebrating England fans inside St Jakob-Park rather than her opponent but Spanish outlet AS nonetheless said it was a 'cocky' and 'unnecessary gesture'.
'This is unnecessary, my friend,' they wrote. 'Chloe Kelly's cocky gesture to Cata Coll after scoring the decisive penalty.
'The England specialist changed her run during her penalty celebration to get past the goalkeeper she had just beaten.'
In a separate article, AS claimed Spain had been 'robbed' after losing a final they if not dominated at least were in control of for large periods.
'The dream ends in a nightmare,' one piece said. 'Spain lost the European Championship on penalties. England tied a match that Spain largely dominated.
'History is made by victories, and also by defeats. Spain fell in the Euro Cup final but left its name sealed in gold. England robbed them of their dream; the world champions couldn't close the circle they began to write two years ago in Sydney.
'They couldn't have been crueller in the penalty shootout, tossing a few dice in the air.'
A separate piece from the Spanish outlet, which accused England of playing for penalties, added: 'England had been eliminated three times.
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'But they must have been using Houdini's secret manual of tricks to take home the trophy. Congratulations.
'The English embraced penalties like happy castaways, and it showed.'
Spain manager Montse Tome was fairly magnanimous following her side's heartbreaking defeat and insisted she was 'proud' of the World Cup holders.
'It's a final and we are sad because we weren't able to win,' he said. 'I think the effort from all of the players was very good.
'They tried until the very end to try to win but then we arrived at a penalty shootout and we weren't able to do it. I thought overall we were very good on the ball. More Trending
'They are a team that play a lot on the second balls and they managed to hurt us a bit in these situations.
'I think in extra time we got the momentum back, got on the ball and were able to attack, but we were not able to avoid a penalty shootout and in the end we were not able to do that better.
'Now we have a strange feeling because we wanted to win so much. You have it so close and you are not able to do it.
'But I am always proud of the effort of the team and the staff that has been really positive. Now we have to stop and relax, and that is what I'm going to do.'
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