Latest news with #penalty shoot-out
The Herald
18 hours ago
- Sport
- The Herald
Ellis wary of fatigue ahead of Banyana semifinal clash against Nigeria
'We won't overthink anything because we want to celebrate what we have done. As a technical team, we are already standing on one side talking about how we are going to plan and how we are going to prepare because 120 minutes with a day less to prepare and a day to travel takes a lot [out of everyone].' Ellis praised Banyana's resilience against Senegal and hopes to see the same against Nigeria. 'We have been practising penalties and we knew who our kickers were going to be and that's why we made the changes we made. We always knew Andile could save one or two; she had done [that] before. 'This was our first penalty shoot-out victory in the Wafcon. We lost it in the 2006 and 2018 finals. I don't have enough words to describe this team — the resilience, the courage, the never-say-die attitude and the willingness to fight for each other. 'No matter what they threw at us, we were able to withstand it.'
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
No Earps, no problem: Hannah Hampton cements position with Terry Butcher moment
After her penalty shoot-out heroics it was perhaps no surprise Hannah Hampton was a woman in demand immediately after England's quarter-final victory over Sweden. The Lionesses goalkeeper was on post-match press conference duties after being named player of the match but the questions were interrupted when she took a FaceTime call from her agent, Paul Crockford, who was with her friends and family. 'Paul, I'm in a presser, look!' Hampton said as she held her phone up to show a number of people cheering on her screen. 'I'll call you back.' "Paul I'm in a presser! I'll call you back!" 🤣 Hannah Hampton's post-match press conference took an unexpected turn when it was interrupted by a FaceTime call 📞 — Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 18, 2025 It had been a defining night in Hampton's international career. The goalkeeper had saved two penalties in a chaotic shoot-out and made a string of saves to keep her team in the game when they had trailed 2-0. She had put her body on the line for her country, taking an elbow to the nose from a set-piece and finishing the game with a tampon in one of her nostrils. It was a Terry Butcher-esque image to see the bloodied and battered Hampton rise to the occasion. 'She only needs one nostril!' Chloe Kelly joked after the game. Hampton is a fighter – and she has had to be for much of her life and career. She was born with strabismus, an eye condition which affects depth perception. Hampton underwent multiple operations as a child and was told by doctors that she would not be able to play sport because of that inability to judge distances, but she has continually defied such predictions. She has previously joked that being a goalkeeper, where being aware of the ball's exact location is quite an important part of the job, 'doesn't really make a lot of sense'. It makes her stops in the shoot-out all the more impressive. Hampton referenced after the game how she had endured a 'difficult couple of years within the England environment'. There are many components to that. She considered quitting football after reports emerged of her allegedly being dropped from the England team because of a poor attitude in 2022, which the goalkeeper insisted were inaccurate. Sarina Wiegman said at the time that Hampton had some 'personal issues' to resolve. By 2023, Wiegman considered them addressed and recalled her. Hampton was an unused player at Euro 2022 and the World Cup the following year but emerged as a genuine challenger to Mary Earps, who had been No 1 at both tournaments, at the start of 2024. Earps was arguably the most popular member of the Lionesses squad at the time having won BBC Sports Personality of the Year for her heroics at the World Cup and her battle with Nike over failing to sell her goalkeeper shirt at the tournament. Hampton got her chance when Earps picked up an injury in May last year and her performances in crucial qualifiers against France and Sweden were impressive enough for her to retain her place. The two goalkeepers shared game time as Wiegman tried to decide who was No 1. The answer finally came when Hampton started back-to-back games with Belgium in April and Wiegman admitted the Chelsea player was 'a little bit ahead'. Earps, having been told she would be No 2 at this tournament, then made the shock decision to retire and Hampton – through no fault of her own – was thrust into the spotlight. Earps's retirement added an extra layer of pressure ahead of her first tournament as No 1 and she had to contend with negativity from some supporters. 'It's hard when you see English fans not want you in goal,' Hampton told ITV before the tournament. 'I've not done anything to make you hate me. Yes, your favourite player has retired, that's not my decision. I haven't put that in her mind. She has come to that decision herself. It just goes back to proving them wrong.' Hampton has certainly won over any doubters. Her excellent distribution was key to her ousting Earps and she showed why with her sensational pass to Alessia Russo in the build-up to Lauren James's goal against Netherlands. Later in that game, the England fans behind the goal could be heard chanting: 'England's No 1.' But it was against Sweden where Hampton came of age. She was partly at fault for their second goal, leaving it too late to narrow the angle and giving Stina Blackstenius too much space to finish into the far corner. But then came a number of key saves which kept the Lionesses in the game. Much had been made of whether Hampton could match the aura of Earps. Would she have the character, the confidence and the gamesmanship Earps so often displayed during big games and shoot-outs. In the end, none of that mattered. Hampton is a different personality to her predecessor. She is more reserved but has a charming and humorous side to her – which was evident when she answered that FaceTime call. More than that, she is one of, if not the best, technical goalkeeper at this tournament. She was rightly mobbed by her team-mates when Sweden missed their final penalty. 'I think the girls have got behind me a lot. They know how tough it's been for me while being in and around the England environment,' Hampton said after the game. 'To be able to go out and help them tonight, for the whole team to put on a performance like we did, it's a lovely moment. 'It's been a difficult couple of years. All the girls were ecstatic, they've seen all the hard work that I've put in and how difficult it's been and how they've helped me get to the point that I am now and being happy to be wearing an England shirt again.' After a night of blood, sweat and tears, Hampton proved why she is England's No 1 – and will be for the foreseeable future.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Anatomy of a terrible penalty shootout – how England triumphed in chaos at Euro 2025
England lived to fight another day at Euro 2025 after surviving a chaotic penalty shoot-out to beat Sweden and reach the semi-finals. After England came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw following extra time, nine of the 14 penalties were missed in an extraordinary decider. The Lionesses were a penalty away from going home on two occasions but Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze were the heroes as they progressed. 'I think we're all frustrated in the sense that we had our system, we've practised them every day, we've got our routines, and sometimes it doesn't go to plan,' Beth Mead said. But after emerging through one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in major tournament history, England could still celebrate as they set up a semi-final with Italy. Here's how it all unfolded ✅ England 1-0 Sweden - Alessia Russo scores A confident penalty from England's No 9. That feeling would not last long. 'Penalty shoot-outs, statistically you're more likely to win if you go first, winning the coin toss played into that,' Lucy Bronze said. 'I love maths.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Filippa Angeldahl misses With a bloody tissue stuffed up one nostril, Hannah Hampton goes the correct way and saves to her left. 'I don' t really know what happened to be honest, all I remember is going up for that ball and someone has elbowed me I think,' Hampton said after the game. 'I thought I got away with it at first because there was nothing [blood] coming out, then I sat up and it was streaming. But as a few of the girls have said, I'm better with one nostril so maybe I'll have it again in the next game.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Lauren James misses It suits James' playing style to have a short run-up but this one didn't come off as she skipped around the ball and shot low. It lacks power and Jennifer Falk saves to her right. ✅England 1-1 Sweden - Julia Zigiotti Olme scores In perhaps the best penalty of the shoot-out, Zigiotti takes out the camera positioned in the top corner - Harry Maguire style. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Beth Mead misses Falk saves again, and to the same side. The goalkeeper has clearly done her homework and has printed off notes to attach to her water bottle. Mead's penalty was at a good height for the goalkeeper. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Magdalena Eriksson misses Eriksson strikes the bottom of the post with Hampton beaten. Neither side can claim the advantage after consecutive misses. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Alex Greenwood misses Falk guesses correctly for the third time in a row and is beginning to look unbeatable in the Sweden goal. ✅England 1-2 Sweden - Nathalie Bjorn scores It's Chelsea vs Chelsea but Bjorn keeps cool to beat her club team-mate. It's match point to Sweden now and they lead for the first time. ✅England 2-2 Sweden - Chloe Kelly scores After scoring winning penalties in shoot-outs against Nigeria and Brazil, it's Kelly's turn to keep England alive from the No 5 spot. Kelly grins as she stands over the spot, does her trademark run-up by lifting up her left leg, skipping, and burying the penalty into the corner. ' She made me laugh and then we both laughed at each other, it wasn't like a disrespect we just laughed at each other. In those moments there's a lot of pressure but I felt that and she just made me laugh.' Later asked what was going through her head , Kelly replied: 'I was bursting for a wee.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Jennifer Falk misses Sweden still have the chance to win it but there's an audible gasp in the stadium as goalkeeper Falk steps up to take Sweden's fifth penalty. 'I was more panicking that we didn't have any data on her or where she was going,' Hampton later explained. 'So I was like oh my goodness this is down to me. I was a bit surprised.' After making three saves, can Falk score in a battle of goalkeeper vs goalkeeper? No! Falk skies it and England stay alive. ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Grace Clinton misses It's back even again, as the pressure of sudden death falls onto the 22-year-old Grace Clinton. This was the weakest penalty of the lot and Falk saved comfortably. At this point, Sarina Wiegman starts to wonder if England had run out of lives. 'Well when you miss so many penalties I was really concerned,' Wiegman said. 'I thought it was done.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Sofia Jacobson misses It's the second match point for Sweden, but Hampton makes her best save of the shoot-out to tip it onto the post at full stretch! At this point, England players are starting to lose track of who needs what. 'We were trying to work out what was going on as the shootout was happening,' Kelly admitted. 'Michelle [Agyemang] was asking questions, I was like, if we score and they miss then we win.' ✅England 3-2 Sweden - Lucy Bronze scores In an iconic moment, Bronze steps forward and begins to tear the strapping from her left thigh after feeling muscle tightness towards the end of full-time. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty [but] I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty,' Bronze said. 'So I didn't take it off [but] then it was my penalty and I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.' With her captain's armband around her wrist, Bronze does just that. She smashes it down the middle. 'I watched the goalkeeper in every penalty and she dived quite early,' Bronze said. 'Statistically in shoot-outs it's risky for goalkeepers to stand still. Go down the middle.' ❌England 3-2 Sweden - Smilla Holmberg misses Now it's England's turn to hold match point, as the pressure falls on Sweden's 18-year-old right back. Holmberg goes for the top corner but blasts her penalty over the crossbar, the ninth miss from 14 penalties as England scrape into the quarter-finals and Hampton is mobbed by her team-mates.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Hampton's bloody nose and nine missed penalties: How ridiculous England v Sweden shootout unfolded
England lived to fight another day at Euro 2025 after surviving a chaotic penalty shoot-out to beat Sweden and reach the semi-finals. After England came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw following extra time, nine of the 14 penalties were missed in an extraordinary decider. The Lionesses were a penalty away from going home on two occasions but Hannah Hampton and Lucy Bronze were the heroes as they progressed. 'I think we're all frustrated in the sense that we had our system, we've practised them every day, we've got our routines, and sometimes it doesn't go to plan,' Beth Mead said. But after emerging through one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in major tournament history, England could still celebrate as they set up a semi-final with Italy. Here's how it all unfolded ✅ England 1-0 Sweden - Alessia Russo scores A confident penalty from England's No 9. That feeling would not last long. 'Penalty shoot-outs, statistically you're more likely to win if you go first, winning the coin toss played into that,' Lucy Bronze said. 'I love maths.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Filippa Angeldahl misses With a bloody tissue stuffed up one nostril, Hannah Hampton goes the correct way and saves to her left. 'I don' t really know what happened to be honest, all I remember is going up for that ball and someone has elbowed me I think,' Hampton said after the game. 'I thought I got away with it at first because there was nothing [blood] coming out, then I sat up and it was streaming. But as a few of the girls have said, I'm better with one nostril so maybe I'll have it again in the next game.' ❌England 1-0 Sweden - Lauren James misses It suits James' playing style to have a short run-up but this one didn't come off as she skipped around the ball and shot low. It lacks power and Jennifer Falk saves to her right. ✅England 1-1 Sweden - Julia Zigiotti Olme scores In perhaps the best penalty of the shoot-out, Zigiotti takes out the camera positioned in the top corner - Harry Maguire style. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Beth Mead misses Falk saves again, and to the same side. The goalkeeper has clearly done her homework and has printed off notes to attach to her water bottle. Mead's penalty was at a good height for the goalkeeper. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Magdalena Eriksson misses Eriksson strikes the bottom of the post with Hampton beaten. Neither side can claim the advantage after consecutive misses. ❌England 1-1 Sweden - Alex Greenwood misses Falk guesses correctly for the third time in a row and is beginning to look unbeatable in the Sweden goal. ✅England 1-2 Sweden - Nathalie Bjorn scores It's Chelsea vs Chelsea but Bjorn keeps cool to beat her club team-mate. It's match point to Sweden now and they lead for the first time. ✅England 2-2 Sweden - Chloe Kelly scores After scoring winning penalties in shoot-outs against Nigeria and Brazil, it's Kelly's turn to keep England alive from the No 5 spot. Kelly grins as she stands over the spot, does her trademark run-up by lifting up her left leg, skipping, and burying the penalty into the corner. ' She made me laugh and then we both laughed at each other, it wasn't like a disrespect we just laughed at each other. In those moments there's a lot of pressure but I felt that and she just made me laugh.' Later asked what was going through her head , Kelly replied: 'I was bursting for a wee.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Jennifer Falk misses Sweden still have the chance to win it but there's an audible gasp in the stadium as goalkeeper Falk steps up to take Sweden's fifth penalty. 'I was more panicking that we didn't have any data on her or where she was going,' Hampton later explained. 'So I was like oh my goodness this is down to me. I was a bit surprised.' After making three saves, can Falk score in a battle of goalkeeper vs goalkeeper? No! Falk skies it and England stay alive. ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Grace Clinton misses It's back even again, as the pressure of sudden death falls onto the 22-year-old Grace Clinton. This was the weakest penalty of the lot and Falk saved comfortably. At this point, Sarina Wiegman starts to wonder if England had run out of lives. 'Well when you miss so many penalties I was really concerned,' Wiegman said. 'I thought it was done.' ❌England 2-2 Sweden - Sofia Jacobson misses It's the second match point for Sweden, but Hampton makes her best save of the shoot-out to tip it onto the post at full stretch! At this point, England players are starting to lose track of who needs what. 'We were trying to work out what was going on as the shootout was happening,' Kelly admitted. 'Michelle [Agyemang] was asking questions, I was like, if we score and they miss then we win.' ✅England 3-2 Sweden - Lucy Bronze scores In an iconic moment, Bronze steps forward and begins to tear the strapping from her left thigh after feeling muscle tightness towards the end of full-time. 'I thought, it's going to hinder me in a penalty [but] I didn't expect it to go to the sixth penalty,' Bronze said. 'So I didn't take it off [but] then it was my penalty and I thought, I need to take this off. I'm going to actually smack it.' With her captain's armband around her wrist, Bronze does just that. She smashes it down the middle. 'I watched the goalkeeper in every penalty and she dived quite early,' Bronze said. 'Statistically in shoot-outs it's risky for goalkeepers to stand still. Go down the middle.' ❌England 3-2 Sweden - Smilla Holmberg misses Now it's England's turn to hold match point, as the pressure falls on Sweden's 18-year-old right back. Holmberg goes for the top corner but blasts her penalty over the crossbar, the ninth miss from 14 penalties as England scrape into the quarter-finals and Hampton is mobbed by her team-mates.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
England's gritty resolve overshadows familiar frailties in Euro 2025 penalty shootout triumph
It's an image that could go down in England folklore, albeit after a performance - bar maybe a total of three minutes - that won't quite be written into history. Certainly not with any great affection. Following a series of absurd misses, in what might well have been one of the worst penalty shoot-outs in football history, a hobbling Lucy Bronze ripped off her strapping, and strode forward. An astonishing eight of the 12 previous penalties had been squandered. Some had been squandered in scarcely believable fashion, the emotional momentum of the shoot-out veering as wildly as some of the attempts. So, Bronze just smashed it straight into the roof of the net. It was a decisiveness that had been missing from the previous 10 minutes, and most of the game. It also seemed to scramble Sweden one final time, as Smilla Holmberg became just the latest player to sky the ball. This time, it was enough. Bronze's force had driven England into the semi-finals of Euro 2025. They are somehow 90 minutes from another final, albeit after a display where they really only played for a few minutes. The obvious discussion now will be over what this emotion does for the team, over the resolve, whether there will now be a momentum from this, a relief that releases them… But, if we're talking about elements like that, you just have to focus on the psychodrama of the penalties. It was unlike almost any witnessed in football history, and a rare occasion where the final score of the initial five each - 2-2 - equalled the actual game. While Bronze ultimately seized the moment, it's hard not to feel that Sweden ultimately - and calamitously - let it slip away. And that's not just from the fact they were 2-0 up in the 79th minute - a fact that almost felt irrelevant given everything that happened after. Sweden had the chance to secure their semi-final place as it was 2-2 with the very last regulation penalty, only for goalkeeper Jennifer Falk to sensationally turn around and go to take it. Saving two penalties evidently wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be a treble hero, with the last word. It wouldn't even be the second or third last word. Falk was the first to sky it, absurdly. And yet there was still another swing. You would have thought that would have been the turning point, given that Falk had been so dominant in the shoot-out and suddenly had to face up to this psychologically significant moment. How would she respond? She barely needed to. Grace Clinton handed Sweden back momentum, with a shot so soft you might even think it had been literally handed over if you hadn't watched the kick. And then, of course, Sofia Jakobsson missed again. Bronze had to show them how it was done. If the nature of the shoot-out naturally draws all focus, there was a performance that should draw some concern. In some ways, in fact, the back-and-forth nature of the shoot-out almost reflected England's display. England got it wrong, then got it right, then got it wrong again, and again, and again… only to display that vintage individual resolve to somehow get through. One of the most remarkable aspects - before the penalties - was that Sarina Wiegman made the exact same mistakes as against France. It was as if nothing had actually been learned, and that the recent revival was because of the poverty of the opposition in the Welsh and Dutch. England were still dismally vulnerable to pace. Keira Walsh had again been dominated in midfield, and Wiegman's side badly struggled to play through it. Sweden clearly targeted Jess Carter for pressing, but Leah Williamson wasn't exactly sure-footed beside her. This was the source of both Swedish goals. Kosovare Asllani strode through after two minutes, and Stina Blackstenius, whose pressing was causing all manner of problems, just scorched through for the second. England's response was so meek until eventually, and what felt so belatedly, Wiegman made three subs. They were surprising subs, especially in removing the control of Georgia Stanway. Except all of it had the effect of disrupting Sweden. That was in terms of the timing, and the manner of it. England front-loaded and went direct. Chloe Kelly, one of the three, played a superb ball for Bronze to head in brilliantly at the back post. She defiantly kicked a hoarding, in a foreshadowing of what was to come. Sweden didn't expect what came next to arrive so quickly. England almost went straight for goal again and, within two minutes, Michelle Agyemang had turned it in. Delirium. But not quite a new direction. The one issue with Wiegman's subs was that they were right for the situation but not an open game. Sweden rallied impressively and immediately re-asserted control. Extra-time did look a lot like England were just trying to play through it and maybe take a chance. They had to wait much longer for that. That also comes at a cost, despite the prize of that semi-final. Beyond going the distance, all of Williamson, Bronze and Lauren James will need patching up. There's going to have to be a lot of thought about the team. Italy, meanwhile, will surely have taken note of the blueprint to play this England. They've twice struggled in this tournament against quick and physical pressing teams. There were even signs of that going further back. Except, England still go that bit further in this tournament. Wiegman's only defeat in knock-out football is still just that 2023 World Cup final to Spain. They still persevere. They still have that resolve, that grit. They found a way. Bronze, for her part, forced the way.
