England retain their title!

0:00Cozy season is ahead and you'll be spending way more time inside. Is your home ready? Don't worry. With Wayfair, you can upgrade your space without breaking the bank. Score up to 70 % off during their Labor Day clearance on furniture, area rugs, mattresses and more. Plus, surprise flash deals you can't miss. Whether it's one room or the whole house, Wayfair has pieces for every style and budget. Shop Wayfair's Labor Day clearance now through September 7th at Wayfair.com. Way fair, every style, every home.

0:57And all of us through it once again. I'm Tom Clark and joining me for immediate post-match reaction to that amazing final, we have former England international and Times columnist Izzy Christensen. Izzy, they've bloody done it again. Absolutely incredible. Wow, what a game. What a story. Yeah, just digesting it. It is absolutely remarkable what they've achieved again. Where were you? Where were you watching? I was in the office. I'm still in the office now. I'm going to have to go back and finish some of the design work and the back pages and things. Were you watching at home? Were you with people?

1:29Yeah, I was watching at home. Had a terrific experience in terms of just being able to just absorb the game. I was very keen on watching it in as least amount of company as possible because I really wanted to get into the tactical kind of battle that we thought that we were going to have and we did have. And yeah, no, I'm so glad that obviously England have come out as winners. and the longer it went on, the more I started to think this is going to be England's day and absolutely delighted for them. Yeah, definitely. There's loads of tactical insights that we want to get from you in just a second.

2:05Now, normally Kit Shepard would be with us, but we're recording this around quarter past nine on Sunday night and Kit is busy working away in Basel on his match reports and getting the quotes and reaction from the England players. So he's not able to join us for the full show, but he did send us this slightly crackly, slightly croaky voice note from inside the stadium. this is what he had to say. Right, dialling in from St. Jakob Park in Basel after another utterly, utterly ridiculous night, which is the end of England as European champions and the second time defending their title. First England team to do that.

2:38First England team to win a major tournament on foreign soil. Incredible. And of course they did it in a ridiculous way. Going one round down again, equalising for Lesley Luto and then winning on penalties. Hannah Hampton, the hero. The woman, or one of the women that attends of one of England's first crises of many this summer went, Marriott retired, and she became the only cap goalkeeper in the squad. She saved two penalties from Itena von Mati, Mariana Caldense, arguably the best players in the world, which was just absolutely the full end. Then, Corey Kelly, just got France and full spinning thing, and I'm excited to win in penalty.

3:16It was just amazing. It was an absolutely brilliant final, so tense. England, not, England were second best in terms of possessions. Staying controlled again, as we expected. England defended brilliantly. I mean, Lucy Bronze has just said she's played a whole tournament with a fractured tibia. She was absolutely heroic. Leah Williamson was brilliant. Jess Carter, amazing coming back into the team. Alex Greenwood as well at left back. The whole team, frankly, was unbelievable. And the players that came on. And Alessia Russo as well, getting her goal, getting her moment in the limelight after being overshadowed by Michelle Algeman of being in the tournament.

3:54It was just an amazing night. The sort of night you'll remember forever if you were here. Excruciating, super tense, but an absolutely incredible finish. And of course, how could I forget, Serena Biedman, three straight Euros titles, surely the greatest coach in the history of England football now. And goodness knows what on us put away, Owen, to get back home. We've got David on the way, but who knows what else. so that's about it we'll hear from Serena now see if there's anything more to say and then we'll be back back to London for the parade so I hand it back to you to consider the analysis before I lose my mind completely Kit Shepard our women's football reporter summing up the emotions inside the ground nicely there Izzy so many factors to talk about and you said there about watching it closely tactically but firstly Hannah Hampton, what a story this young woman has had in this tournament, leading up to the tournament, getting the number one shirt.

4:56Even before this game, she had already been the hero for England so many times. You'd talked about her passing. Then she's saving penalties against Sweden. And she's done it again. It's just utterly remarkable, isn't it? The superstar status that she now has in football across the game. Yeah, she's been, you know, a stalwart in England's, you know, rise. Obviously, last European Championship 2022, we were speaking about Mary Earps and the role that she played. And then Hannah Hampton took the baton, you know, around probably around six to nine months ago. And Suna Begman had clearly decided that Hannah Hampton was to be the new number one.

5:35And she proved exactly why she made that decision throughout this tournament with the way that Hampton has performed. to take on board that shirt, you know, on her shoulders, you know, dig England out of the ashes at times and then just have that aura and presence and calm about her penalty shootout display to save those Spanish penalties and obviously give England a platform for, of course, Chloe Kelly to step forward and smash the ball home and bring it back to the UK. Yeah, absolutely. I love catching, we've got it on the Times website now. It looked like she had instructions on a sticker written on her arm.

6:13Did you see that? Yeah, I did. It's just interesting because you've seen it in recent years with water bottles and the goalkeepers writing down the penalties, stuck it on there. But then what you can do is you could also, I think it's probably happened in men's and women's football where other goalkeepers are probably tampered with each other's bottles. So if you've got it on your sleeve, no one's touching it apart from you. And I saw one of the England medical staff cutting through her sort of under top so that she could sort of roll her sleeve up easily in between penalties and have a little glance.

6:47But yeah, really clever. And obviously it was her process and it worked. And I just think she just oozed class from the start of the tournament to the very, very end. Yeah, absolutely. Another woman taking the headlines once again. Chloe Kelly stepping up. It had to be her. I mean, what a career. Imagine in years and years to come when Chloe A. Kelly is able to say, yeah, I scored the winning goal in the Euros and then I scored the winning penalty as well when we won it three years later. I mean, as a former footballer as well, she's completed it, hasn't she? She's literally, it's like football, completed it, mate.

7:22It's unbelievable. She doesn't look like she's done yet. She does not look one bit. She's enjoying everything that she's doing right now and to win a Champions League, this year only a few months ago and then obviously to go and do that in the European championship final for your country I think when I was listening to the commentary the commentator said it was Robin Cowan she said and here it is again sort of as in I didn't know Chloe was stepping up to take that penalty until I looked up at the screen but I could hear so I was probably looking down at the phone or whatever and then I was thinking it's either going to be Michelle Ajumang or it's going to be Chloe Kelly and when she came on the screen with Chloe Kelly I'm thinking yeah I think this is ours I still would have thought the same with Ajumang by the way but I yeah she's just got presence and aura about her she absolutely smashed it didn't she and yeah who else it was written in the stars absolutely yeah you talk about smashing it she gave a great interview I don't know whether you saw it and was talking about taking the penalty she's like yeah yeah I don't miss penalties twice I mean like some people do Chloe but my god Jesus the woman's confidence and you know assurance is remarkable isn't it and that's what you need on the biggest stage and she has got it in space yeah absolutely she's you know she is the epitome of the England team I think confident in their own ability but also humble enough to be really authentic about it as well and I think you know taking in all the scenes at the end at full time and looking at the players and the sort of four which stood out to me was Lucy Bronze Alex Greenwood Kira Walsh and Leah Williamson And like, they're clearly like the leadership group, if you like, in the way that they sort of handed the trophy lift over to each other when they raised it.

9:06I don't know. It just kind of sensed that then those four players had achieved something really special and sort of like the mothers of the group. And then they'd sort of allowed everybody else like Chloe and Azumang and Grace Clinton, Beaver Jones and everyone else to just sort of shine and do their thing. But they'll keep, you know, keep the fort and keep it strong. and you know so many little subplots in the group that yeah fully deserved and the epitome of a fantastic sporting team Yeah I imagine you've probably sent a few texts already do you think they'll be out celebrating late tonight I imagine I think they already are Yeah have you been getting a few pictures a few selfies through already I haven't had pictures through but I've just made sure I've sent a message to all the closest ones on the team and staff that I know so yeah I don't really want a reply either I just want them to just know that you know thinking of them and hopefully, I mean, I say hopefully, I mean, I know they will have a good night.

9:58Yeah, absolutely. As long as they then have another party with you and the rest of the former players as well when they get back as well. I think that's important. Any excuse for a party, I think, you've got to do that. I'll see how it fits into the week. Yes, absolutely. Now, you talked about tactics. Let's talk about the game because it was a fascinating game. You know, Spain dominant for so much of it, but I found them slightly fascinating. I was trying to think of a parallel and you don't want to link the women's game and the men's game too much, but they reminded me a little bit of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.

10:27You know, the old trope that was thrown around that team where they would pass it around and never quite always looked like scoring. And in the end, it felt like England grew in confidence as the game progressed and thought, hang on a minute, we can match these guys. Maybe not the technical ability, maybe not the possession, but we're well in this game. What do you think? Yeah, I think you're spot on. And I think the way that England just absorbed pressure. Spain, the further the game went on, they didn't reduce their opportunities of creating chances. I thought they cut through England's press really well.

11:02I thought they used the whip. They used their overloads well on the sides, through the middle. I thought they played some wonderful football. But honestly, I just thought they were so poor in the final third. Yeah. I think the substitutions, if I'm going really deep into this, I think the substitutions that Montetan made, I think they were wrong at the wrong time. And I just think they also failed. The players failed to have an impact. I think Pina came on and she was a threat. And it was interesting because Spain were going to blink first and make their change in the second half. So Pina came on and then England have noticed that and they've then blinked as well.

11:41And I can't remember who they put on at the same time as Pina. Was it Beth Mead? Yes. No, it was Ajimang. It was Ajimang. For Russo, yeah. So it was almost like it kind of diluted the impact of Spain's substitution. Interesting. With Pina coming on, we know that she scored two against England in the Nations League to win earlier in the year. So it was kind of like clearly a desired effect from the Spanish camp to bring Pina off the bench. But I thought that even starting Athenia del Castillo was the wrong decision. I could see the theory behind it in terms of probably wanting to stretch England in behind but I think to be honest with you it sounds brutal but I really think they the Spanish got it wrong and England just absorbed the inevitable pressure that Spain slaughtered them with at times but they had so much confidence in the goalkeeper in the back four in particular that you know we'll deal with crosses in the box we'll deal with anything that comes our way and and they did and the longer the game went on the more likely England were going to go and find that moment and we didn't see that moment in full time lost extra time but then it was kind of like the growth that going into penalty shootout um that england had the confidence and the backing of the the performance that they'd withheld spain for the duration of the game and they knew that this was their moment to shine and they took it yeah it is it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show throughout this tournament particularly because i've enjoyed being in the office on the floor and hearing all my colleagues go hey this is what Izzy said would happen this is what Izzy said would happen on the podcast and one of those moments was when we had Lauren Hemp going down the right wing and then Chloe Kelly once she came on for Lauren James going down the left wing and both of them turning back onto their stronger left foots and putting crosses into the box that way it was exactly as you called it and it was a quite effective way of England playing I thought yeah I think that Chloe Kelly coming on earlier than expected obviously in the first half I think you'll know from my previous column that Kit wrote that I was pretty keen to see Chloe Kelly start the game today.

13:41But yeah, clearly Lauren James wasn't right, but they wanted to give her a go from the start. But yeah, when Chloe Kelly came on, like, you know, no kind of filter attached to any sort of kind of grump about not starting the game. She knew her assignment again, and it was to come on and make an impact. And of course, she's played a huge role in Russo's goal, a wonderful pinpoint cross, like you say, they're cutting in from the left, lovely weight on the pass on the cross sorry and England getting numbers in the box and I thought absolutely superb header from Russo as well again just like you know back across goal beautiful kind of flight on the ball and yeah that was when you thought hang on a minute here we go and then Spain just got a grip again and started moving the ball but yeah I think it's been it's been a fascinating tournament and there's so many deep characteristics that you can take from the England team any young and a sportsman or sportswoman can take and go, I want to be like that.

14:36And I think it's really positive traits to have as a person and as an athlete. Yeah, definitely. I mean, not even if you're young, Izzy, even if you're 36 like me, I'm going to be thinking of Alessia Russo next time I'm in the gym or I'm running. Just the perseverance she showed this tournament hasn't been necessarily headline grabbing like she did at the last Euros, but her effort and then to get that goal, as you say there, is just an example to any young athlete, you know, to keep going and keep believing in yourself because you then, you get, it only needs one chance. That's what the very best players do, isn't it?

15:08Yeah, exactly. And I think sometimes a lot of people do the work and don't get results and then give up. But that's the epitome of what resilience is. It's keeping going without results because you will get the results eventually, but you just don't know when they're coming. And England just peaked at the right time. And I think the 70 minute change with As Your Man coming on, it was kind of almost like for like with Russo coming off who'd run herself into the ground and clearly again was the instruction to Alessio Russo is just to run your absolute socks off because we know that Spain were going to dominate the ball I think they were above 60 % possession for the whole game England were obviously in their 30s and you know it's a lot of time to run without the ball and we all know footballers are more motivated to run when they've got the ball rather than when they haven't got the ball but I think England also at times during this tournament defied that logic as well and they almost became obsessed and in love with defending.

16:02And a lot of people don't necessarily see football that way either. So every time Spain breached England's block or got into England's box, England, it felt like they were in control because they loved what they were doing. To fall in love with defending and being out of possession is something which I think credit to the managers, to Savina Bigman and her staff to make the defenders and the whole team, you defend with 11, obsessed with that part of the game. So that is all credit to them and that's why they've won the tournament. Yeah, absolutely. Loads more to discuss in the second half of the show.

16:37We're going to take a little break. There's only one quiz today and it's are this England team the biggest bunch of legends you have ever seen? Find out after the break.

16:54When everything is moving all at once, your workforce, your tech stack, your business, you don't need more tools. You need one solution. That's why Paylocity built a single platform to connect HR, finance, and IT with AI-driven insights and automated workflows that simplify the complex and power what's next. Because when everything comes together in one place, growth comes easy. Experience one place for all your HCM needs. Start now at paylocity.com.

17:31Welcome back to the Game Football Podcast from The Times. I'm Tom Clark and I've got Izzy Christensen with me talking about England being European champions again, which means that obviously the answer to that pathetic quiz question that I asked before the break was, yes, they are the biggest bunch of legends you have ever seen. Izzy, I want to pick up talking about defending you, which you were talking about just before the break there, because Jess Carter, back into the team, back into the starting line-up, you talked about loving defending. There was a great moment near the end of Extra Time where I think she went in for a tackle and ended up winning a goal kick for England and let out the biggest roar.

18:07I thought she was absolutely magnificent for someone who's obviously had a difficult tournament on the pitch beforehand and then had to put up with the horrific racist abuse which took the headlines during the tournament as well. What a performance this was from Jess Carter. Yeah, it's funny you mentioned that point because I thought the exact same and shows that you and me are on the same page there, Tom. Yeah. The way we see the game. I kind of thought, again, dying moments of the game, centre-back makes a tackle like that, gets a goal kick from it. Spain obviously won it in the corner, came off Antana Balmatti last, referee gives the goal kick, rightly so.

18:42Jess Carter punches the air, like you say, celebrates like a goal. That momentum helps. Now, it sounds nuts. you think how can that help but it does it catapults England forward and puts them on the front foot and that sort of burst of energy can be transferred into the sort of penalty discussion huddle when England were getting into that sort of moment where they were deciding who was going to be taking the penalties and you know it's the rest is certainly history but yeah like you say Tom Jess Carter was brilliant I read a few quotes from her post game you know just now and saying she was scared to play today and then she looked around and felt the love and the support from her teammates and her staff and thought, no, I'm going to stand up to it, face the music, and I'm going to go and put on a show.

19:28And she did do that. And as a centre-back, you don't need to put on a show. You just need to defend and read the game. And you're playing against one of the most frightening attacking forces in world football and to stand strong along with Alex Greenwood, Leah Williamson and Lucy Bronze, Hannah Hanson, Kira Walsh in front and obviously everyone else who has to defend as well. Yeah, yeah. They were brilliant. Yeah, exactly. And you've stumbled on an interesting point there about the defenders, because you then think about Alex Greenwood stepping up, taking a penalty and scoring, having stepped up and missed.

20:00She's had a brilliant tournament, as I think you've said, on recent shows. And Niamh Charles as well, off the bench, taking a penalty. I was there in the office going, oh, my God, this is serious bottle. This is, oh, my God, unbelievable. But do you wonder then whether what your point making there about when you've had a bit of a backs to the wall defensive display, actually that gives you as a defender a load of confidence going into it even if you then have to put the ball down on the penalty spot. Yeah and I think that like football for me is all about personality as well and like I think that everyone in a squad of 23, 18, whatever everyone's going to have a different personality and deal with pressure differently and you know everyone's not going to act the same and I think in that moment Niamh Charles comes on the pitch she takes the place of Lucy Bronze who was dead on her feet which we don't often say that about her.

20:48And Niamh Charles comes on and with Niamh Charles, you've got a very, very stable, secure, kind of very consistent character. And I think, you know, to cut through the noise and the emotion and the pressure of a European Championship final on the penalty spot, like, to be honest with you, no one else would you probably rather have there than someone who's, you know, she's more than capable of taking a penalty. I'm sure she's taken penalties for Chelsea before in Champions League high-pressure moments. And if she hasn't, she's also played in many Champions League finals and high pressure games.

21:20So nothing new for her. She's not played a huge amount of minutes this tournament. But it's where you look at it and go, it's all about the personality and the person stepping up. And I think Alex Greenwood as well, knowing her really well. She's a really good friend of mine. And I know when she missed the penalty against Sweden, I know how much it would hurt her and how to bounce back from that. and for her to step up again and score, to be honest with you, I think that for her in her personal feelings is on par with winning the European Championship trophy itself because for her that is like personal redemption.

21:54And then obviously, of course, you've got the trophy to match. But yeah, so many little subplots and defenders stepping up big time for the country. Yeah. Speaking of defenders stepping up, I've just seen a quote from Lucy Bronze where she's revealed that she's actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia. I mean the woman is absolutely insane isn't she like I mean we shouldn't be surprised in some ways but that I mean just very quickly as a former professional that's that's a bit mad isn't it to play that entire tournament with a fractured tibia it's kind of hard to believe you wonder whether it might be stress fracture or something but um nonetheless like clearly medically cleared to play um I know the staff on on the England you know the England backroom staff are absolutely top class um and lucy knowing lucy she probably gets the final say anyway and uh yeah she's done a pretty good job to last pretty much every minute of the tournament playing that way i would i'm a bit obsessed with gps data player tracking system i'd love to see lucy's stats in the tournament something we probably can't get hold of but i think it's all there for the nation to see um what she's done and how she's done it and um with a huge amount of character and resilience around what she's done for this tournament wait until they've had a few more drinks tonight is he and just text them and ask them and see if they'll send it over to you without realizing that might be a cheeky way of getting a hold of some of the stats i promise i won't won't share them with anyone i promise and you mentioned loads of little subplots i'm conscious that we could easily talk about these this amazing group of women for so long but michelle adjeman winning young player of the tournament always worth a mention whilst not getting the goal and the heroics that she's done in previous games.

23:34I thought Kira Walsh was excellent, quite quietly excellent in her usual Kira Walsh way. Any players or moments or little things that you wanted to bring up just before we wrap it up with a few final thoughts? I think, I think there was a few performances today that really made like my eyebrows raise a little. Lauren Hemp thought defensively she was outstanding. The grass that she covered is ridiculous. I'd love to see her running stats as well. Like unbelievable. She's a machine. Unbelievable. She really is. She had that chance in the first half as well, which I know she'll be kicking herself about, where she nicked it off the high press and Cal Sikor saved it in the first half.

24:12That would have been good. But yeah, I think Lauren Hempenalli-Schremer, to be honest with you. I also think Kira Walsh today as well. Yeah. She was brilliant in that midfield, covering spaces and just stuff which, you know, people probably won't pay too much attention to, but it takes so much effort, so much thought process and decision-making under fatigue to get the right shape to stop a team like Spain playing. And England did that. And the amount of relief that they must feel right now and joy, you know, must be a very happy bus on the way back to wherever they are partying. Yeah, wherever.

24:51It doesn't matter, does it? They'll party anywhere. Party on the bus. It doesn't matter. Speaking of partying, it's great to see Serena Vigman on the pitch. jumping up and down, singing songs. Let's finish with a word for her. Coming up with a bit of her own redemption, having lost to this brilliant Spain team in the World Cup final, of course. And again, as we touched on earlier, Spain did play brilliantly. Sometimes I was watching them thinking, wow, they're so technically amazing. But as you've said before in the tournament and Kit as well, Serena Viegman just finds ways to win her third consecutive European Championships, the second with England, one with the Netherlands.

25:24And she's also in between. That made two World Cup finals as well. But Izzy, you said at the start of the tournament, you always thought, I just wish I'd played for her. You've called her a genius. What is there left to say about this woman? Not much else, to be honest. She's just got another trophy on her CV and three euros back-to-back. With the Netherlands 2017 and England last two, it's just ridiculous. And of course, knowing her, she will want the World Cup and she could have already had it, had it not been for that Olga Karmona goal in Australia and New Zealand 2023. But yeah, honestly, I don't think there's many more words I can say about how clever she is.

26:07But what a woman. We're so lucky that she's chosen to come over to our country and transform women's football in England. And I think she's an inspiration for so many people. And the way that she's brought people together is just incredible. and her impact will forever be etched in English football history. Yeah, I dread to think what's next with her because she'll go and evolve again and do something incredible. But that's all for us to sit back and watch and watch it on the pole. Yeah, exactly. A final mention then. You teased that idea of Serena wanting that World Cup. Looking at this England team now, obviously with lots of celebrating to do in the coming days still, but this is a strong group, isn't it?

26:50You think about Agui Beaver-Jones, Michelle Adjumanga, Lesia Russo as your three strikers, Hannah Hampton in goal. Do you see this team growing and only getting better under Serena Wiegmann? Yeah, I do. I think the pool gets bigger and wider in terms of the players that Serena has available to choose from. The depth and the pathway down at the FA, down through the age groups, is getting stronger and stronger year on year. And that, again, is credit to the pathway and the kind of vision that the FA have put in place with Serena at the top and it filters down. And I think the future is very bright.

27:28I think the challenge is always sustaining it. Everyone knows in sport, it's easy to be motivated by losing, but to be motivated when you keep winning, it's hard. You have to almost be twice as good as you were the year before. But I believe in them. I really do. And I believe in the future of what talent is coming through in our country. and I just think this is such a fantastic era for women's football in England and all the fans that are now on board with it will have a very happy next 10 or 15 years, I reckon. Yeah, absolutely. Let's hope the winning times keep coming. We'll have to leave it there.

28:04Izzy Christensen, thank you so much for joining us, not just tonight, but throughout this tournament. It's been great to have you on the Times team. A lucky charm, clearly. Hopefully we'll speak to you again very soon. Thank you too for listening throughout this Euros. We hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have. We'll be back this week with more shows, but now I'm off to write some more headlines about England being European champions again.

28:46furniture, area rugs, mattresses, and more. Plus, surprise flash deals you can't miss. Whether it's one room or the whole house, Wayfair has pieces for every style and budget. Shop Wayfair's Labor Day clearance now through September 7th at Wayfair.com. Wayfair, every style, every home.