England thrash Wales. It's Sweden next...

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1:27Hello and welcome to the Game Football Podcast from the Times. England are safely through to the knockout stages of Euro 2025 after a 6-1 win against Wales. Serena Vigman's side will face Sweden on Thursday and on today's show we'll discuss a confident end to the group stage and preview that quarterfinal clash. I'm Tom Clark and joining me today we have the women's football reporter for the Times and Sunday Times, Kit Shepard, and the former England international and Times columnist, Izzy Christensen. Izzy, I said there a confident end to the group stage. We all suggested that England should win this game comfortably beforehand and so it proved.

2:05Absolutely, yeah. Very good performance. I think ruthless from England. They looked very slick, didn't they, with the ball. Some brilliant goals. I've been watching them back this morning. And yeah, some really nice goals. Good squad mentality with a lot of players coming off the bench. and like you say, they're very much so routine performance, but no complacency attached. And I think that's why they got the job done. Kit, you were there. Would you agree with that assessment? Did it seem like confidence is growing amongst this group? Yeah, it was just job done. As Izzy said last night, there was always the slight chance it could get a little bit tense with England again needing to win to be sure of going through.

2:44And I thought it was Wales and all that comes with that from a local rivalry, but they extinguished all that tension kind of by the half hour mark at the very latest when they're 3-0 up, 4-0 up by half time. And they turned the second half into almost a non-event, which is a reflection of how strong and hand-pressed they were in the first half. So yeah, roll on the quarterfinals. Absolutely. We'll talk about that quarterfinal in just a second. Izzy, were you surprised there weren't maybe a few changes to the starting lineup, picking an unchanged team? Ella Toon back in that midfield role, Lauren James out on the right, or was this a case of Serena Veedman wanting to follow up that good Netherlands win and keep some consistency in this team?

3:25Yeah, I think the latter spot on. Consistency, really important. Momentum, really important. And there's no harm in keeping the XI if you feel it's right to sort of not play mind games with the future opponent. And obviously we know now that is Sweden. I think you look at the French team that changed their front three from beating England in the first group game. to the second game against Wales. And I know they got their job done last night against the Netherlands as well. And they reverted back to the front three that caused a lot of damage to England. Delphine Cascarino in particular on fire again last night.

4:06I think that it just shows that the managers across the tournament have, you know, obviously different philosophies, which you'd expect. But Sweeney Wiggin is very much someone who likes to find the sort of biting point between clutch and accelerator and she keeps it that way basically when she feels it's right and um the interesting thing is sweden do the same and sweden are our opponents in the quarter final so uh i think that's gonna be a good game it's definitely definitely exciting sorry kick on just just on the the lack of changes from england yesterday and specifically on the midfield which was such a problem area against france um first of all across the whole team i think i I think Vigman's really found her formula here and probably found her 11 for the tournament now.

4:55And in that midfield, which again, functioned really well last night with Walsh, Damway and Toon, we basically asked Kira Walsh after the match, why has the midfield got better? And her answer to condense it was, we brought Ella Toon in and she's improved us defensively as well as offensively, which obviously Walsh shouldn't say this, but that sounded like a sort of kind of implication that maybe the balance in the midfield wasn't quite right against France when it was Walsh, Stanwy and Lauren James. And so, yeah, specifically in that midfield, now that England found that formula against the Netherlands with Thun coming in and James moving to the right, I think why would you disrupt that momentum even if it's an inferior opponent in Wales.

5:47And yeah, I think you can say similar things across the pitch. Kit, you're talking about speaking to Kira Walsh there. What is the mood like in the camp now? Obviously, you know, very, very worried after that opening game against France and that defeat. Huge winning margins in the next two games. Walsh there, from your answer, talking about, you know, feeling a bit more assured in midfield. Is the confidence that we're talking about, is that evident when you speak to Serena Wigman and these players after the match? yeah they they're building very nicely they they seem very relaxed there seems to be very good harmony within the group and yeah everything seems to be trending in the right direction that can obviously all change of one bad result which in England have been known to be inconsistent recently and now one bad result is terminal but for the time being yeah all signs are good and they get to spend the quarterfinals in Zurich, which means they can just stay at their base in Zurich where they've been for the tournament so far, which again, that's going to help them from that aspect as well.

6:50Izzy, six different goal scorers and goals for Alessia Russo and Aggie Beaver-Jones off the bench. We talked in the previous shows about Russo and how hard she's been working. How important was it for her to get a goal and get off the mark in this tournament? Yeah, nice. Really good for her. And I think, you know what, when a number nine plays the way that Alessio Russo plays, I don't see any issue with them not scoring. And I think that that's where that's probably a strange thing to say from the outside for a striker. Of course, they want to hit the back of the net. That's their job. but her job also is to do other things because it allows the likes of Lauren James, Lauren Hemp, Stan Way, Toon to progress the ball into the box and it's sort of that interchanging movement is always essential to move defences especially when they're quite stubborn so for me I've said this before I said it pre-tournament we spoke about it on this podcast Russo's movement is unbelievable and I think it's funny she took a touch on her goal last night and you wonder whether an Alessia Russo who'd already hit the back of the net this tournament, whether she would have taken that shot on first time.

8:08Nonetheless, it hit the back of the net and I think that she's now up and running and I don't know, I just love her aura about it. She doesn't look like she needs goals, if you get me. And the only minor complaint I have with Russo is, I've said this, during the WSL broadcast throughout last season is, I don't know why, but I'd love to see her celebrate more when she scores. She's like, she's an England, she's like, she's one of the top strikers in the world. And like, I mean, it's absolutely a drop in the ocean, but she could own the moment more than she does. I don't think she knows quite how good she is.

8:47But yeah, no, it's brilliant that she's off the mark and six different goal scorers and also Agui Beaver-Jones as well. I've been her biggest fan since she came on loan when I was playing Everton with her and kind of took her under my wing a little, I would say. We keep in touch regularly and her game has just gone up and up and up and to see her score at a major tournament, I was pretty proud of her last time. Excellent. I'll come back to Aggie Beaver-Jones. That's really interesting to me. Kit, what are your thoughts on the point there that Izzy's making about Alessia Russo? Yeah, she's a good goal scorer and she could be a great goal scorer going forward, but she's never kind of been like a goal per game striker over the season, for instance.

9:30So she had a really good year last year, but only scored 12 times in the WSL. But what Russo does give almost like no other player in the world is just everything else. She's brilliant with her back to goal. She runs tirelessly when her team's got possession and when they don't. she's happy to kind of veer wide to chase long balls she kind of yeah she does it all beyond the goal scoring which is still pretty good as I say so yeah it's that took her a little while to get off the mark I don't think it was a huge warrant she did get three assists in the last game but as Izzy was speaking to the fact that she has now scored again can only be a good thing she is a confidence player I think at least with her goal scoring.

10:18We saw that last season where she started very slowly for Arsenal, but then once she got off the mark with the goals, they just didn't really stop. So yeah, it's positive that she scored. It's only a good thing, but if she doesn't score in the next game, for instance, and England win, it's definitely not panic stations because she offers so much more than just finishing. Absolutely not. Izzy, then tell us a little bit more about Aggie Beaver-Jones. You talk about taking her under your wing a little bit, only 21 years of age. It's interesting thinking about her in relation to Russo, because obviously at the last tournament, Russo was the star coming off the bench, adding something for England.

10:57It's great when a squad has more players off the bench who can come and score goals, particularly when you get to a knockout stage where maybe the games are maybe a bit tighter. Just tell us a little bit more about Aggie Beaver-Jones as a player. Well, she just oozes freshness. She's a breath of fresh air on the pitch and off the pitch. When she was sort of finding her feet, getting minutes in the WSL, she was a little bit, I think she wouldn't mind using the word scatty. Like she was sort of overly zealous, overly excited, just wanted to do everything and score loads of goals. And in the process of that, she kind of, you know, was almost a little bit too excited on the pitch and therefore wasn't executing the actions she was supposed to be doing with as much quality and technique as she was capable of.

11:46So what she's done is she's really stripped down her game and she's neatened up, she's tidied up, and she's become super consistent. And that consistency's got her in the Chelsea team more often than not. And I can't remember off the top of my head, but from last season, her goal scoring and assisting statistics for Chelsea were right up at the top of their charts. considering she didn't start every game she was always present and played and was ready and I think that's then transferred into an England shirt and she's done that and she gets the nod from Serena Viegman she scored goals you know in the lead up to the tournament the Nations League and and she's feeling it now in an England shirt and that's all come from her ability to work ridiculously hard, sort of manage her excitement as a footballer.

12:41And she's become this player who's a threat in so many areas of the pitch. And I still think the ceiling has not been touched yet with Aggie. And yeah, that's the exciting part. And she's obviously playing behind a striker now who's also done the same process in Alessi Russo. it's taken her sort of three to four years to get to where she is now and I still don't think her ceiling's been met either so between the two of them I think we're going to see the most wonderful battle for that number nine shirt in the next coming years in an England shirt but for now it's all about the little tournament they're in yeah and um and and see where they can they can push each other and get to you know get to the final hopefully yeah more to come from England's forwards that's always what we like to hear now guys i've got to talk about this penalty i mean it's very easy to forget six six goals it was the first one georgia stanway scoring this penalty we were discussing it on the whatsapp group last night and i know technically by the laws of the game it's a penalty but it's absolutely crackers isn't it first of all there's barely a touch there's barely a touch are we all are you in disagreement with me anyone i thought it was a penalty sorry kit's going stonewaller you're going stonewall penalty for this that's that's not what I said for sure.

13:58You think there's enough of a touch to warrant a VAR penalty for there? Well, if you think it was a foul, which the referee did because they gave a free kick, it has to be a clear and obvious error for it not to be a penalty because one replay showed it was obviously in the box, the contact or potential contact. So once you get out of the way, you're thinking, right, is it a foul or not? And the referee originally thought it was a foul. I think there was enough contact to make Stanway go down. Maybe a little bit soft, but sufficient contact. And because a foul was originally given, I can completely understand why a penalty was given after a VAR review.

14:38You're far too logical to be a football reporter, Kit. You need a little bit more lunacy about you. As a former pro, Kit is absolutely right, of course, by the letter of the law and everything he's just explained. Yeah, of course he's right. It's boring. But you would be going absolutely mental, wouldn't you, if that was given against you as a penalty? Of course you would. I mean, the luxury of watching from my sofa, I had to get off the sofa to get closer to the TV when the replay was shown to zoom right in on Stanway's right foot going away from goal, which, as Tom mentioned, sorry, as Kit mentioned in the WhatsApp group, has total irrelevance to the situation, Tom.

15:21Yes, I know, I know. But I just always think that's just upsetting to me for Wales, going the wrong way. It wasn't even like positively going towards goal. It just upset me. I know what you mean. I know what you mean. In sporting sort of intricacies, it doesn't really make any sense. However, it's in the penalty box. There was deemed to be contact and I'm giving a very pragmatic approach here. But do I think it was a penalty? No, I don't. Excellent. That's what we like to hear. Wonderfully dispatched by Stamway, never in doubt. And yeah, I mean, England, And if they weren't to get that penalty, would they have broken the deadlock another way?

15:57Yes, they would. Yeah, they would. Absolutely. That's partly why I was upset about it, because I was like, England are probably going to score fairly soon. I was like, you don't need to give them an easy penalty. I was like, can we save the easy penalties for against Sweden or in the semifinals? We don't need the easy decisions now. Let's just wait. We're probably going to win this game. Kit? Just one more thing on the penalty. It took about, the VAR review took about four minutes, which was painstakingly long. even for other people who didn't have a print deadline to worry about. So, and yeah, that was very frustrating.

16:31And that's been one of the few problems with what's been a really good tournament. The VAR reviews are taking way too long. So that's how that gets sorted out for the knockout stages. VAR upsetting people at a major tournament who have thought it. Anyway, Kit, just finally a very quick word from you on Wales, just to give the more kind of casual fan a bit of context. Obviously a thrashing here, well beaten in all their games. But just to remind us, this was a huge achievement from Wales to get here. And I know that sounds quite patronising, but that's true, correct? Yeah, and they've kind of said that, to be honest, maybe not on such direct terms, but they've certainly implied it.

17:07Both their press conferences in the last few days, the one on Saturday and after match on Sunday, were actually Sunday, were quite emotional. I think they've really kind of felt the significance and journey they've been on and yeah they're the last ranked side in a tournament it was their first major tournament even beating Ireland in a qualifying playoff was a fairly sizable upset so yes that they've got here and have competed pretty well is a success and they will really hope it's a launch pad to grow the game further in Wales So, yeah, in Wales, they're unfortunate to be in such a tough group.

17:48Yeah, exactly. Hopefully better things to come from Wales in the future. It's time for a quick break, which means it's time to test Kit Shepard's quiz knowledge. Nice and early in the morning, Kit. I hope you've had a coffee. The question is, a good omen for England because they beat Sweden 4-0 in the Euro 2020 triumph, of course, on their way to the final. But which player scored that day but is not in the squad this time around? Find out after the break.

18:21This week on the Business Podcast, hard times in the bond market. Can governments fix the problem or might intervention just make matters worse? If people really start to worry about the creditworthiness of the US government in a meaningful way, there's not going to be very many places to hide. From The Times and The Sunday Times, join me, Hannah Previtt. And me, Dominic O 'Connell, for conversations from the world of business and entrepreneurship. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts or find our channel on YouTube by searching Times Business.

18:59Welcome back to the Game Football Podcast from The Times. I'm Tom Clark and I've got Kit Shepard and Izzy Christensen with me to discuss the Women's Euros 2025. but before we get back to that Kit Shepard the answer to the quiz question was Fran Kirby Fran Kirby he's back in business is he it's great to see isn't it lovely stuff it's brilliant to see after a late night as well still firing on all cylinders back on form the lad it's wonderful to see now in case listeners you're thinking hang on a minute Chelsea won the Club World Cup last night too they did indeed and we'll be bringing you a special show with Pete Rutzler from America straight after this we just need him to wake up first so keep checking your feed for that one But back to the women's Euros now, and let's talk about this quarterfinal clash with Sweden.

19:45Izzy and Kit, I'm going to come to both of you on this. There'll be lots of people listening going, right, I need to know how tough this match is. Izzy, what can we expect from this Sweden side? Well, I think they are looking good. Basically, that's all I can say. They covered one of their games, commentated on it, their third group game, sorry, second group game. Last week, they obviously made marmalade of Germany in their final group game. So, yeah, they are a force to be reckoned with. And I think in cricket terms, if you were to be facing a fast bowler, it's like being thrown a googly very quickly.

20:25And I think England have to be really careful about the way they approach this game. Sweden look a force to be reckoned with. very experienced squad very clear style of play very functional they look yeah all I can say is they look good That sounds I'm a bit worried now Kit you got any of your hard nose logic to bring back to proceedings or are you also being quite impressed with Sweden at this tournament? No this is going to be a really really tough course final they've probably after France and Spain been the best team at the tournament so they've been the third best tournament as well team at a tournament is what I'm trying to say.

21:05They're big, they're powerful, they're physical. They're a lot closer to the style of play that France have than England's other two opponents so far, Netherlands and Wales. They've got a lot of players that English fans will know from the WSL. And yeah, they'll cause England some serious problems. They build up a lot through the wide areas. They're pretty strong from set pieces. And they've played England twice in the last 14 months or so, playing them twice in Euros qualifying. Both were draws, but in both of those, Sweden were probably unfortunate not to win. So yeah, this is going to be a really, really tough course final for England.

21:48I'm worried, guys, already. That's not what we wanted very early on a Monday morning. As you say, is it a 4-1 win for Sweden against Germany in that last group game? That followed a 3-0 win against Poland and a 1-0 win against Denmark early on. Izzy, just tell us a little bit more about, Kit's talked about a physicality here. So should we be thinking, ooh, Hannah Hampton, get in training and start practising catching crosses and things like that? Are they going to go quite old school and attack England in that way? Yeah, I think they do. And, you know, the statistics back that up. I think they're the third highest performing team in the tournament behind Spain and France in terms of crosses in wide areas and success.

22:34They do use the wide areas. They have obviously got Yanagi and Rittenkaner, who Chelsea fans will know very well, who are those sort of Cascarino types of player down the right and the left-hand side. They've got Aslani, who's sort of, she's at 202 caps now for Sweden. So sits in behind the striker, Blaxdinius. And she kind of is, well, I say kind of, she is extremely effective out of possession on the high pressures and high pressing style that Sweden have got. They sort of lock you on side and press in a 4-4-2. And they've got two very nicely functioning midfielders in Angledal. and Ziggotti, Ulmer Ziggotti.

23:19Interestingly, he brought in Hannah Benison, Peter Gahardson brought in Hannah Benison in the last game against Germany to play alongside Angeldahl. So that will add an element of uncertainty in England's camp because it's who's going to play there. I would advocate for Benison playing, but Ziggotti is a type of player who sort of, she's a bit of a machine. She breaks things up, allows the Swedish front five to attack and go hard and then she kind of mops up behind for any scraps that come out of play so and then you've got Natalie Bjorn at centre back who's a big part in their build-up play and how they play she's exceptional on the ball she's great off the ball she's strong she's willing to put in a big tackle everything you want from a centre back so just think they've got everything everywhere Sweden and if they from what I've seen they're playing really well if they play anywhere near the levels that I've seen this tournament.

24:15They are going to cause England issues. And Kit's spot on. They will exploit England in the ways that France did. And we know what happened with that. And I'm not trying to worry anyone, but I'm just saying that we need to be really careful of the threat that they pose. Just on that, Izzy, I think it's a really very good point mentioning Canarid and how she feels like another version of France's Delphine Cascarini. how can England stop her or do a better job than how they did against Cass Greeno because it just feels like this is another really pacey dynamic right wing and it could cause Greenwood and Carter problems so yeah what can England do?

24:54Well the interesting thing is Greenwood and Carter have switched since the France game so do they switch back? That's the first question to having Jess Carter at left back and Alex Greenwood at centre back again we know that the reason that France is forwards got so much joy in the space was because England were really sloppy in midfield. Now, they've absolutely tightened the screws in the midfield since then. So to kind of reduce those second ball attacks that might drop to Sweden and feed the wide players early, England just have to be cleaner on the ball in central areas. I don't think England's midfield will change.

25:33My cry for Clinton, you know, that disintegrated. but it's absolutely spot on in terms of bringing Toon in because the balance has been really nice in the midfield. I think that would stay the same but England can't give the ball away cheaply. They can't and in terms of Sweden's build-up play they look to feed wide players early so it's going to be all about how England's shape looks behind the ball and I just think Angledal is a little bit of a a bit of a problem. She's quite creative in the way that she plays. She's not as positionally disciplined as perhaps you'd expect from a midfielder in 4-3-3 system.

26:16But her free roaming is actually really dangerous and she's got the ability to carry the ball and feed the wide players. So England need to make sure she is tightly marked. There's pressure on her at all times and she can't really get faced up. So that's a little bit of an overview, but easier said than done. Talking about the defence, let's go back to Hannah Hampton then. Obviously a huge talking point going into this tournament with her taking the number one spot from Mary Earps. Kit, are we suggesting then this is going to be her toughest game, do we think? I really think it could be. She started the Euros qualifier against Sweden last July.

26:54It was a must not lose game for England that. And it did draw nil-nil. But it was probably the first kind of hint we'd had that Hampton might be able to usurp Mary Earps as the number one. So there was a lot of pressure on her going into that game. And although she kept clean sheets, she really struggled against Sweden's physicality. They were targeting her from corners, putting the ball right on top of her. She was flapping a bit at them. Obviously, Sweden are a big, tall team. And I'd be stunned if they didn't use a similar tactic here. For a bit of stats, Sweden lead the way by far in swinging corners at the Euros.

27:33So they know how to put the ball on top of a goalkeeper. And yeah, this could be an area where they feel England are vulnerable. They certainly did when they played against England and Hampton about a year ago. And yeah, we saw how good Hampton can be with her feet against the Netherlands, but she's got to show that she can cope with a bit of physicality against Sweden, I think. Izzy, would you agree? Is this where we may be going to start thinking, oh, I wish we had Millie Bright in this team for some aerial presence in the box? Yeah, I think, you know, aerial presence in the box is always most welcomed.

28:08But part of sport is dealing with what you've got when you've got it. And I think that England, you know, in Hampton, she's starting to grow significantly into the tournament. It's nothing she's not used to week in, week out in the Women's Super League in terms of dealing with crosses on top of her and stuff like that. And it's interesting. Sweden are so good on set pieces. You know, Kit mentioned there about the in-swinging corner statistics or in-swinging crosses from wide areas that can be transferred into corners as well. Aslani is normally the one who takes them. I think if Rolfer comes on she's more of a threat in the box in terms of her height but what they do is they just pile onto the keeper Hertig is a threat who probably won't start the game but is definitely a wild card to come off the bench if it is tight obviously Blackstenius is a threat inside the box and the two centre backs as well if Ilistat plays which I'd be surprised if she does but she's a real threat if you remember she was was she the top goal scorer at the 2023 World Cup.

29:09Definitely for Sweden she was. Anyway, they just scored so many set pieces and she was at the heart of it. So that's an area where England have to be really clear and tidy on what they want to do and how they want to defend those corners from Sweden. But yeah, Hampton, I have no doubts whatsoever about her game. I think in and out of possession, she's really growing and she's feeling her way into it. And I just think she looks so comfortable in that. in that position for England. Just before we come on to the dreaded predictions to finish the show, what about England will be worrying Sweden then?

29:46What about the game podcast in Sweden that is doing this show and talking about England's strengths? We're sat here talking about how great Sweden are, all the problems they're going to cause us, the third best team in the tournament. Kit, what will Sweden be worried about from an England point of view? Who will Serena Vigman be talking to this week being like, this is your game, this is your game to take it to Sweden? I think obvious answer, but obviously for a reason, Lauren James, Sweden are an aging team. They're maybe not full of pace, at least defensively and kind of movement in that sense.

30:21And James may be able to take advantage in one-on-one situations, whether that's out wide or drifting to the middle. Again, in the game she did play against Sweden in qualifying, she was excellent. So I would look out for Lauren James and be trying to get the ball to her. but then again, I think I'll be doing that whoever England were playing. Izzy, would you agree? I would most certainly agree. Where she plays, how she plays, Lauren James will have a direct impact on how successful England are. Yeah, how they keep her quiet will be the same conversation as England are having and how they're going to keep Ritten-Kanarid and Aslany and Angledale quiet.

31:02So it really is a fascinating matchup. is is there a case just quickly with Lauren James of thinking about players around her because if we're getting to the stage in knockouts where teams are looking at her and going what she is the most dangerous player they might be thinking double marking her things like that are there other players who can benefit from that maybe Ella Toon or Lauren Hemp are there other players that should be thinking right I'm going to benefit from maybe the space or the opportunities that Sweden are going to leave by focusing most of their attention on Lauren James? Yeah, I think you mentioned a couple of good ones there.

31:37Toon and Hemp seem to do that against Wales, really, profiting from the space they're afforded. Obviously, Sweden are a much tougher test, but I think whoever plays in that front line will get space if they're playing with Lauren James. So again, Rusey, look out for maybe Stamway coming forward from midfield. Just James is that good and requires so much attention from the opposition defence that she will create openings for her teammates just by her mere presence on the pitch and again it'd be interesting with a little bit of narrative as journalists um the last time lauren james started a major tournament knockout game was that infamous game against nigeria where she got sent off so there'll also be the kind of chance to i suppose avenge that and show that she's um come of age a little bit as a player um so yeah that'll be interesting as well uh and then just one other thing I do want to mention very quickly about England but also about Sweden is I think England's centre-backs will be very important coming up against Stina Blaxtenius not just because she's another quite mobile striker that likes to run in behind and we know England have problems with that but she's had one of the strangest kind of last two years I can think of for a player in the sense that Izzy can weigh in on this.

33:00But I feel like the jury's out on how good she is as a striker, but she plays for Arsenal and she's scored probably five or six of the most important goals in English women's football in the past couple of years. Most recently, scoring the winner for Arsenal in that Champions League final against Barcelona. So England will have to be really careful of her, if nothing else, just because she seems to have that knack for scoring massive, massive goals. But I don't know, Izzy, what do you think? Is Blaxtonia someone in England need to be wary of? Because she can be profligate, but she also seems to score big goals.

33:36Yeah, she does. She is certainly a player you have to be wary of. She does have a notorious reputation for being offside. And she also has a reputation for needing a lot of chances to score. But then that's, to be honest, totally irrelevant if she does score, if you get me. because that just goes to show if you think that you can give her a space because she's not a huge threat in front of goal, you'd be absolutely foolish. So you've got to play against her like she is going to score every time she pulls the trigger. And yeah, I think she's a little bit like Russo for Sweden, how Russo is for England, in terms of a link-up play and a threat.

34:23And I think she's good when there's space in behind, but she's also good to feet as well. And in and around the box, she's quite sharp. You know, she times her runs really well and she seems to have a good rapport with the wide players in terms of her movement and timing of when to arrive onto crosses. So, yeah, she is a player who, you know, Marmite, I guess, is the way to put her. Some people love her, some people don't like her. I think she's brilliant. I really do. I think she's so effective when you delve deeper than just looking at goals and being offside a lot of times. I think she adds real value to any team that she plays in.

35:01After all that fascinating analysis, I have absolutely no idea where you're going to go with this, but it's time to wrap up the show with the all-important predictions. I mean, I feel like some of you could easily justifiably predict a 3-0 Sweden win. I hope you're not going to, but Kit, I'll start with you with a prediction. I will go 1-0 in England to win on penalties. Oh, God, Kit, we don't want that. Oh, my God. Kit, we don't want that. it's 2025 the penalty curse is over for both the men and the women come on but it's just for the nerves I don't think I can handle it anymore Izzy what about you?

35:352-0 England 2-0 England that's what I like to hear I'm going to go 1-0 England a late Lauren James goal getting the job done Serena Vigman winning the clutch moments once again fingers crossed that will happen Izzy Christensen and Kit Shepard thank you very much for joining me thank you too for listening remember we'll be bringing you another show very shortly to discuss the club World Cup and Chelsea's victory against Paris Saint-Germain. And also keep an eye out for further writing from Kit and Izzy on the Times website. We'll be back with our dedicated Euro 2025 show later in the week to discuss that quarterfinal with Sweden.

36:09We'll see you then.

36:19That sound could mean a lot of things. And when something's going wrong at home, the hardest part can be figuring out what the problem actually is. At Thumbtack, you can upload a voice message or a photo, and our AI-powered search will help diagnose your project. Plus, the pros we know have over 14 million five-star reviews, so you can hire with confidence. Thumbtack. We know homes. Hire the right pro today. This week on the Business Podcast, hard times in the bond market. Can governments fix the problem or might intervention just make matters worse? If people really start to worry about the creditworthiness of the US government in a meaningful way, there's not going to be very many places to hide.

37:03From The Times and The Sunday Times, join me, Hannah Previtt. And me, Dominic O 'Connell, for conversations from the world of business and entrepreneurship. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts or find our channel on YouTube by searching Times Business.