England beat Sweden on penalties... somehow! | Euro 2025 #10

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2:30Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan.

2:34Rachel: It was never in doubt. Question mark, question mark, question mark. England beat Sweden on penalties last night in one of the most emotional, chaotic, frustrating, exciting heartbreaking joyous matches you will ever ever see we're going to try and figure out what the hell happened from the atrocious first half to Chloe Kelly and Michelle Adjaman's heroics so stay tuned for the full debrief and of course we'll be previewing Spain versus Switzerland 2 I guess we won the quarter finals but let's get stuck into how we won it because this was not the way that I thought we were going to be dissecting the game and whilst I'm incredibly jubilant and incredibly happy about the outcome the way in which it happened was gives me so much fear and concern for any opponent that England's going to be facing in the next round Italy in the semi-final um how are you feeling mate like what what is going on in your mind right now?

3:36I'm quite tired actually because obviously an hour ahead game kicks off at 9pm here goes to extra time goes to penalties I'd been nervous and anxious all day for obvious reasons I thought Sweden were going to be a real challenge and that carried on for 120 minutes plus penalties like there was no point in the game really that I thought oh okay England have this like for the whole thing I thought they just you know I felt like they had almost two feet out the door and every so often they'd put a the toe back in and you'd be like okay maybe um seriously concerned that I might have another ulcerative colitis flare-up which I'd really rather avoid I haven't had one since 2014 I've been in remission since and I'd quite like it to stay that way so if that happens um I'm going to be very very annoyed someone will be getting a letter or strongly worded tweet or something because uh yeah I just found like I don't know about you but just couldn't sleep last night like my brain just felt like just very anxious and full and so did my stomach and I'm not sure that's impressive I've had to watch some like mind-numbing tv for half an hour or listen to some light-hearted podcasts that I've already listened to and know what's happening I've just had to kind of listen to again just to kind of try and take my head out of it because I still can't fully wrap my head around how England are through that was the equivalent of what or like

4:59Rachel: listening to two and a half hours of like heavy rock metal and then just needing to like decompress take a moment like take in a nice like scenic view watch an eagle for a minute just to kind of process what really went down I mean the elation that I felt when that final penalty that final Sweden penalty was missed I just I was like this could go on forever are we gonna see Hannah Hampton take one and I when that moment actually finally dawned on me like oh my god we have scraped this out of nowhere not even really deservingly and won and gone through to the semi-final I exploded I mean I was we were on a retreat um with She's a Baller and Rising Baller and our little summer party and the entire there was like 25 of us we all just went absolutely mental we were like that is squeaky bum time and a half that is jamby as fuck um sweet Caroline blaring on the on the speakers and not even really justified it was just kind of a thank god we got it over the line for me and I said this on some of our stuff on girls in the ball for me Sweden lost that as opposed to England winning that they allowed England to stay in the game and that was so dangerous because they've shown that even when they're playing really poorly we saw it against France somehow they didn't lose that heavily so somehow they managed to stay in it and I think for me what what has concerned me and what's become a bit of a pattern is that when things don't go well early on in the game the basics just go out the window and I think that happened last night like you know I think Jess Carter had a torrid time in the first half and it just felt like when the first goal went in and then the second goal went in England literally just couldn't pass the ball to each other and I don't know how you address that because that's a mentality thing and it's weird because when we see England keep themselves in it get back into it win the penalty shootout yes there's luck involved there's decisions we can question that Sweden made that perhaps contributed to that but you then have to say like the mentality to get themselves back into it you're like where is that when things go wrong early on in the game because that's a huge glaring problem if you go down early on in the game that you fall apart like a wet cake like that's just not an ideal situation when you're looking to try and win a major tournament 100 % there's a kind of flip side to that is that we did get back into the game so late in the day that we were just lucky that we had sufficient amount of time and the substitutes made so much of an impact and also the penalties went away there were so many ifs involved in that sentence I think but I've got I 100 % have to agree with you Rach I think from the outset we didn't fully look at the races and when that first goal went in that Aslani goal in the second minute from a mistake that we made you can kind of do you know what you can kind of forgive a mistake It's the nerves, it's the pressure.

7:47Rachel: Sweden are a good team. They were sort of adopting a really good press. And then obviously mistakes happened. Like any one of us could do that. Fine, fair enough. But then it's like, how do you react to that? And we saw absolutely no reaction. And like you said, the basics weren't there. They did fall apart. They weren't stringing passes together. They didn't look, it looked like a team that had kind of reverted back to that initial France game. And that was the fear for me because I thought we'd got that. We'd got the dust off and we'd had the two games previously that went really well, really structured, back in the groove of things.

8:20Rachel: And then all of a sudden, it was a complete regression. And as soon as you had those two goals go in in the second and the 25th minute with the Blackstinius effort, I was like, well, the stat is there's never been a team that's gone 2-0 down in the Euros competition that has then come back on to win it. So automatically, I'm thinking from the first half of the first half, that's probably us done. because I saw absolutely no way in which we were even trying to get a foothold back in the game. Like the fear of God was in me. I was like, actually, I'm just going to have to resort to a night of quite heavy drinking.

8:55I thought it was going to be a 4-0 opposite result compared to it because Sweden kept on talking about the England game. And I keep thinking about a swinging door. I think Sweden had the opportunity to slam the door shut on England and they realised it was actually a swinging door. and every time they tried to slam it shut, it came back the other way and they were like, oh, you can come back into it again. Nope, we're closing the door. Oh, you're back into it again. Nope, we're closing the door. And then somehow it ended up swinging that England managed to get themselves back into it. And I think, look, there was a narrative generated.

9:25I always find this fascinating when you work in the media and when you read narratives and you're like, where has this come from? Because this isn't something that I'm seeing in the environment that I'm in, the England media pack, the England press conferences, players, et cetera. no one seemed to be underestimating Sweden like from my everyone I'd spoken to everyone was nervous about this game concerned particularly about the way they picked apart Germany particularly the way that England had played against France you know there was a lot of concern England even you know saying Sweden aren't talked about enough they always go far on competitions somehow the Swedish press managed to switch that and make out that it was some sort of patronising comment which I just thought was hilarious but this narrative just kind of came out like England were going to underestimate Sweden and I just entirely refuted that because that was not something that I was seeing.

10:11I think England probably thought they'd put their shit performance out of the way and they were on this upward trajectory. But I would argue facing Netherlands, making that switch with Carter and Greenwood, what the Netherlands had hoped would happen by targeting that side didn't really happen. So I don't actually feel like it was properly tested in the end ahead of a game like this. And that is absolutely, we said it. Sweden are going to come down the right side. They're going to target that. They're right. England's left. Absolutely, they did it. England couldn't get the ball out to their right side.

10:42Lucy Braun spent so much of the game just completely isolated on the right side, swinging her arms in the air, desperate for a ball to be sent across to her. Probably one of the reasons that Serena decided to switch Williamson and Carter, not just because Carter was having trouble on that left side of the central pairing, but she didn't have the passing range to get the ball out to Lucy, and whereas Leah Williamson does. So those little tweaks, great, but still didn't feel like it was enough to swing the game in England's favour in any way shape or form and I just thought at half time I genuinely thought it was criminal that there were no substitutions made and by 50 minutes by 60 minutes there were still no substitutes warming up and I was just that's when I was like game's gone like I don't understand how this is going to turn around and I just thought someone left a comment on our YouTube saying I can actually understand not making those switches till 70 minutes because it could have given Sweden time to react and get back into it which okay I can sort of understand but how risky is it to think we can turn it around in 20 minutes like I get trusting your bench but Jesus

11:46Rachel: I have to agree with you Rach I think the subs were made too late in the day for me and it was clear from the 45 minutes previously that things clearly weren't going to plan and that it just wasn't going to be almost our night and I think when you look at kind of the the velocity of the mistakes that were being made I mean these were like really silly things yes in the first couple of minutes but then you've got Hannah Hampton almost gifting that goal to Stina Blackstinius obviously Leah Williamson's incredible slide in recovery tackle my god that will go down in the history books it's like I mean given the impact of actually what that sliding tackle then went on to mean Lauren Hemp lost the ball for Sweden's second goal you've got Blackstinius of running rings around Carter I mean I know Rach we kind of touched on it briefly in terms of how much of a a torrid time that Carter was having.

12:32Rachel: I mean, it was very clear that that was going to be an avenue that Sweden felt that they could exploit. And it did expose Carter, I think, again, in terms of the pace and kind of her ability to be able to manage that area of the field and stop those chances coming in. 100%. And I think as tournaments go on, tactically, you're going to come across harder opposition, more tactically astute opposition. They'll have had the benefit of seeing you play three games, of analysing your most recent weaknesses. and so to think that that wasn't going to be an area that was challenged is maybe a little bit naive or to think that that had been challenged enough and it proved robust was perhaps a little bit naive given the quality of the challenges they'd had since the France game not to say that the Netherlands couldn't have done something they could have they didn't so there was perhaps a naivety in thinking that that problem had been solved because it hadn't and despite not making any changes at halftime.

13:29England did look better in the second half, but the chances they were creating weren't going in. There was an Elatoun 1v1, there was that Lauren Hemp header and as those chances went by the wayside, I thought, okay, now they're getting to a position where they're controlling the game a bit better. Sweden have sat off the press a little bit because that level of intensity is very difficult to maintain for 90 minutes and the ball still wasn't going in and I kind of thought, okay, it's not going to happen. I appreciate that the setup has gotten slightly better and they're finding each other better, but the goals aren't going in.

14:00There needs to be a switch. And there was a lot of talk in our chats, me and Sophie, they need to go three at the back. They need to bring on Michelle Adjimang. You need to have two up front. You need to give the Swedish defence something to think about. And so glad that that happened because what an impact it made. It was a stark difference. And part of that is Sweden sat off. And I think unless you're learning, unless you're 3-0 up, you cannot assume a team is out of it because one goal back at 2-0, suddenly you're on the ropes. And a friend of mine messaged me and said, England need a goal before 80 minutes if they're to get back into it.

14:35So it's what, 79 and 81.

14:38Rachel: And I think, I mean, England were super lucky. There was that moment at the end of the first half with, I can't get back to saying this name again. Rolfo. Fridolina Rolfo was running at bronze and then tried to bend the ball into that bottom corner. Hannah Hampton making an absolutely outstanding save. And we're going to go on and speak a little bit later about Hannah Hampton's impact on this game, especially, obviously, given how much we have to dive into what happened with the penalty shootout. But I've got to agree, Rach. It just felt so stale. It felt like we weren't problem-solving any of the issues that we were having in the first half.

15:08Rachel: So for then Serena to do absolutely nothing about it and expect... We keep coming back to this thing. If we do the same thing and expect a different result, it's the sign of madness. Who is it? Monaday? Laurent? About quoting Einstein before this tournament? This is the third time I think we've had to use that phrase, which is wild. but then lo and behold thank god out of the heavens Esme Morgan Beth Mead and Michelle Adjeman coming on after 70 minutes then you've got Chloe Kelly coming on for Lauren Hemp in the 78th minute and then within a minute she puts in that cross for Lucy Brown absolutely beautiful powerful header taking it past the keeper and then it felt like fucking hell games on to be honest when the subs came on they made an immediate difference when the formation change was made That's what that little note, I'm assuming, said, the little note that everyone keeps...

15:55Esme Morgan brought on, one for Lucy Bronze and one for Leo Williamson. I imagine it said, we're going to a back three, lads. Buckle up. You know, Beth Mead in midfield at one point. Like, players doing the business, doing jobs that they're not used to doing. And I do think from the moment the subs came on, momentum shifted. I did feel like a goal was coming in the way that they'd been playing. Chloe Kelly, what a big game player she is. And I know a lot of people will see these games and say, These players have to start. And I can understand that argument. But the impact they have off the bench is often also attributed to the opposition having set up for a certain situation.

16:35And their impact is so good because the opposition then has to think of something different. If you start a game with some of these players, you can almost manage the situation better. You can say, OK, this is the situation. This is their starting lineup. This is how we're going to manage that situation. Bringing them off the bench, you're suddenly throwing a cat amongst the pigeons. and they have to think about two strikers now. They have to think about a Chloe Kelly who can send across on a dime. And that's why they're so impactful. They're quality, quality players, but they're also game changers.

17:02And I think coming off the bench can really change a game. When the second goal went in, I kind of thought, I did think England were going to win it in 90 minutes and Alessia Russo, with maybe the final kick of the game, had the chance to win it. She just took one too many touches. And I did think when that happened that England were going to rue those moments that they didn't take and maybe look at, should we have brought those players on 10 minutes earlier when we could have put the game to bed? I still, yeah, still couldn't believe it, though. Do you know what I mean? After watching what you watched, you were just like, how in the world are England back in this game?

17:37I do not know.

17:38Rachel: I honestly, by the seat of our pants, I mean, Rach, I've got to echo what you were saying there about Chloe Kelly. I mean, I have to give her so much love for the confidence that she had coming off the base. there was that lovely moment with the camera pan to her getting ready with the shin pads she had one of them there was a picture of her and her husband on one shin pad then a picture of her dogs on the other shin pad as she's putting like the wrap around it tiny shin pads I mean gonna make absolutely no difference if someone clatters into you but really gorgeous moment and then as soon as she entered the field it kind of felt like there was this kind of new energy there was this kind of presence there was something to be scared of because I didn't feel like Sweden were particularly scared of England at all in fact it kind of felt like Sweden had become a little bit complacent because of the way that we were playing.

18:20Rachel: Like there was no real threat to them. They took Aslani off. Yeah, they were so unscared and kind of pretty much getting to the point where they thought the game was wrapped, that they were taking off, you know, big players. Aslani, Rolfo as well. And Chloe kind of indebted that again. Like Aslani came off in the 77th minute. Chloe Kelly came on in the 78th. That was when the game changed, like completely. And I do feel England had momentum from the subs at 70 minutes. But Aslani coming off, like she'd had Kira Walsh's number throughout the game Kira Walsh couldn't get into the game Aslani was doing a phenomenal job and I just think they're the moments when I talk about Sweden losing it those little decisions here and there Aslani coming off taking off Blaxdinius when the game is potentially taken away to penalties 117 minutes taken off Blaxdinius just little things like that maybe Blomqvist is a better penalty taker I don't know but I don't even check if she took a penalty because honest to God Chloe I know we're going to get into the extra time of penalties but we need to talk about shooting penalties from a photographer's perspective because I genuinely didn't see a single one because I was focused on like all the photographers will run behind the goal that's where everyone goes for penalties they'll go behind the goal they want to shoot the player taking the shot I always stay a little bit in line with the player shooting so that I can get the team the team celebrations or if say England I can shoot Hannah Hampton if England are defending if England are trying to save a penalty I could shoot Hannah Hampton more often than not majority of players are right-footed they'll take a penalty and their their momentum takes them around this way and that's when you get they give it beans right that's when you get the celebration so I didn't know how the penalties had or hadn't gone in I just found myself going okay I'm shooting another one it seems oh it hasn't happened I'm shooting another one it seems is this the clincher no I'm shooting another like it just kept going and kept going it was ridiculous and those moments Falk for example taking the fifth penalty whoa whoa whoa Rach okay before we get onto that penalties we have to absolutely give some massive love to Michelle Achimang we wouldn't even be in penalties unless this young goddess fires home 103 seconds later after Chloe Kelly's cross and Lucy Bronze's header I mean Rach you said she didn't the statue and I could not I exploded I the group chat went off I was like she's been on the pitch a matter of a matter of minutes I mean she turns up in these games there is absolutely no fear in her she might as well be having a mess around in the park it was just so cool so calm she was in the right place just a cheeky little tap in she was just she was exactly where we needed to be in that moment and the best thing about it is that that was the first time I'd see her like absolutely go crazy there was a split second where she really really celebrated appreciated the momentousness of like what she'd just done and then immediately went into the goal grabbed the ball out and then going to place it again and it goes back to that professionalism that we saw when she scored her first goal just a few months ago i think what's fascinating about michelle adjumang is she will gain a huge amount of confidence from a manager turning around to her in key moments in a major tournament and even in the belgian game this squad you 18 she's not she's not saying She's not saying, look, we're 4-5-0 up, I'll give you a few minutes so you can get your first cap.

21:40Wouldn't that be nice? She's saying, you, you're a game changer and I need you to come on and change this game. And that, I imagine, gives a player so much confidence coming onto a pitch going, I've got the manager's trust, she believes I can do it, I believe I can do it. My squad believes I can do it, my family believe I can do it. And she plays like that. She's playing like she's in her second or third or fourth major tournament. No, not at all phased. Immediately getting stuck in, immediately causing problems. I think having that two up front was a brilliant idea. And you could see her linking up with people.

22:10Like, I just thought I'd messaged in a separate group chat, I'd say a mere 20 seconds before that ball came in saying, man, imagine if Michelle got this moment. Imagine it was her who got this next goal. And I was just like, oh my God, I need to send more messages like this in the chat because what the fuck? And the fact that she immediately went and picked the ball out of the back of the net, I was like, this kid, she knows her role. She knows what her job is in the team. She knows how to do it. She's a machine. Got an unbelievable moment, but equally knew there was more to do and job isn't done yet.

22:44And I just thought, wow, yeah, build a statue now. I mean, I'm all for it. Let's not put pressure on the young players, right, entirely. But at the same time, let's appreciate when they do something magic because there's some incredible moments.

22:56Rachel: Before we went into the penalty shootout, we had Leah Williamson down. This was a mental moment. It just summed up England. 100 % this was not a good thing to see at all I think she would there were reports of her being on crutches we don't know how serious she rolled her angle there hasn't been any news about it so we're still sort of waiting to see like how that could impact possibly someone commented please not Williamson she's the only decent defender in that back line we've got Leah Williamson hobbling off we've got Lucy Bonds strapping her own leg because the physios are busy making sure that Hannah Hampton's bleeding noses being blocked with a tampon.

23:34Rachel: Like we're literally on our ass calling into this. And Greenwood's shoulders being popped back in. Yeah, this was like, it was like a scene from a battlefield going into these penalty shootouts. So the expectation, given how we'd played for the majority of the game, given that we'd only just scraped into this situation, given that half our players were like on their asses, I wasn't filled with like a great amount of confidence that this was actually going. And also at this point, I'm still appreciating that on paper, Sweden deserved to win this game. So we go into this penalty shootout. We have Sweden's goalkeeper, Jennifer Falk, saving penalties from Lauren James, Alex Greenwood and Beth Mead before Chloe Kelly finally broke the streak with her trademark run-up.

24:16Rachel: She knows how pivotal that goal is going to be and the run-up that she does, this kind of high-legged, kind of like almost like a track athlete kind of like preparing for this run and then it is just... Some sort of like taekwondo fighter like or something from the Matrix. I don't know what it is. So agile and so ninja like. And the smirk. The smirk beforehand. The goalkeeper was faffing around. She was making her weight. And Chloe Kelly was doing her little traditional. She like rolls the ball, I think, until it lands exactly as she wants it to land. It's like that. The spin. And then she stood up and just gave her this smirk as in like, that's not going to phase me, love.

24:53And I don't know. I've watched so many players who maybe I'm used to watching score penalties. LJ less so. I don't think she's necessarily a big penalty taker. I've not seen Beth Mead take many penalties, but that I can recall, you know, for Russo to get up and score the first one and then Greenwood missing, that surprised me as well. And I just kind of thought like, and then Grace Clinton, like, it's not a good penalty. People just weren't taking very good penalties. I know Falk was saving them, but some of them just were not great. The quality was shocking, I've got to say. Yeah, and it was like nobody wanted to be the one.

25:25It was just like, I don't want this mantle. No, thank you, please. so yeah I think it's absolutely the most bonkers penalty shootout one of the worst penalty

25:35Rachel: shootouts I think ever honestly it gets even more unusual then because Folk then has the chance to win it for Sweden with the fifth penalty and skies it over the crossbar and I was just like in that moment when you know that you have the opportunity to clinch the game you have other players there who are better placed to take that opportunity why they why they made that decision i will never know that is one that that i think could have that's that's another pivotal moment a bad decision they didn't practice penalties apparently the swedes well it it was clear that i don't think either camp had grace that's what's worrying well i mean i i didn't see much practice more let's do that again technique in that uh grace clinton then misses another penalty and Hannah Hampton then denies Sophia Jacobson.

26:23Rachel: Lucy Bronze then steps up, literally hobbled to the spot. She's strapped her own leg during the game. She's ripping off the strapping at this stage. It was proper hardcore. She's like, I just put this on. I need to get rid of it now. I need to score a penalty. It was so old school. It was almost like a Paul Gascoigne era type stuff. She steps up, smashes the penalty into the roof of the net. I mean, Beth Meade was saying, you know, she became a physio. she became a striker and she nailed the best penalty of the day then we get to Homburg hand in England the victory with another penalty over the bar God love this kid why would you put that on a teenager I just God love her like just I can't of all people like to put that's like putting Michelle Adjimang up to take the most important penalty when you've got other options I really feel for her Michelle Adjimang I would okay no but I'm just using it as an example right you know but like I just think a teenager like I hope that doesn't haunt her I hope she's getting an arm wrapped around her and she's being told look you're going to be in plenty more major tournaments your moment will come again but for me it felt like I think just after that first half I just thought this is Sweden's time like they're finally I genuinely thought like they could beat Italy the way they were playing I saw them play against Spain in the semi-final of the World Cup it went to extra time I genuinely thought they played well they knew what they had to do it was just a case of executing it which is very very difficult understandably against spain but i felt like they at least knew what the game plan needed to be and i thought maybe this is sweden's moment maybe finally they're going to win a major tournament again and yeah i just how it just like how they adjust there's just decisions that just turn games and there's a couple of them there where you're just like that's where you just lost it you had the opportunity and i just like yeah that's what makes it so hard to wrap your head around is that like yes England improved in the second half yes the substitutions made such a difference but there were so many opportunities for Sweden to have put that game fully to bed so many opportunities within the game but also three opportunities in that penalty shootout to put them to bed and didn't so after the game Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falkerfield she was asked to take the fifth penalty by their manager Pisa Gerhardsen they had agreed penalty takers before the game I Rachel you're a goalkeeper you're a goalkeeper do you take one of the first five penalties or do you say I'll make myself available if we go into almost sudden death 100 % but I'd step up for the team if I had to and there was absolutely no one left but it's not in the first five it's not my role it's not anything that goalkeepers are trained in it's like you can have some training if you're in a major tournament but it's not anything that you've been training in in real life situations you just wouldn't the best thing I suppose about Homburg and the disappointment that she felt in that moment missing that penalty is that so many others had gone before her and missed in the same and could have put the situation to bed the elation that I felt when that final penalty was missed and also the upset that I felt for the Swedish team because they did deserve to win that they were better than us they that was had a better game plan definitely I would have walked away from that had that been England who played like that and felt that we were robbed so massive credit to the swedish team for the game plan that they executed and how well they did um it wasn't a shining example of women's football that game and the penalty shootout we don't always we don't always have to fucking bring it back to that like i just feel like we're beyond having to have good examples we don't do that anytime a men's play a shit game we don't go well this is a bad example of men's football like that was shocking No, actually, I saw...

30:08Rachel: The quality of that penalty shootout was absolutely shocking. Yes, but penalty shootouts have happened in men's football too. So this isn't just a women's football thing. But I did see a hilarious tweet and I did share in the WhatsApp group that said, we need to make sure that footage of this penalty shootout does not get leaked because they're going to want to ban women's football again. And I think people are so quick on social media. Like some of the stuff, the fact that the fucking goal scorers initials, Aslani, Blaxtenius, Bronz and Adjimang spells out ABBA. Like, how are you seeing this?

30:36How are people that quick on social media with some of their, like, I don't know. I don't know. You know, someone was talking about them singing ABBA and someone else tweeted a reply saying, well, I guess it's slipping through their fingers now. Like another ABBA line. I just like people are so funny. But equally, that was giving me some levity after a game where I was just like, I did not enjoy a single minute. That's how we have to handle it, mate.

30:59Rachel: Sarcasm and humour and making fun of us is the only way that you can get past these kind of moments of high stress and anxiety. it now means that England face Italy in the semi-finals next Tuesday in Geneva oh god we go again Rach we go again it's one of those games where on paper you kind of fortune England what's what's happened in practice and what's actually going on in the England camp yeah pre-tournament I'd have gone Christ that's actually quite good opposition we've got a really good chance of that game now if anyone says England had an easy route or whatever like watch some of their games back because they've not made it bloody easy they They got out of the group of death.

31:36And that was the whole thing, you know, as well. People going like, oh, England fans being all like, oh, I'm glad we got Sweden, blah, blah, blah. Like you're over, you're underestimating them. You telling me Sweden weren't delighted they didn't get France. Like they absolutely would have been thanking their lucky stars. They got England and not France in that semifinal. Like it happens for both sides. But I think when you get to this level at a knockout stage, doesn't fucking matter who you get. Anything can happen on the day. Honest to God, like that Italy game fills me with fear. as well. We'll talk about

32:05Rachel: this in later pods. We've always got England's being inconsistent. We've got Italy on firing form being incredibly passionate and looking quite strong. Yeah, let's just save it for another pod, Rach, because right now I think we're all just trying to dissect and process what happened last night. Yeah, take a second, mate. Have a glass of wine, watch an eagle and just settle in. Coming up after this, Switzerland prepare for Mission Impossible against Spain.

32:57I'll see you next time.

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34:13Oh my God, I love that line. What?

34:19Mission Impossible.

34:23Rachel: Such a good line from our... You've snapped. Coming to the latter stages of a tournament and Rachel's finally broken. Spain take on Switzerland this evening. It is going to be a very, very spicy game, I hope. Since beating Spain in 2012, Switzerland have lost each of their last four games against Spain with an aggregate score of 19-2. Noel Moritz said, we have a good feeling about this game. There's going to be a huge recession of Swiss fans through Bern before the game. 14 ,000 fans marched to the Wagdorf Stadium before the Iceland game. Rach, what are you expecting from this? A good atmosphere.

35:05Rachel: I think this is going to be a good match-up. Yeah? Go on. I'm looking forward to having a game where I don't really have a stake in it and I can just enjoy it. Huge challenge for them. Huge challenge. I think the weight is off Switzerland. They've already made history. They've already kind of sparked a moment with the Swiss fan base and gained a huge number of new fans and really got people switched on to it. So a lot of those things they would have wanted from the tournament during the tournament they've achieved already. So I do think they can go out and play with a little bit of freedom. They need to be, and this is the hard thing, like yes, the home fans are going to have a massive impact, but like they're just going to need to be so switched on with their game plan for 90 plus minutes.

35:49And that is really hard in an emotional situation, in such a big moment, in a loud stadium. The atmosphere is going to be insane and they're going to have to be able to try and like use it as much as they can without it kind of overwhelming them. Because you're going to have an overwhelming of emotion and then you're just going to have potentially the overwhelming Spanish team. And yeah, it's going to be a huge challenge. But I'm sure many of these players who have had an incredible moment in this tournament and had so much joy in this tournament will relish the opportunity, I guess, to challenge themselves against the best in the world.

36:22Rachel: Well, they've definitely been trying to put in some preparation. former switzerland men's defender johan jiru is a member of pierce sondage's coaching staff and has been showing the squad videos of the men's team's win over spain at the 2010 world cup as inspiration plural maybe yeah let's watch it again guys let's rewind look if you do this this and this and this then oh you can beat the men's team okay cool all right sweet it was 1-0 and they faced 24 shots this spain team has already scored 14 goals in just the group stages the worst news for Switzerland I suppose is that Aitana Bar-Mati has said in a press conference yesterday that she's 100 % fit obviously coming off the back of the uh the viral meningitis scare before the tournament started do you know what I'm scared I'm very scared for Switzerland my only hope I think is that they kind of take their moments they do a bit of a wails I suppose kind of park the bus essentially make it very frustrating for Spain and then pounce on those kind of opportune moments.

37:22Rachel: Like Spain have been vulnerable. They have been vulnerable on a quick counter. You're not allowed to talk about that. You're not allowed to talk about that. Apparently we're obsessed with Spain because you're not supposed to talk about any vulnerabilities with Spain. They don't exist apparently. Well, I mean, they have conceded this tournament. No, that doesn't matter. You're not allowed to talk about that. Stop saying the obvious. No, they're perfect. Yeah, absolutely perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely perfect. Good luck to Switzerland then in basically keeping it to a nil-nil draw. during full time and also extra time and then also then beating them in the massive penalty shootout.

37:57Rachel: Is that what we're hoping for? I think if Switzerland could get a goal, that would be incredible. I think the Wangdorf Stadium will, I was going to say, have liftoff, but that could draw the wrong connotations. So I think people would be very excited if they could get a goal against Spain. That'd be incredible. Don't have your defence look like Swiss cheese. I'd say be disciplined, stay very focused. Godspeed Godspeed sending thoughts and prayers I mean I hope we're wrong do we think there are any players that are going to cause any upset and damage to Spain? I think is it Wrighton and Benny their fullbacks have looked sharp they've impressed this tournament Chantal Lieber obviously is a very exciting young talent obviously my fave Geraldine Reuteler I think the fullbacks will be key to quick counter-attacking football whether they'll play a back four maybe they'll play a back five or back three in possession to give them a little bit more defensive solidity but I think their full backs will be key to making that quick counter attack I think obviously Spain's midfield is phenomenal so I think playing through the middle is going to be pretty tricky and that's where we've seen Reutler do well so yeah it's going to be difficult what you said earlier take your chances if you manage to create some chances it's the taking them it's the decision making in those rare moments that it will come down to and it's being switched on and focus in those rare moments to be able to pull something off is is the hard thing if switzerland do this and that's obviously one of the biggest ifs that i've ever had to say in my entire life it could cause the biggest upset in recent women's football history so no pressure switzerland um good luck enjoy it yeah enjoy the moment enjoy the quarter final enjoy yeah a quarterfinal that you're hosting yeah what an incredible massive march huge crowd challenge against the best in the world enjoy it go on give them a hard time well we're back on sunday to react to spain versus switzerland and france versus germany before looking ahead to england's huge semi-final with italy follow us on the socials we're at upfront underscore pod at morgi underscore 89 and at girls on the ball remember make sure you hit subscribe so that you never miss an episode from us thank you so much rache and good luck to the hosts

40:31Rachel: up front is a stack production and part of the acast creator network

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41:28We'll see you next time.

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