‘Thank you to everyone that wrote me off’ – Chloe Kelly reflects on her incredible turnaround after winning Euros | OneFootball

Lionesses forward Chloe Kelly reflected on a “rollercoaster” year after scoring the winning penalty for England in the Euros final.

Kelly stepped up after a nail-biting 120 minutes, smashing her penalty into the back of the net to win the Euros for England for the second time in her career.

The Arsenal forward, who was left out of the England squad in January after spending the first half of the 2024/25 season on the bench for Manchester City, stole the show once again for the Lionesses.

“I’m really proud to be English right now and to be part of an amazing group of girls,” she said after the game.

“There were a lot of tears at full time especially when I saw my family. Those are the people that got me through those dark moments and I’m so grateful to be out the back end.

“But that’s the story to tell someone experiencing something similar, that tough times don’t last and just around the corner was a Champions League final – won that – and now a Euros final – won that.

“So thank you everyone that wrote me off, I’m very grateful.”

Not only did Kelly score the winning spot-kick, but she got the Lionesses back into the game after teeing up Alessia Russo for the equaliser in the 57th minute.

“It was an incredible game of football,” Kelly said. “Both sides really going head-to-head, two incredible teams fighting for everything and not leaving anything on the pitch.

“I just came onto the pitch and wanted to make something happen, and I know Alessia’s strength with her head.

“I actually missed three penalties in training yesterday but I think it’s the belief in the squad, the whole 23 players, and the people that you don’t see behind the scenes the staff members to get us through this tournament.”

The Lionesses wrote their names in the history books, becoming the first English senior side to win a major tournament on foreign soil, and the only English side to win back-to-back European Championships.

Boss Sarina Wiegman has won three consecutive European Championships with both England and the Netherlands.

“She’s an incredible woman,” Kelly said on Wiegman. “What she’s done for this country, we should all be so grateful for.

“What she’s done for me individually, she gave me hope when I probably didn’t have any. She gave me an opportunity to represent my country again. I knew that I had to get game time and representing England is never a given.

“But what she’s done for the women’s game, not just in England, but in Netherlands, she’s taken it to a whole other level.

“The work doesn’t go unnoticed from the staff behind her, they’re incredible people and I’m so grateful to have worked with such amazing staff members.”