“We are a team. We are a real, real team,” says Leah Williamson as England reach Euro final | OneFootball

England’s captain spoke about her pride to be part of a team which has now qualified for three consecutive major tournament finals, and Ella Toone, Esme Morgan and Lauren Hemp all also reflected on a remarkable 2-1 victory against Italy.

Leah Williamson

“[We had] trust in the plan, trust in that everybody is prepared enough to do their task, and when it’s their moment, they step up and deliver,” Williamson said after England’s 2-1 win. “To those girls that take their chances [Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly], I will be forever grateful.”

“We are a team. We are a real, real team. We have so many different strengths, so many different threats, and we have another big task ahead of us. But I know when I look into everybody’s eyes, and when you see the performances, everybody is ready to give it everything.”

Lastly, on Agyemang, she added: “she feels inevitable right now. She is quality, she is a nightmare to play against. I’m glad she’s my teammate at club and country. She deserves her flowers, I hope she gets them, I hope she enjoys tonight. And then I hope she’s ready to go at the weekend.”

Ella Toone

Toone played all two hours of the gruelling game, and spoke about her relief following Kelly’s very late winning goal.

“We needed to put it in the back of the net, and that is what we did, so that was just pure emotion on the fact that it was in the back of the net and we were going through. I’m delighted for Chloe [Kelly] coming on and changing the game, same as Michelle [Agyemang]. We have that belief in the squad,” she said.

On manager Sarina Wiegman, Toone was full of praise.

“She is a manager who is now going into her fifth final. She knows what changes to make in what moments and we changed formation in the second half, we wanted more up front, more numbers in the box, to put the pressure on them, and I think we created quite a lot of chances in the second half; it was just that one moment that we needed. Sarina [Wiegman] is a great coach and one that we have a lot of respect for. She knows how to get us to major tournament finals.”

It’s been a tournament of ups and downs for England, with the side coming under scrutiny following their early loss to France and their lacklustre performance against Sweden. Accoring to Toone, though, the squad has always believed in their ability to win.

“There’s always people putting us down, writing stuff, but we’ve got the togetherness in the squad. We know what we are capable of. Not everything is plain sailing in football, it’s finding a way to win and we definitely know how to do that. I’d prefer to win in 90 minutes, but we’ll take it,” the Manchester United midfielder said.

“We are going to a final. Tomorrow is when the work starts. We’ve got to make sure we recover fast. We’ve played back to back games where we’ve played 120 minutes. It’s been really tough, physically and emotionally. We’ve got to enjoy the moments but make sure we are prepared for the final.”

Esme Morgan

At the age of 24, Morgan made her major tournament debut in England’s quarter-final against Sweden. In the game with Italy, she went one step further and was given her first start in a major tournament.

“I enjoyed it, especially in the end,” she said. “It was a really intense game, a real challenge against their big, strong, physical forwards, and I enjoyed that task of trying to deal with them. I’m so proud of how everyone kept the belief until the very end and just kept fighting. I felt we were hammering on the door in the second half and things just weren’t seeming to fall but then Michelle [Agyemang] showed up again and just saved the day. I’m so proud of her, she’s such an incredible human being and she deserves these moments. So yeah, buzzing for her, and then Chloe [Kelly] of course ready to make an impact too.

“We were a little bit wasteful in the first half with our crosses. In the second half we were much more sharp with the ball, putting it into the box, and being able to create clear cut opportunities. Just being super tight on the ball. You know these top teams are going to punish you if you give it away cheaply,” she added.

Lauren Hemp

Like both Toone and Morgan, Hemp played from start to finish, but spoke about the importance of Wiegman’s late substitutions.

“The mentality and the togetherness of this team is something that is amazing that we’ve got, and I think you see that most when we’re against it and when we are down, losing,” she said. “You see everyone just go up a level. The people that come on, the game-changers that we have in this squad is incredible, anyone can make a difference. A fight from everyone.”

On Kelly, she added: “she’s cold as ice. I’ll back her any day of the week to score a penalty. She is incredible. They way that she can come onto the pitch and change the game is incredible for us and she’s been thriving at Arsenal as well so I’m really happy for her.”

Hemp was switched to left back during the game, as Agyemang was subbed on for Williamson, leaving England with three at the back and moving Alex Greenwood to central defence. On this versatility, she said: “you know what, it was alright, but I was absolutely knackered at that point so I just thought: ‘whatever you do, Lauren, just keep running’, and it managed to pay off. I just love being on the pitch and wherever they want to put me I’ll give my absolute all. Whether I’m having a bad game or not, one thing I can promise you is that I’ll work my socks off and work until I can’t run any more.”

Hemp returned from an injury just before the end of the Women’s Super League season, and it’s an amount of gametime which she’s not used to.

“I’ve never played this amount of minutes before since my injury so hopefully it will be alright in the morning, but I’m sure it’ll be alright. Obviously we take a lot of rest and recovery very seriously here, and I’m going to make sure it’s right for the final,” she said.

On the team, she added: “it shows the adaptability of this team. We’ve come from losing positions to winning, and from winning to still winning. It shows that even if we are losing, we can still put on the performance to then win the game at the end. It brings this team together. It is frustrating that we don’t do it in the first 90 minutes, but we all try our best to execute the game plan as much as we can. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

England will face either Spain or Germany in the final of Euro 2025 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel on Sunday July 27th.