England captain, Leah Williamson is “happy” with their “unbelievable” UEFA Women’s Euro title defence.
Chloe Kelly’s winning penalty saw England defeat Spain 3-1 in a penalty shootout to retain the title after she had set up Alessia Russo’s equaliser which cancelled out Mariona Caldentey’s header in a comeback 1-1 draw in Basel, Switzerland.
Williamson however acknowledged that whilst many generations have seen England win consecutive Women’s Euro titles, she is “happy” that they also did it for the generations who have never achieved such success as the Lionesses became the first England team to win a major title on foreign soil.
“For the girls that have just won it twice, for the girls who have never won it, I’m so happy.
“What an honour to be part of this team. Everything that we try to live by, we do. We show up. Every single person showed up every time.”
The 28-year-old proceeded to applaud her teammates for their defensive performance and desire to not give up after Spain took the lead, whilst she also acknowledged the players who had been part of the build-up work but didn’t make the final squad for the tournament.
“I thought we were unbelievable, sticking to the game plan with our defending.
“We never give up. And there are so many players who have done so much that you will never see to be on that pitch, before you even get to the football today.”
Williamson missed England’s 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final defeat to Spain due to an anterior cruciate ligament, which had kept her out of the tournament, but iterated that fans shouldn’t constantly expect finals such is the difficulty in achieving that success.
“I think people expect it now, which is fine, but to get to a final is so hard.
“To win a game like this –nobody has ever done it overseas. It shows how hard the task was, which is why I’m so proud of them.”
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