England, somehow, do it again. The defending European champions are in a third consecutive major final after a second consecutive game where they needed a miracle late rescue. Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly were, once more, the heroes. Whether they can do it one more time is a big question but one that can wait – for tonight. There is an awful lot to fault about this team right now, but not their resolve. They keep going no matter what, which is why they keep getting through round after round of this tournament.
It isn’t always convincing. It isn’t always productive. But it does just keep happening.
It also fostered yet another absorbing drama. That is what really does wonders for the women’s game. Theatre that grips people, and then crescendo moments like this.
England do offer more of this than almost anyone, regardless of how they’re playing.
That is to their immense credit, all the more so after the events of the week. Jess Carter, of course, got a cheer. That led into the raucous celebration at the end, something this side has offered their growing travelling support so often.
Sympathy should be spared for Italy, despite the needle so evident in this game.
They overachieved just to get this far, and you could see that in the manner they pushed themselves to the limit in the exacting final moments. It was like they could just go no further, as witnessed with how they couldn’t handle Agyemang for the 96th-minute equaliser, and then the absurd decision that led to Kelly’s penalty.
As if to reflect the entire match, as well as decide it, England still made it through. And Kelly pounced.
Wiegman’s substitutions had again worked, in the same way her starting line-up once more failed.
It could be said there is considerable luck to all of that, especially with how badly they played against moderate opposition. England were arguably just as fortunate to finish second in the group and get Italy.
The manner in which they allowed Barbara Bonansea to score the opening goal was haphazard, since the ball could have been cleared three times.
There were many poor decisions.
But an absolute key to that, which should not be dismissed, is that other sides would allow all of this to affect them. There can be a self-fulfilling element in that the more you toil for a goal, the less it feels likely to come, accentuating the angst. With England, it currently feels the opposite. The self-fulfilling element is how they’ve scored a series of late goals, so they always feel they can do it again. It’s there throughout every game, affecting the opposition in another way. You could sense it in the increasingly desperate Italian clearances just before Agyemang’s equaliser.
Also, it should be stressed that the goal was not the product of scrambling something or just making it happen by will alone. Agyemang displayed supreme composure in taking the touch to set herself, and then finished supremely.
The strike also showcased admirable conviction when your team is just 90 seconds from going out. That’s what it comes down to.
Agyemang’s later effort was almost better, except it hit the bar rather than the back of the net. She displayed the ingenuity that England had been missing with a superb, hooked lob from near the byline, which caught Laura Giuliani out but hit the bar.
That would have been a worthy way to win it… Except there was still the crescendo of Kelly’s finish.
Her willingness to run at Italy changed the game as much as Agyemang’s impact. The crowd naturally greeted Kelly with wild roars, just one more element which causes doubt for the opposition. The forward was duly named player of the match, having won it.
Giuliani might have stopped her penalty, but there was no stopping Kelly herself. She latched straight onto it to finish. Italy were never coming back. They had given everything, but just didn’t have as much as England, either in quality or – consequently – will.
There is a fair argument that all of this shows how Wiegman’s side are less than the sum of their parts, as they have been for some time. That only matters in a tournament, however, once you actually go out.
It is, of course, possible all of this is building up the inevitable final defeat, but more late rescue acts like this create the same effect from the other side. So much is now dependent on whether it’s Spain or Germany in the final, a repeat of either 2022 or 2023.
The performance, meanwhile, felt a repeat of some recent men’s tournaments, from the way Harry Kane scored off a saved penalty against Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final, to England making their way through unconvincingly in Euro 2024.
Except, this England have actually won the trophy. Moments like this are where that matters, where that has an effect.
If all of this seems to be dwelling on the psychological, it is because that is such a major part of the reason England are in the final.
Their build-up play was poor, if it existed at all. Too many moves ended with predictable shunts down the wing and a cross, or a hopeful long shot.
There are a series of personnel issues, from the fitness levels of Lauren James and Leah Williamson, to how Keira Walsh was below par. Alessia Russo just doesn’t look like scoring, and there are huge issues in defence.
Wiegman has so much to figure out. She also, somehow, has a team in another final.
For now, that’s all that matters.
