Football: Serial winner Wiegman helps England 'change society' in Euro triumph

WEMBLEY, United Kingdom -- England women's manager Sarina Wiegman hailed the impact her players have made in changing perceptions beyond the pitch after the Lionesses won a major tournament for the first time at Euro 2022.

In front of a record crowd of 87,000 at Wembley for a European Championship match, the hosts were roared over the line to beat Germany 2-1 after extra-time.

"Winning is what we are here for, we try to win and do our job as good as possible," said Wiegman. "But through football you can make little changes in society and that is what we hope for."

Queen Elizabeth II was among those to pay tribute to the England squad for providing "inspiration for girls and women today, and for future generations."

Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone became national heroes by coming off the bench to score the goals as not for the first time in the tournament, Wiegman's substitutions changed the course of the game.

Five years on from leading her native Netherlands to their breakthrough on the international stage in the women's game at Euro 2017, Wiegman repeated the trick to inspire another home nation.

In between times, the former PE teacher also led the Dutch to the 2019 World Cup final.

Her commitments to taking the Netherlands to last year's Tokyo Olympics meant England had to wait over a year between her appointment in August 2020 and her first match in charge in September last year. Twenty games into her reign, England are yet to taste defeat.

"When I took the job you hope one thing, we knew there was quality and such big potential in this country," she added. "My challenge was to bring people together from another country and it worked out. It's something you dream of and hope for."

- Powerful message -

Wiegman's ability to foster a team spirit capable of capturing the heart of a nation was even more remarkable as she revealed her sister died leading up to the tournament.

"I'm kissing this little armband that was my sister's and my sister passed away during our prep camps," she said. "That's a really big miss because she's my mate, but I think she was here, I think she was on the crossbar.

"She would have been here. She went to every game so she would have been really proud of me and I was really proud of her too."

England's female footballers are now the pride of the nation and have a powerful message to share on changing perceptions.

"For every change of judgement or perception or opening the eyes of somebody who views women as somebody with the potential to be equal to her male counterpart, I think that makes change in society," said England captain Leah Williamson.

"The strides that we take forward can impact everybody on that wider scale."

The next stride on the field for the Lionesses is to next year's World Cup with Wiegman already wary of expectations "going through the roof."

But their immediate plan is a big party with a victory parade planned for London's Trafalgar Square on Monday.

After a 56-year wait to win a major tournament in either the men's or women's game, England has earned the right to revel in football finally coming home.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Germany see off Spain to reach Euro quarters

BRENTFORD, United Kingdom -- Germany booked their place in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals as Klara Buhl and Alexandra Popp sealed a 2-0 win against Spain on Tuesday.

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's side crushed Denmark 4-0 in their opening fixture, but had to show their more gritty side to see off Spain.

Germany had only two shots on target and just 30 percent of the possession, but their opportunistic finishing proved the difference at Brentford's Community Stadium.

Buhl gave Germany the perfect start with her third minute opener and Popp doubled the lead eight minutes before half-time.

Germany sit top of Group B with maximum points after two successive victories, while Spain are in second place with three points.

"We started by pressing very high which immediately brought us a goal at a very important moment in the match," Voss-Tecklenburg said.

"We put together a team ready to suffer who showed their resilience. We knew we wouldn't have possession but we wanted to make the best use of transitions and it's great that it worked so well tactically."

In the last eight, Group B winners Germany play the runners-up in Group A, which will be either Austria or Norway.

Bottom of the group Finland, beaten 1-0 by Denmark earlier on Tuesday, were eliminated by the result from the day's late game.

Spain were one of the pre-tournament favourites, but now sit level on points with Denmark, who they face on Saturday in a shoot-out to decide who will advance along with Germany.

"There were two big mistakes that we paid for, but we know how it is against Germany. We created more chances but didn't know how to take them," Spain boss Jorge Vilda said.

- Flying start -

Germany, eight-time European champions, were gifted the lead when Spain goalkeeper Sandra Panos tried to make a clearance from a routine back-pass but the ball struck Buhl, who turned inside Irene Paredes to drill a low shot into the bottom corner.

Spain were suddenly presented with a golden chance to score themselves when Lucia Garcia was played clear of a high German backline.

The Athletic Bilbao forward raced into the penalty area and took the ball wide of goalkeeper Merle Frohms, but sent her angled shot into the side netting.

Spain continued to press for an equaliser as Mariona Caldentey fired a dipping effort from the edge of the box just wide.

It was Germany, though, who were on target again seven minutes before half-time.

A corner was floated over into the six-yard box, where captain Alexandra Popp got up to flick in a backward header via a slight deflection.

Spain looked to regroup once more and went close again just before the break when Aitana Bonmati's chipped effort dropped just wide.

Wolfsburg forward Popp almost had a third for Germany soon after the restart when she headed wide at the back post from a corner.

Popp was centre stage again as the hour mark approached, going down under what looked like a tug on the front of her shirt from Spain captain Paredes as she aimed to run clear on goal.

French referee Stephanie Frappart waved play on and VAR did not overturn the decision.

Spain almost pulled a goal back with 18 minutes left when a deep ball was floated into the penalty area and Caldentey sent a volley goalwards, which was brilliantly tipped over by Frohms.

Agence France-Presse