Sweden match “was what I mean when I talk about proper England, it wasn’t beautiful, but it got through” – Lucy Bronze after England’s chaotic win

After England’s chaotic penalty-win against Sweden, Beth Mead, Chloe Kelly, Lucy Bronze and Esme Morgan, spoke on a remarkable result.

Beth Mead

Mead came on for Ella Toone in the 70th minute of the game, knowing they needed to turn things around, or they would be going home. She assisted Michelle Agyemang’s first major tournament goal, but missed her penalty.

“I was quite emotional at the end of the game. I was frustrated not to have executed my own penalty. We practice them every day, we do our routine, it doesn’t go to plan, but we as a team stuck together, we got behind each other, and like Ella [Toone] said how sometimes you need your goalkeeper to step and Hannah [Hampton] did very much that today,” she said.

On the game, she said: “We were sloppy in the first half, it wasn’t a good performance from us, but Sarina [Wiegman] will tell you that’s why you need your squad. People come on the pitch, there were different jobs [to be done]. I was playing as a number six, a number 10, as a winger, I was playing a lot of different positions today for my team. But I was on the pitch and did what I could, and every single girl that came on today did their job and we got ourselves back in the game.

“Weirdly, [playing in different positions] didn’t feel chaotic, if Sarina asks you to do it you do it. And as a player, you back yourself. Sarina knows what she is doing, there’s a method in the madness, and I think that showed today,” she continued.

“In the past, you would have seen a team that crumbled, you know, two-nil down, we came in at halftime, we were positive, we got around each other, both players on the pitch and the subs, the staff came in, gave us a gameplan and we executed it a little bit better. Do I think it was still not good enough for our standards, probably not, but we got ourselves in the game, we really stuck in and we got not the prettiest goals, but we put them in the back of the net, put ourselves back in the game, and we’ve come away with a win in the end.” 

Looking ahead to the semi-final, she added: “Every team that you are going to face now is going to be tough. I think Italy showed that last night. They showed a lot of resilience, they scored a late goal, so they are going to be a team to watch out for but again we’ve got to turn this around, recover, get ourselves ready, and prepare ourselves for an Italian game.

“There were a few break downs in the game, there were a few late challenges, you get a few seconds, a minute or two, she [Sarina Wiegman] changes it quickly, you try and get that information onto your teammates quickly. We adapt, and that is the difference that sets us apart sometimes at the moment, tactically, if we can get it right, how does Sweden keep up with all those changes. That worked quite well for us.” 

Chloe Kelly

It was in the 77th minute, when Kelly was introduced for Lauren Hemp, when the game really felt like it changed. The Arsenal star proceeded to assist Bronze, get the pre-assist for Agyemang’s goal, and score the penalty that kept England alive.

“I felt good coming onto the pitch, playing to my strengths, trying to put the ball in the box, we know we have such strong headerers on the ball so the girls put the ball in the back of the net and it was incredible,” she said.

“[The penalty shootout was] Not how we planned it to be of course, but it’s a lot of learning experience we put in our back pocket and learn from going forwards, and there’s players that probably never played in a penalty shootout before, so that is an experience and Hannah [Hampton] did just the job tonight and incredible from all the girls, high pressure moments, but we’ve done well.

“Sweden were playing to their strengths, and we were stuck a little bit, but we’ll work hard on the training pitch to get that right. Stina [Blackstenius] was playing really well, playing to Stina’s strengths of running in behind and we expected that, but sometimes expecting it and dealing with it is quite difficult. But we solved the problems and then it was about getting back in the game and the resilience of the team is incredible.

“It’s about what we know, what we worked on in training, and sticking to the plan,” she concluded.

Lucy Bronze

Bronze scored England’s much needed first goal in this game in the 79th minute, had her upper leg taped up, ripped it off, and went to score what would be the all important spot-kick for England, as Hampton saved Sweden’s next attempt.

“We can play beautiful football. But I think, that is what I was trying to get at yesterday [in the pre-match press conference], we have to win it hard to win it, in a different kind of way, whether that’s taking it to extra time, to penalties, even missing penalties, the mentality, digging deep, having players who picked it up, the likes of Chloe, of Hannah. Tonight was what I mean when I talk about proper England, it wasn’t beautiful, but it got through,” she said.

On her taped leg she added: “I felt a bit tight at the end of the game and I thought I just need to get through to make sure I can keep going, but I thought it’s going to hinder me in the penalty and I didn’t expect it to go to [more penalties] so I then went and took it off, I thought ‘I need to take this off because I am going to absolutely smack it.’

“I’m a player who shows in how I play, I just keep going and going, hopefully that can just leak into the rest of the team. We have the type of team where we can influence each other, to push each other, to go for more. You saw it when the subs came on, how it really changed the dynamics of the game, it really changed how everybody was playing. We got those two goals because of the substitutes and their influence on the game.” 

Esme Morgan

Morgan made her major tournament debut when she came on for Jess Carter in the 70th minute. She was crucial at the back and played a big part in stopping Sweden’s counter attacks.

“[I was told] To keep playing football, keep trying to be patient and build the attack, find our forward players and let them create. My job was mainly just to deal with Blackstenius and making sure I was in a position to try and stop their counter attacks,” she revealed.

“I was really excited to get the opportunity. It’s a hard task to keep going, making sure you are prepared all the time. I think the subs do a great job of keeping working hard, keep approaching each other, and just making sure we are ready to seize our opportunity when it comes. I was just excited when I got the opportunity to come on and play. 

“I knew when coming on that there was a good chance it would go to extra time, so I was ready for that, but then the penalties, I am just so relieved we got the win in the end.” 

England will face Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2025 on July 22nd in Geneva.