After suffering a humiliating 3-1 penalty defeat by England, Spain coach Montse Tome insisted that her team did not deserve to lose Sunday’s Euro 2025 final.
This team should have received more, I believe. After the game at St Jakob-Park in Basel, Tome said, “We worked so hard for a long time to get here, to the final against a top-level side in England, and I thought the team deserved more, or at least not be left with the feeling we have now.”
After Mariona Caldentey’s 25th-minute opener for Spain, Alessia Russo headed home with just before the hour mark to bring the score to 1-1 after 90 minutes.
After the Spain players, including Aitana Bonmati, did not score in extra time, Chloe Kelly scored the winning kick for England.
Tome, who succeeded Jorge Vilda as coach shortly after Spain defeated England in the 2023 World Cup final, said, “This is sport and in sport you need to accept defeat.”
RELATED: Tinubu Congratulates Super Falcons On WAFCON Victory, “They Understood The Assignment,”
“I thought we played well in the first half, but their equalizer may have sucked a little down,” he said.
We then had a dominant possession in extra time, but we were unable to win.
Spain, making their first ever European Championship final appearance, overall, had 60% of the possession and had 24 attempts on goal compared to England’s 10. However, they were willing to pay the price for letting the game go.
I believed our team was better, but Tome said, “In football, it’s not always the best team that wins.”
England have played a fantastic game all the way through the tournament.
“They won the penalty-takers who we thought would be most effective, and they got the equalizer before they defended to try to get to penalties,” they said.
Spain’s first penalty was scored by Patri Guijarro, but England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton saved it for Caldentey and Bonmati, and Salma Paralluelo went over with a shot that went wide before Kelly took the lead.
“I had confidence in them, and they all said they were confident.” The players gave everything, according to the coach, who can score or miss a penalty in the end.
Source: Channels TV
Leave a Reply