GEORGIA Stanway helped the Lionesses clinch the first women’s Finalissima title after the match went to penalties at Wembley Stadium.
The Barrovian scored the first penalty for the home side followed by goals by Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly who scored the winning spot-kick after a dramatic game against Brazil.
The Lionesses led through Ella Toone’s 23rd-minute finish until the third minute of stoppage time, when Mary Earps spilled a cross and substitute Andressa Alves fired in to bring things level at 1-1 and take the contest to spot-kicks.
In the subsequent shootout Toone was the first player to fail to score, seeing her effort saved by Leticia, but Earps produced a great save to deny Tamires moments later.
And after Rafaelle then sent her kick against the bar, Chloe Kelly converted the decisive penalty to secure England a 4-2 victory and another trophy, in front of a crowd of 83,132.
Boss Sarina Wiegman said the team showed resilience during yesterday’s match.
She said: “It was a very exciting night at the end, with of course an incredible crowd, and pitch – this environment we’ll never take for granted.
“I think the first half we played really well. We had a lot of possession, created lots of chances, we scored an incredible goal, we hoped to score a little more than one.
“The second half they went back to 4-4-2, put a very high press and then we were struggling, to get out of their press, to keep the ball in possession, so then they became dangerous, and at the end we conceded a goal, which can happen.
“I think the team did really well by just showing resilience – so that was done, we were moving forward, we had to do a job and take the penalties as good as possible, or stop it as good as possible, and that’s what we did.”
It was the first time Wiegman’s European champions had been involved in a shootout during her now 30-game unbeaten tenure.
England play what is set to be their last match before Wiegman names her World Cup squad when they take on Australia in Brentford on Tuesday.
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