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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Business
Martin Farrer

‘Heaven and heel’: how the papers, a prince and the people rejoiced at Lionesses’ Euro semi win

Lionesses Euro England Sun Wembley Beth Mead France Fran Kirby Germany Sam Quek
Uk papers composite featuring the Guardian, Mirror sport, Daily Express, the Sun, i and Times
Uk papers composite after England’s Lionesses beat Sweden to advance to the Euro 22 final. Composite: UK newspapers, Twitter

England’s women have united the nation and the front pages after their thumping 4-0 win over Sweden in the semi-final of Euro 2022 prompted spontaneous celebrations.

The victory at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on Tuesday night means the Lionesses have the chance to go one better than their male counterparts 12 months ago and become European champions when they face either France or Germany at Wembley on Sunday.

The win in front of a record crowd for a Euro semi-final was greeted with tears, cheers and choruses of “football’s coming home” in Sheffield city centre where about 2,000 fans had gathered to watch on a giant screen as the goals went in.

There were also large crowds in Trafalgar Square in London and scenes of jubilation in pubs across the country as the team overcame a shaky start to defeat the highest ranked team in the tournament.

Wednesday’s newspaper front pages nearly all carry pictures of the triumphant players but only the Sun leads on the story. “Now bring on Germany (or France) at Wembley” it says, with an image of a beaming Fran Kirby celebrating after she made it 4-0.

The Guardian has a large picture of Kirby being mobbed by her teammates after her brilliant chipped finish. “England put four past Swedes to reach Euro2022 final at Wembley”, says the headline.

The Mail’s page one picture is headlined “Roarsome! Rampant Lionesses makes us dare to dream”, while the Times has “Lionesses roar through to final of Euro 2022”.

The Mirror has a picture of Alessia Russo in the process of scoring her outrageous back-heeled goal and the headline “Heel’s on fire”. It puns again on the back page: “Heaven and heel”.

The Express has cracked first and goes with you-know-what. “It’s coming home! Lionesses roar in Euros final”.

The i newspaper can’t quite bring itself to follow suit and instead goes for a slightly more convoluted route: “Hello? Is that football? You’re coming home”.

There were also great celebrations on social media where the Duke of Cambridge congratulated the team and said the “entire country is so proud”.

Posting from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s KensingtonRoyal Twitter account, William said: “Congratulations Lionesses on making it to the WEURO2022 final on Sunday. The entire country is so proud of everything you’re achieving. We believe in you and will be with you all the way! W.”

The Labour leader Keir Starmer, who was at the match, also tweeted his congratulations.

“So proud of the Lionesses. The whole nation will be roaring them on this Sunday.”

Wayne Rooney, former England men’s captain whose all-time national goal-scoring record is under threat from Ellen White, also congratulated the team. “What a performance by the Lionesses tonight,” he tweeted.

Team GB Olympic hockey gold medallist Sam Quek was flying the flag for the Lionesses.

And the Yorkshire Post, celebrating a famous night on its local turf, goes back to where it all began for the opening scorer, Beth Mead. “Whitby striker Mead helps fire Lionesses into final”.

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