The entrances of Sarina Wiegman’s substitutes invoked an almost goal-like response from Wembley in themselves.
It was less of a script being written, instead more of a directorial cue: around an hour in, enter the frame, then find a way to make history.
It was a signal now familiar; there was a recognition in the crowd. The third act is about to begin, the resolution is near.
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Ella Toone only took ten minutes to snap the game out of a tentative standoff. Kiera Walsh, deservedly a flawless player of the match, was able to fine rare space in front of her to sweep an inch-perfect ball through the heart of Germany’s backline to the feet of Toone.
“I always know where to find her,” Walsh reflected, “I heard her shout in her little Wigan accent and I thought I better put it on a plate for her!
“It was an unbelievable finish and I’m really proud of her.”
England’s road to Wembley had glittered with magic and memorable goals. Stanway’s long ranger against Spain, Russo’s iconic backheel in the semi-finals, and now, Toone baring down on Merle Frohms, who made the fatal mistake of coming too close, again exemplified the creative freedom that has been allowed to come alive in Wiegman’s side.
Perhaps the instinct would be to just to leather it. Toone’s different. Her interpretation of Frohm’s incoming presence was instead to see the inside left of her goal become more and more vacant, to see the infinite space between her and the Wembley arch more appealing. Her instinct was to instead calmly dink the ball over her in the biggest game of her life.
Two minutes after, on came Chloe Kelly. Whilst she zipped up and down the left, it took until extra time for her spotlight to arrive.
At the end of a year out with an ACL injury, her leg painfully outstretched at first missed a cross, before poking home with her second lurch, and a final one to lift herself off the floor and into the roar of Wembley.
“It was almost like it was written in the stars for her,” club teammate Walsh said, “especially seeing her at the club, the hard work she’s put in for the last nine or ten months, she deserves this moment.”
“Her journey is really incredible,” Wiegman added, “she had this difficult injury, but she made the squad and now she scores this goal. Every player has their own journey, but for her this is a very special moment. I’m happy for her.”
If it was a film, it would arguably attract its criticisms for being too cliché.
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It was always a fixture that had fingers tracing along tournament trees from the beginning. Branches and pathways that could exist if things fell, if all the ‘ifs’ fell into place.
‘If’ such a classic game could be in front of a sold-out Wembley, ‘if’ they can win England’s first major trophy since 1966, ‘if’ they can change a whole country’s perspective of women’s football in a matter of weeks.
It is perhaps no surprise this space has opened up for the Lionesses; money has been heavily invested and large ambitions have paid off, but culturally it is rather characteristic of England.
Crowds, previously criticised for being too family-friendly, too unimpassioned, have instead created a new environment rarely seen in men’s football of overwhelming positivity.
The audience and crowd are different, but the feeling has been familiar.
The nation has a tendency for perpetual pining to fall in love and forget about things for a while, to latch onto something and take it to the edge of obsession and excitement. The way the Lionesses have been idolised is no different.
This team has given an important and rare mainstream view of women playing without fear and succeeding; it’s significance for the future cannot be understated.
“I think this tournament has done so much for the game, but also for society and women in society,” Wiegman explained, “in the stadiums, outside the stadiums, you can see how the country stood behind us. I think we really made a change.”
At the edge of this, though, is the meteoric land into new territory for women’s domestic football.
“In preparation for the Euros we brought in some players who played in 1971, and those women are the trailblazers for the next generation,” Wiegman said, “we should always remember who went before us, because they made the path for us.
“This team will make a path for the next generation. We know the world has changed from this moment, for these players.”
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