England match-winner Chloe Kelly said she was living the dream after firing her country to Euro 2022 glory.
Kelly came off the bench to score a 110th-minute winner and give the Lionesses a 2-1 win against Germany in the final at Wembley.
After Ella Toone’s opener was cancelled out in normal time by Lina Magull, the Manchester City forward poked home from close range to spark euphoric scenes at the national stadium as England went on to win a major tournament for the first time.
Kelly was more interested in singing “Sweet Caroline” than answering questions in her TV interview but did say this was her dream growing up.
“Oh my God, look at them, it is amazing, thank you to every single person that supported us,” she told the interviewer, indicating the crowd in the background. “This is unreal... Sweet Caroline!
“It’s amazing, thank you everyone, this is what dreams are made of, as a young girl watching women’s football. Wow, this is unbelievable.”
Kelly’s story is made even more memorable by the fact that she only came back from a serious cruciate ligament injury in April.
She added: “Thank you for everyone who played a part in my rehab. I always believed I’d be here, but to be here and score the winner, wow. These girls are amazing. This is amazing, I just want to celebrate now.”
England’s maiden success has been masterminded by Sarina Wiegman, who has now won back-to-back European Championships after her 2017 success with the Netherlands.
The team continued their jubilant scenes, emphatically crashing Wiegman’s press conference, singing “It’s coming home” while dancing around their coach.
The Dutchwoman said: “We won the cup. It is unbelievable. It is incredible. If you really want to win and become better every single day, that is what I have noticed, and it is incredible, they want to do it together.
“We agreed on a couple of things about behaviour and they weren’t just words, we lived it. The game was so tight, there was a little bit of fight in there, but who cares, we won 2-1. We are European champions.
“We broke through barriers against Spain and we had to do it again. I don’t have any secrets. I don’t think I have realised what is going on, I need some time.”
After the tournament produced record attendances, including the highest ever in a European Championship final, England captain Leah Williamson wants the success to mean something in the future.
She said: “The legacy of this tournament is a change in society, it is everything that we have done, we brought everybody together, we got people at games.
“We want them to come to WSL games, the legacy is this team are winners and that is the start of a journey.” She described the win as the “proudest moment” of her life.
“I just can’t stop crying," she said on BBC One. “Something like this, we talk and we talk and we talk and we finally did it. It’s about doing it on the pitch and I’ll tell you what, the kids are all right.
“It is the proudest moment of my life until the day I have kids, I suppose. I am taking everything in, every piece of advice was take every single second in so I can relive it forever. I’ll be reliving that for a long time.
“The legacy of this tournament is a change in society, it is everything that we have done, we brought everybody together, we got people at games.”
Beth Mead won the Golden Boot and was named player of the tournament, 12 months after she was left out of Team GB’s Olympic squad for the Tokyo Games. “I can’t believe it, sometimes football puts you down but bouncing back is the best way and that is what we have done,” she said.
“I am speechless, I can’t take it all in, I am still in shock. I can’t believe we’ve won it, I just can’t, it’s mad. I am so, so proud of this team. I love this team and I love this country.”
