England never really got going against savvy Spain and, as far as memorable moments from the occasion went, there was no topping Mary Earps’ expletive reaction to her second-half penalty save.
It did not take a skilled lip-reader to decipher Earps’ roar in celebration and defiance on keeping out Jennifer Hermoso’s spot-kick and, even in defeat, it felt iconic. It may as well have been a message to detractors of women’s football everywhere.
It was just one of several outstanding saves Earps made to ensure England remained in the game after Olga Carmona’s strike gave Spain a 29th-minute lead and, in common with some of her team-mates, the goalkeeper did not deserve to be on the losing side.
That she won the tournament’s Golden Glove (below) after conceding just four times in seven matches will be little consolation to Earps, but it underlined her status as the finest goalkeeper in the world, having won FIFA’s Best award for the position last year.
The tournament also cemented Earps as a player for the big occasions. She was the joint-best goalkeeper as England won the European Championship last summer and decisive in the shootout as Sarina Wiegman’s team beat Brazil on penalties to win another trophy, the Finalissima, in April.
Goalkeeping in women’s football has often been questioned — and, sadly, ridiculed — as the game has developed, leading to calls for measures such as reducing the size of the goals, but Earps has done as much as anyone in the game to change perceptions for the better.
Her quality and obvious relatability make it all the more baffling that Nike have refused to sell her replica goalkeeper shirt.
She is not only a larger-than-life character, full of a ferociously-competitive energy, but a thoroughly modern goalkeeper, capable of making outstanding saves, dominating her penalty box and also playing out from the back with her feet.
It is this latter quality, particularly, which makes her so important to England boss Wiegman, who has transformed the Lionesses’s style of play but will know there are still levels to reach after yesterday’s schooling by Spain.
Earps has grown in tandem with the game and with this team. She was first called up ahead of Euro 2017 but did not make the final cut and was on the plane to France for the World Cup two years later but only as third choice.
It was not until Wiegman’s appointment in autumn 2021 that Earps belatedly took her place as England’s No1 — and she has never once looked back.
At 30, there is every reason to think that Earps still has years ahead of her — perhaps her best — and will be part of the squad for the next Euros and another crack at the game’s biggest prize in four years’ time.
On the evidence of yesterday’s game and the whole tournament Down Under, there are few players or personalities more important to England’s chances of going one better next time.
