The party was almost over but then Ella Toone turned up and the whole place went wild again. A goal down and on the edge of elimination with six minutes left, England had been made to suffer by a superb Spain side, but a late volleyed equaliser from the Manchester United midfielder took them into extra time where Georgia Stanway smashed in a shot straight out of a comic to carry them into the last four. Next stop on this wild ride: Sheffield.
It wasn’t until after 10pm that they started singing It’s Coming Home here, so hard had it been. Now at last they could believe it really might be, which isn’t to say they wouldn’t suffer more – oh, they would – but by the end England’s players were standing at the side of the pitch belting out Sweet Caroline. “So good, so good,” they sang, and it certainly had been. This was a wonderful match, graced by both teams. A heroic, exhausting occasion they will never forget.
Continue reading…
