Euro 2022 LIVE: England players lauded by thousands at Trafalgar Square victory party
Thousands of fans gathered in London to celebrate after Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses end 56 years of hurt to win Euro 2022 for England
England hosted a victory party at Trafalgar Square on Monday afternoon, after the Lionesses defeated Germany 2-1 in the Euro 2022 final to claim their first ever major title in front of a record 87,192 crowd on home soil.
The match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and the sides could not be separated until 110th minute when England substitute Chloe Kelly reacted quickest to a loose ball from a corner and poked in the winner. England confidently held out for the final 10 minutes of the game as euphoria and relief rang out around Wembley - and the nation - as the magnitude of what they’d just achieved hit home. Sarina Wiegman’s victory press conference was interrupted by jublient players singing and dancing on the tables, the start of celebrations which ran long into the night.
The players and manager were all awarded the freedom of the city of London following the triumph, which was England’s first major tournament victory since the men won the World Cup in 1966. Thousands were in Trafalgar Square for the celebration of the team’s achievement, which was shown live on the BBC.
Follow all the reaction and latest updates following England’s success at Euro 2022:
Minister rejects calls for bank holiday to celebrate England Euros win
Despite the excitement, it looks like we won’t be getting a bank holiday out of the achievement.
A government minister has poured cold water on hopes of a bank holiday to mark Englands’s Euro 2020 triumph, saying people “can find their own ways to celebrate” the win.
Therese Coffey, the work and pension secretary, said supporters “don’t need an extra holiday” to honour the Lionesses historic victory over Germany at Wembley on Sunday.
England’s 2-1 extra time win has fuelled calls for a national holiday.
But Ms Coffey, who reportedly attended the match with Liz Truss, said there were “no plans” to give people a day off.
“I think that people can find their own ways to celebrate and don’t need an extra holiday to do that,” Ms Coffey told LBC Radio.
England celebrate Euro 2022 win at victory party
Jill Scott interviews the European Championship trophy:
‘It’s home!’: Newspapers react to England’s Euro 2022 victory
The national newspapers anticipated further celebration by fans after England defeated Germany in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley Stadium.
An “honorary damehood” for victorious coach Sarina Wiegmann is proposed by one, while another admires the side’s “unbridled enthusiasm and dignity”.
“The Lionyesses” are praised for “making herstory” as The Sun dedicates its first five pages to coverage of the match.
Inside, the paper’s editorial says there is only one word for the moment when substitute Chloe Kelly wildly celebrated her late goal to break German hearts and inspire a new generation of players – “Wunderbar!”
The Times also fills its first five pages with the match, which it said kicked off “jubilant scenes in the land of hope and (finally) glory”.
‘It’s home!’: Newspapers react to England’s Euro 2022 victory
The Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 after extra time in front of 87,000 supporters on Sunday
Ian Wright says Lionesses are ‘getting what they deserve’ after Euro triumph
Ian Wright believes England reaped the rewards for all their hard work after the Lionesses became European champions at Wembley.
Sarina Wiegman’s side defeated Germany 2-1 after extra-time, Chloe Kelly scoring the winner after Ella Toone’s wonderful lobbed opener had been cancelled out by Lina Magull with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.
“I can’t even put into words the amount of work that’s gone into this and they’re getting what they deserve,” Wright said in his role as a summariser for the BBC.
Ian Wright says Lionesses ‘getting what they deserve’ after Euro triumph
The former England striker was thrilled with England’s 2-1 extra-time win over Germany in the Euro 2022 Wembley final
How Sarina Wiegman cut through the noise to end England’s 56 years of hurt
Our reporter Jamie Braidwood was at Wembley:
Deep underneath Wembley and away from where England’s party was really beginning to kick off, Sarina Wiegman seemed to lean in as she shared one of the secrets behind their historic success. A manager who has made not only a transformative effect on this team but English football as a whole by guiding the Lionesses to their first major international title, did so while naming the same starting line-up throughout Euro 2022, and she was about to reveal how.
Firstly, there are reasons this had never been done before in the history of the European Championships, and why a manager may choose to change one of their starting 11 at least once when there are another 12 waiting, hungry and desperate, for the same opportunity. Although out of a manager’s control, fitness and injuries are a key reason, and it’s certainly an area where England had good fortune compared to other countries at Euro 2022.
It spoke of Wiegman’s vision and the respect she has earned throughout her squad, however, that she could name an unchanged team for six matches in a row without there being disharmony in the England camp, or a repeat of the same sort of dissatisfaction that may have derailed previous team’s bids in the past 56 years.
How Sarina Wiegman cut through the noise to end England’s 56 years of hurt
The England manager would make her own history at the Euros and it spoke of the genius of her calm yet ruthless leadership
Emma Hayes on Sarina Wiegman
Hayes admitted to having “about five hours’ sleep” after the final before donning her tracksuit and running a coaching session with children as part of her support for McDonald’s Fun Football.
“I think I have been crying the whole morning. I don’t think I can take it in,” she added.
“Everybody in this country has worked so hard for a number of years to get to this point, and the fact that team did what they did on home soil in front of a packed crowd at Wembley, it is what dreams are made of.
“They have inspired a nation. Everyone is in love with that team for the right reasons. They are winners, and they are so deserving of everything that is going to come their way.
“It is important for them to enjoy it today, this week, the next few weeks, because what they have done deserves a celebration of this magnitude.
“I think everybody in the women’s game knew it was now or never, so they have delivered what a lot of people had worked towards for a number of years.
“It is a talented group, it always has been, but they needed the magic of Sarina to help the team get over the line.”
Emma Hayes on Sarina Wiegman
“I think some of the opinions in and around whether women could do that job are absolute nonsense. Of course she could do the job.
“I think it is time for a lot of things to be on more of an equal footing.
“Whether it is my niece only being able to play one football session in school, whereas the boys play three, or girls who are playing at the same level as the men on a fraction of their pay.
“For me, there has to be an increase in investment across the game, and when it comes to coaching into the men’s game it has to be a pre-requisite for successful teams.
“I think it is time for those changes to happen.
“You’ve got to invest in not only free access for the kids, but also coaching, because seeing Sarina on the touchline last night I think is immense for any young girl who aspires to grow up being a coach. We need to invest in female coaches as well.
“I am super proud of Sarina. She is an an immense human being who carries the pressure so well and delivers in so many different ways.
“I’m sure for her winning the title with her home nation was immense, but she realised last night how massive football is in this country.
“She is so humble, she is knowledgeable, she is wise and she is experienced, and most importantly, she is a fantastic person.”
Emma Hayes: Sarina Wiegman can coach men’s football
Emma Hayes has no doubt that England boss Sarina Wiegman could “do the job” as a head coach in men’s professional football.
And Chelsea manager Hayes says it is “time for a lot of things to be on more of an equal footing” following England’s stunning Euro 2022 triumph.
Chloe Kelly’s extra-time goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Germany at Wembley. It was the Lionesses’ first major trophy, and the first for a senior England side since the 1966 World Cup.
At the heart of it all was 52-year-old Wiegman, who only took charge last September, and claimed a second consecutive Euro trophy, having guided her native Netherlands to glory in 2017.
As a result, debate will inevitably intensify about the day when a female head coach carries out a similar role in men’s football.
“She is an amazing manager. It’s the same sport, she just manages women rather than men at an extremely high level,” Hayes told the PA news agency.
BBC reports record viewing figures for Euro 2022 final
One or two comments below this blog along the lines of ‘does anyone care?’ – as Alex Scott points out, millions care.
The final was the most watched TV event of the year the UK by its peak 17.4 million viewers, and the second-most average viewership across the programme.
The game was watched by an average of 11 million people on TV, a record for a women’s football match in the UK. The audience peaked at more than 17 million in the closing minutes of the Lionesses’ 2-1 victory at Wembley, according to overnight figures released by the ratings organisation Barb.
The average audience of 11.0 million is for BBC One’s entire coverage of Sunday’s final, which ran for several hours during the afternoon and evening.
It is slightly behind the 11.2 million average overnight ratings for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert, which was broadcast by BBC One in early June, and which remains the biggest TV audience of the year so far.
Ratings for Sunday’s match peaked at 7.32pm - the moment the final whistle blew - when the audience reached 17.6million, Barb said.
The average TV audience for the match itself, from kick-off to final whistle, was 13.6 million, according to the BBC.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie said: “We are incredibly proud to have championed women’s football and are thrilled we were able to bring such a special sporting moment to the public.
“This was the most-watched women’s football game on UK television of all time and deservedly so. Everyone at the BBC is delighted at the win and being able to share that with the public.”
Separate figures from the BBC show that coverage of the game was streamed 5.9 million times across the iPlayer and BBC Sport website.
Alex Scott: ‘Who cares? Millions care'
A killer line from Alex Scott to sign off, with a reference to a derogatory hashtag which spread on social media about the women’s Euros:
“Hashtag ‘who cares’? Millions care. Millions. Like our captain Leah Williamson said, the tournament may be over but the journey has just begun.”
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