They would have filled a stadium twice this size had more of the high-rolling clubs Premier League clubs within these shores only had the vision to see that these European Championships would be something to savour.
Many weren’t that interested. Pitches to relay. Money-spinning concerts to stage. But Sheffield wasn’t complaining. The skies here were slate grey when England’s squad arrived, but hundreds gathered to applaud them into the stadium from a vantage point 100 yards away.
This place knows a bit about history – the words ‘Sheffield United 1889’ are inscribed on the main stadium clock – but they could hardly believe they were being presented with another. For the time, England will appear in a tournament final which they will contest as equals, knowing that they win whether it is Germany or France who lie ahead at Wembley.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses proved they were dedicated to their country during Sweden rout
The Swedes were testament to what going the extra mile to a tournament final can do for a nation’s bid to embed women’s football in its sporting culture. It was the nation’s appearance in the 2003 World Cup final which delivered the biggest TV football audience the country had ever known – male or female – and changed everything for them. Even though a 2-1 loss to Germany ensued.
It helped that the Swedes later became armed with one of the world’s most charismatic coaches, Pia Sundhage, best remembered for her public renditions of Bob Dylan songs before the 2016 Olympic final. Sarina Wiegman does not seem predisposed to anything of the kind with a microphone in hand, though her capacity to bring a song from this group of players is indisputable.
It wasn’t just the decisive passages of play around the half hour mark which revealed that but the unmistakable demeanour of the players at close quarters before the game had even started.
To be sitting here, witnessing the national anthem being belted out so enthusiastically at a high cadence, which told you it was the next generation doing the singing, was profoundly moving. But the players were aware enough, in the moment, to perceive this, too. Leah Williamson flashed a wide smile as she handed the Swedish pennant to the bench. Beth Mead, who was about to deliver something special again, summoned support from the fans down her right flank. There seems to be a pleasure in playing for England, even when the stakes are this high.
Sarina Wiegman’s stars have proved themselves to get to the final against Germany or France
The player you imagined might be least likely to summon this kind of radiance was Rachel Daly, who had been so torn asunder by the Spanish that her selection was at the very least in doubt. But her opening ten minutes were quite extraordinary; a riposte to any had questioned her as she powered down the left to deliver a 30-yard diagonal Mead couldn’t quite get a head to, then dragged a ball imperiously past who Sofia Jakobsson.
It was a zero-sum game. Both teams played high, flooding each other’s turf and living with the jeopardy of the space they left behind. There is a point of weakness on the England left flank – that much is sure. Lucy Bronze does not defend as she attacks and for the second game running the first meaningful exchange of opposition passes put England at grave risk there. Stina Blackstenius was sent into the edge of the box with a chance to score. Bronze was burgled by Fridolina Rolfo. These are seriously dangerous attacking players.
The reinforcements appeared from many quarters, including Georgia Stanway, operating box-to-box again, and Hemp, not England’s finest tackler but determined nonetheless to contribute.
They also included the goalkeeper, Mary Earps. The challenge for the 29-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper has been stepping up to the challenge and finding the instinctive competitive edge after a group stage in which she had been barely involved.
Earps, one of the most popular members of this team, had proved she was up to that challenge in one of England’s darker moments against Spain, when she dropped on a shot from Athenea del Castillo at a time when the forward was causing havoc. On Tuesday night, she punched a ball out of Blackstenius’ ambit and onto the bar. Then came the twisting leap to throw her left palm to divert a ball which seemed to be spinning into the net from Blackstenius’ knee.
It was an enormous moment, in which the reactions of those around her said most. Daly and Millie Bright almost squeezed the life out of her. This was the moment which told us that a Wembley final was going to be England’s.
Alessia Russo’s goal will live longest in the memory, of course. To have back-heeled a ball into the net moments after missing an opportunity, as the substitute striker did, spoke to the ice in these players’ veins. More even than Fran Kirby’s expertly clipped fourth, testament to Wiegman’s insistence that the Chelsea player was fundamental to the squad.
But it was the collectivism which took them through in this famous old stadium, where the industrial classes first gathered to watch football so many years ago. As the legend on the old Bramall Lane stand reads: ‘Forged in Steel.’
