Women's Euro: Millie Bright says England 'love every minute' after quarter-final triumph
England defender Millie Bright underscored her side's versatility after a gutsy 2-1 victory over Spain in extra time of their quarter-final at the European Women's Championships on Wednesday.
After a scoreless first half, Spain took the lead in the 54th minute when Esther Gonzalez found space in the penalty area and finished low and hard on Mary Earps in goal English.
With their tournament on the line, Ella Toone was substituted with half an hour to play, and she proved to be the hero when she found herself on the butt end of Alessia Russo's square head for stabbing the equalizing volley from the edge of the penalty area in the 84th minute.
Stuck at 1-1, extra time was needed, and England made sure their fans went home happy after Georgia Stanway found what would prove to be the game winner in the 96th minute, firing a rocket at the Spanish keeper. in the top left corner of the goal well outside the penalty area.
Speaking to the media after the result, Bright spoke of finding another way to win, knowing it would be a very different contest to their recent thrashings against Northern Ireland (5-0) and Norway ( 8-0).< /p>
"It's all part of the game, and you're going to encounter different challenges," she said. "Again, we knew they were going to have a lot of ball.
"We had to find this different way to win, and after playing games where, as I said, we scored a lot of goals. But it's about being clinical when you have those chances I think the players that were on and the players that came in did it really well.
"I think, obviously, we didn't have a lot of the ball and we had to stay very tight defensively. Then knowing when we have the ball is how we use it, and how we can punish and work on their weaknesses.
"But yeah, it was just a matter of trying to rush a bit without turning around and making mistakes, and obviously we knew we had that pressure.
"I think everyone is aware of the game clock and the score line. But yeah, I think for us, we stuck together as a team, we knew what we had to do and we executed him."
Bright also spoke about the atmosphere inside Amex Stadium, saying they're feeling the pressure, but "loving every minute".
"[It was] probably one of the greatest [nights of my career] to be honest," she said. "Just with it being our home Euros and, you know, having all the fans there and the atmosphere is amazing.
"Everyone keeps talking about the pressure that's on us, but we're embracing every moment, embracing the fans.
"There's always pressure in football at the highest level, so we've all dealt with that in the past, and yes, we love every minute of it."
England defender Millie Bright underscored her side's versatility after a gutsy 2-1 victory over Spain in extra time of their quarter-final at the European Women's Championships on Wednesday.
After a scoreless first half, Spain took the lead in the 54th minute when Esther Gonzalez found space in the penalty area and finished low and hard on Mary Earps in goal English.
With their tournament on the line, Ella Toone was substituted with half an hour to play, and she proved to be the hero when she found herself on the butt end of Alessia Russo's square head for stabbing the equalizing volley from the edge of the penalty area in the 84th minute.
Stuck at 1-1, extra time was needed, and England made sure their fans went home happy after Georgia Stanway found what would prove to be the game winner in the 96th minute, firing a rocket at the Spanish keeper. in the top left corner of the goal well outside the penalty area.
Speaking to the media after the result, Bright spoke of finding another way to win, knowing it would be a very different contest to their recent thrashings against Northern Ireland (5-0) and Norway ( 8-0).< /p>
"It's all part of the game, and you're going to encounter different challenges," she said. "Again, we knew they were going to have a lot of ball.
"We had to find this different way to win, and after playing games where, as I said, we scored a lot of goals. But it's about being clinical when you have those chances I think the players that were on and the players that came in did it really well.
"I think, obviously, we didn't have a lot of the ball and we had to stay very tight defensively. Then knowing when we have the ball is how we use it, and how we can punish and work on their weaknesses.
"But yeah, it was just a matter of trying to rush a bit without turning around and making mistakes, and obviously we knew we had that pressure.
"I think everyone is aware of the game clock and the score line. But yeah, I think for us, we stuck together as a team, we knew what we had to do and we executed him."
Bright also spoke about the atmosphere inside Amex Stadium, saying they're feeling the pressure, but "loving every minute".
"[It was] probably one of the greatest [nights of my career] to be honest," she said. "Just with it being our home Euros and, you know, having all the fans there and the atmosphere is amazing.
"Everyone keeps talking about the pressure that's on us, but we're embracing every moment, embracing the fans.
"There's always pressure in football at the highest level, so we've all dealt with that in the past, and yes, we love every minute of it."
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