By Simon Wilkes
Lionesses hero Chloe Kelly says striker Michelle Agyemang ‘has the world at her feet’ after playing another starring role off the bench to help England reach the final of the 2025 Women’s European Championships.
Sarina Wiegman’s defending European champions were staring down the barrel in their semi-final with Italy on Tuesday night.
Barbara Bonansea’s stunning strike on 33 minutes gave the Italians a lead they defended until the 96th minute, when super-sub Agyemang – who only entered the fray on 85 minutes – slammed home a clinical finish to send the game to extra time.
England beat Sweden in a dramatic quarter-final shootout – but avoided that in the last-four clash thanks to Kelly’s winning penalty in the 119th minute, when she saw her spot-kick saved by Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani but reacted quickly to coolly slot home the rebound.
Praise for striker
The Lionesses will either face Spain or Germany in Sunday’s final, and Kelly was full of praise for her fellow substitute, saying on ITV Sport: “She’s unbelievable and she should have scored again: that one that hit the crossbar.
“She’s an unbelievable player and she’s got the world at her feet, a young player with a bright future and I’m absolutely buzzing for her.
“But this team shows resilience again and we fight back.
“Hopefully we can make it a little bit easier for ourselves – we don’t need that panic.”
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Thriving on moments
Wiegman saw her side leave it late to get out of jail once again – having trailed 2-0 to Sweden and recovered to draw 2-2 in 90 minutes.
The England head coach did not send Kelly into action until the 77th minute, but praised her ability to make an impact off the bench.
Wiegman told ITV Sport: “She thrives on these moments. She’s excited about it. She loves those moments and you can tell.
“This team just keeps going. We never give up.
Serious challenges
“We had some serious challenges in this game. In the first half we didn’t play well. We didn’t have the energy in the game.
“We did have the ball more and we were playing a little more in their half but we didn’t create.
“The second half we did better but they defended really well too, so when we were in the final third there wasn’t much space.
“They had a lot of blocks in front of the goal and were really aggressive and winning lots of duels, so I’m happy of course – even more happy now we’re going into the final.”
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