Lionesses 'loving every minute' after making semis - Bright

England defender Millie Bright highlighted her side's versatility after a gutsy 2-1 comeback win against Spain in extra time of their Women's European Championships quarter-final on Wednesday. After a goalless first half, Spain snatched the lead in the 54th minute when Esther Gonzalez found space in the penalty area and finished low and hard across Mary Earps in the English goal.

With their tournament hanging in the balance, Ella Toone was subbed on with half an hour to play, and she proved to be the hero when she got on the end of Alessia Russo's squaring head to stab in the equalising volley from the edge of the six-yard box in the 84th minute. Locked at 1-1, extra time was needed, and England made sure their fans would head home happy after Georgia Stanway found what would turn out to be the match-winner in the 96th minute, firing a rocket across the Spanish keeper into the top-left of the goal from well outside the penalty area.

 

July 20, 2022

Speaking to the media after the result, Bright talked about finding a different way to win, knowing it would be a very different contest than their recent drubbings of Northern Ireland (5-0) and Norway (8-0). "It's all part of the game, and you're gonna come up against different challenges," she said. "Again, we knew that they were going to have a lot of the ball. 

"We were gonna have to find that different way of winning, and having been in games where, like I said, we scored a lot of goals. But it's about being clinical when you get those chances. I thought the players that were on and the players that came on did that excellently. I think, obviously, we were dealing with not having the ball a lot, and having to stay really tight defensively. Then knowing when we got the ball, it's how we use it, and how we can punish them and work towards their weaknesses.

"But yeah, it was just a matter of trying to rush a little bit without kind of turning it over and making mistakes, and obviously, we knew we had that pressure. I think everyone is aware of the clock in the game and the score line. But yeah, I think for us, we stuck together as a team, knew what we needed to do, and executed it."

 

July 20, 2022

Bright also touched on the atmosphere inside Amex Stadium, saying they feel the pressure, but are "loving every minute". "[It was] probably one of the biggest [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 incredible. Everyone keeps talking about the pressure that's on us, but we embrace every moment, we're embracing the fans. There's always pressure in football at the highest level, so we've all dealt with that in the past, and yeah, we're just loving every minute."