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I really enjoyed the pithy detail in Sophie Downey’s player ratings:
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I wasn’t looking for comparators to the Lionesses, because there aren’t any, and even if there were, they merit celebrating on their own merits. But last evening, towards the end of extra time, the sense of unstoppable destiny I felt – of when you know the power of a team is celestial and supernatural – reminded me of watching Manchester United in 1998-99. And this morning, I’m reminded of something Alex Ferguson – of whom Sarina Wiegman reminds me, a lot – said of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Champions League winner:
The celebrations begun by that goal will never stop. just thinking about it can put me in party mood.
And all they did was win a few football matches. The Lionesses have changed what football matches mean.
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Relive each moment: now we know, but strange though it seems, there was also a time when we didn’t. Check Sarah Rendell’s minute-by-minute, which she somehow managed to bring to you without passing out.
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Please do, over the course of the day, feel free to send in your personal reflections – on the game, on the achievements and on the people. I’ll start: one of very many things I love about the Lionesses is the cohesiveness that elevates rather than stultifies the individuals. Whether it’s the calm, confident leadership of Leah Williamson; the wide-eyed bafflement and dead-table resting pule of Michelle Agyemang; the dizzying ebullience of Chloe Clutch-Kelly; the inspiring devotion of Lucy Bronze; I could go on all day here, and I’m going to.
But for now, there’s someone for everyone, except they’re all for all of us, and that is a credit both to them and to the environment created by the football and HR genius of their manager. Sarina Wiegman, what a woman.
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Updated at 03.13 EDT
Did that really happen? Apparently so. Here’s Suzy Wrack’s match report!
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Preamble
Hello, wondrous morning, and welcome. It’s our happy duty to spend the next numerous hours luxuriating in an achievement and a joy, creating and nourishing, a love and an impact, that we’ll never fully grasp or process: Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses have changed football, have changed England, and have changed us. There was before them and there will be after them, but now there is only them …. touching me, touching you. We are privileged to be living in their time, and it is incumbent upon us to enjoy every aspect of it. Here we go!
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