| Watch Lionesses: Champions of Europe on BBC iPlayer. |
The inside story of England's fairytale success at Euro 2022, told by the players involved, is revealed in a new film by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
England became the first country to win a major women's tournament. With a final against Germany at Wembley, it could not have been better.
The Lionesses broke a lot of records and made a lot of noise.
The entire thing is relived in an hour-long documentary on the iPlayer.
In their opening match of the tournament, the Lionesses didn't fire on all cylinders and ended up winning by a single point.
They dominated Norway in their second match in Group A.
The script did not include this. The biggest test for England in the group stages was Norway. Having a Ballon d'Or winner up front made the Swedes a real threat.
Alex Scott made a statement in the documentary.
It really doesn't happen like that in a Euros. I can't believe it happened, the standard in Europe is phenomenal.
England came into the Euros after being knocked out in the semi-finals in three consecutive major tournaments.
In order to instill a belief in her squad that they could go all the way, Dutch manager SarinaWiegman had to take over.
Ellen White was there and did it all. She's participated in six major international tournaments. She says thatWiegman changed a lot.
She gave us a sense of belief and she had a good relationship with the manager.
Her fortunes were turned around thanks to the help ofWiegman. He was left out of the team for the Olympics in the summer of 2021. She became the top scorer at the tournament.
During the documentary, he says football can be over complicated. We over-complicate it, bring all these tactics, talk and buzz around it, but Sarina has an amazing knack of just simplicity.
Earps almost dropped out of the England team. He contemplated quitting football in 2021. Understanding withWiegman helped her turn things around.
She says she didn't think she'd be in a squad for a major tournament again, let alone playing in a final. I can vividly recall the days when I felt down. I reached my limits but I wasn't good enough. I owned a mortgage. It wasn't making sense. I decided that I would give it more time. Life changed when Sarina arrived.
The Lionesses faced Spain in the quarter-finals. Some fans' heads dropped when Esther Gonzalez scored for Spain.
It wasn't the only time that the substitution worked. Georgia Stanway came off the bench in the sixth minute of extra time to score the winning goal as England came back from a 2-0 deficit.
She said that the most important goal of the tournament was her volley. It's crazy to think that we could have been knocked out if that didn't happen.
The captain talked about how the goal changed the mood of the group.
We were not going to be defeated. It's not that easy.
Earps agrees with it.
She says she didn't think we were going to go home. We were going to bring it home. I knew we were going to win the game after we tied it.
Lucy Bronze said that the Spain result made them realise they could win the tournament.
Nobody expected the Lionesses to beat Sweden by such a large margin. Almost no one. Fara Williams explained in the film that four is her lucky number.
The player of the tournament broke the deadlock in the 34th minute.
She was not selected for the Olympics. I was in a bad place after non-selecting. The fire inside of me was started by it. I wanted to show people what I was about and not let a single moment define me.
The cheekiest of backheels was scored by England's'super-sub', who scored four goals and made one assist in six appearances.
Toone asked where he had pulled that out from. I have known Less for a long time and I have never seen her do that. I didn't think she did that.
The Lionesses had accomplished so much in the tournament that they were able to win the title.
Toone was brought on in the second half and broke the stalemate.
She said that she didn't think she was at Wembley in a final. I decided to put it in the back of the net because I was through, one-on-one with the keeper.
The game went to overtime after Germany tied the game. The game and the trophy were won by Manchester City in the 11th minute of the extra time.
She remembers it being so quiet. I couldn't hear anything else besides the girls on the pitch.
England ended their long wait for a trophy at the end of the game.
Toone says that he still gets goosebumps thinking about it. Within one minute, we were laughing, crying, celebrating with the fans. I get a lump in my throat when I think about it.
"All I could think about was 'nothing will ever change what we've just done'."
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