Special night could be a game-changer
They would have filled stadiums twice this size had more of the high- rolling Premier League clubs only had the vision to see that this tournament would be something to savour.
Many weren’t interested. Pitches to relay. Money-spinning concerts to stage. Sheffield wasn’t complaining. The skies here were slate grey when england’s squad arrived yet hundreds gathered to applaud them into the ground.
This old place knows a bit about history — the words ‘Sheffield United 1889’ are inscribed on the main stadium clock — and they could hardly believe they were being presented with another piece of it. For the first time, england will appear in a tournament final which they will contest as equals, knowing that they can win, whether Germany or France lie ahead.
The Swedes are a testament to what going the extra mile to a tournament final can do for a nation’s bid to embed women’s football in its sporting culture.
It was the nation’s appearance in the 2003 World Cup final which delivered the biggest TV football audience the country had ever known — male or female — and changed everything for them. even though a 2-1 defeat by Germany ensued. This is what last night can bring.
It helped that the Swedes later became armed with one of the world’s most charismatic coaches, Pia Sundhage, remembered for her renditions of Bob Dylan songs before the 2016 Olympic final.
Sarina Wiegman does not seem predisposed to anything of the kind with a microphone in hand, though her capacity to bring a song from this group of players is indisputable.
It wasn’t just the decisive passages of play around the half-hour mark which revealed that but the unmistakable demeanour of the players at close quarters before the game had even started.
To be sitting here, witnessing the national anthem being belted out so enthusiastically at a high cadence, which told you it was the next generation doing the singing, was profoundly moving.
The players were aware enough, in the moment, to perceive this, too. Leah Williamson flashed a wide smile as she handed the Swedish pennant to the bench.
Beth Mead, who was about to deliver something special again, summoned support from the fans down her right flank. There seems to be a pleasure in playing for england, even when the stakes are this high.
Among those you imagined might be least likely to summon this kind of radiance was Rachel Daly, who had been so torn asunder by the Spanish that her selection last night was at the very least in doubt.
But her opening 10 minutes were quite extraordinary; a riposte to any who had questioned her as she powered down the left to deliver a 30-yard diagonal Mead couldn’t quite get to, then dragged a ball imperiously past Sofia Jakobsson.
But in many ways last night belonged to the individual with the lowest profile of any these last three weeks.
The challenge for the 29-year- old Manchester United goalkeeper Mary earps has been stepping up and finding the instinctive competitive edge after a group stage in which she had been barely involved.
She proved she was up to that test in one of england’s darker moments against Spain, when she dropped on a shot from Athenea del Castillo at a time when the forward was causing havoc.
Last night, the game was 22 seconds old when another moment of enormous significance arrived, after Lucy Bronze — who does not defend as she attacks — was absent as Jakobsson raced in to score.
earps’ reactions, extending her left leg to block the shot with her foot, were just the start.
Later came the twisting leap to throw her left palm to divert a ball which seemed to be spinning into the net from Blackstenius’ knee.
It was an enormous moment, in which the reactions of those around her said most. Daly and Millie Bright almost squeezed the life out of her. It was apparent that a Wembley final was going to be england’s.
There is a point of weakness on the england right flank — that much is sure. Bronze was burgled by Fridolina Rolfo, another seriously dangerous attacking player. But when threats materialise, reinforcements show.
Alessia Russo’s goal will live longest in the memory, of course. That back-heel is destined to become trick of choice for so many of that next generation who sang england home.
Fran Kirby’s expertly clipped fourth was testament to Wiegman’s insistence that the Chelsea player was fundamental to the squad, despite her struggles with illness and injury.
But it was the collectivism which took them through in this famous old stadium, where the industrial classes first gathered to watch football so many years ago. As the legend on the old Bramall Lane stand reads: ‘Forged in Steel.’