Chelsea Women will have at least one member of the European Championship winning squad after England and Germany meet in Sunday’s final, but do you know how well our players performed in the previous competitions when major international trophies were at stake? ?
Thirteen years after their last appearance at the Euros, England will lift the trophy on home soil when the Lions host Germany at Wembley Stadium, which will complete a spectacular run.
If Sarina Wickman’s team wins, the Blues will have four happy players with winners’ medals: Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Bethany England and Fran Kirby. However, if this was Germany’s ninth victory at the European Championship, Ann-Katrin Berger would have a gold medal around her neck.
Although this is the first time the two major tournament runners-up have had a current Chelsea women’s side in their squad, few games have taken place if you include those who have played or represented the club in subsequent years. The last time ended without a blues connection…
Europe championship
England boss Wickman wants to keep a grip on the trophy he won with the Netherlands in 2017. On that occasion, the Netherlands won a very entertaining home tournament. Jackie Cronen in their order.
The midfielder is perhaps best known as a Manchester United player, but his WSL debut came in 2014 with Chelsea.
Kroenen was part of the team that lifted the trophy against surprise finalists Denmark, one of the best football players in the world. Stronger in Bern. It is unknown that three years after this game he will join the Blues for a world record transfer fee.
Harder was not only the captain of the Danish team, he was also their star player, but even though he scored in the final, 2-2 midway through the first half, the Dutch picked up the pace and ended up winning 4-2.
Four years ago Germany won their eighth European Championship, six more than their closest rivals, and beat Norway in the 2013 final.
Maren Mjelde Playing on the right for Scandinavia on that occasion, they lost 1-0, although it would have been a different story if Ada Hegerberg hadn’t equalized from a Mjelde cross after the assistant referee’s flag. Even though he didn’t reach the final, Melanie Leupols He was included in the German squad for this tournament.
At Euro 2009, Germany again faced England in the final – and the Lionesses squad was filled with players who played or played for Chelsea.
Karen CarneyHope, who scored England’s first goal in a 6-2 win, is one of six players in Powell’s starting XI with links to the Blues. Casey StoneyChelsea player-manager at the time, Anita Asante, Eniola Aluko, Farrah Williams And Katie Chapman.
There are more Chelsea representatives on the bench Siobhan Chamberlain, Danny Bute (now Bowman) and Leanne Sanderson He played for us then Laura Bassette He joined us after five years.
world Cup
While this list doesn’t include the current Les Bleus as World Cup finalists at the time, it wasn’t just on the European stage that we were well represented in the final.
Groenen may have been part of the exclusive group of players who won the previous list to see the European Championships, but he was unable to pull off a remarkable double for the Netherlands adding the European Cup. world to the trophy cabinet two years later.
But under Wiegmann’s tutelage, the Netherlands used the same formula to beat the best team in Europe, only to come up against an American team that had dominated women’s football for decades.
We don’t have many players on the other side of the pool – although we will have more – but ton of crystal He was a fan favorite during his time at Blue thanks to his energetic performance on the left. He was a key part of the USA team that won the final 2-0 which meant his country won the World Cup back to back.
When they won four years ago, former Chelsea players were among the losing finalists. Yuki Ogimi (now Nagasato) Emma Hayes was one of the first foreign superstars recruited during this era, but her star shone brightly but very briefly in blue, her departure preceding our period of unprecedented success.
Ogimi didn’t play in the 2015 final in Vancouver, Canada – he scored. Unfortunately, his Japanese side were already trailing 4-0 before winning 5-2 against the United States.
Okimi, however, has fond memories of the World Cup final against the United States. Japan won the 2011 final against them after a 2-2 draw on penalties, although he was the only player to miss the shootout. But who remembers something like that when it comes to your hand at the end of a cup?
We also had Brazil in the World Cup final, although some of you might be scratching your head trying to remember the more abstract Blues. Esther A midfielder, he was welcomed into the club by fellow countrymen David Luiz, Oscar and Ramirez, but held on for several months before moving on. Shortly before joining Chelsea, Brazil lost 2-0 to Germany in the 2007 final.
We have to go back to the last century for our last World Cup final, a seismic event that changed the face of women’s football forever.
You may have seen Brandi Chastain’s signature celebration after her penalty win over China in a shootout in front of more than 90,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in California. Maybe you don’t remember, they’re called the young team players truck showHe moved to Chelsea after eight years with the club due to injury.
Olympic
Although Olympic football is rarely considered a major honor in men’s football, with teams made up of players under the age of 23 and some older players, it has long been a prized award in women’s football.
Of course, when the last Olympics were held in Tokyo last summer, we were in a similar situation on Sunday, when a Chelsea player was guaranteed gold.
In the end that By Jesse Fleming That’s exactly what Canada did by targeting the Blues midfielder in the final against Sweden, one of their teammates in that win. Kadisha Buchanan, has now joined the club. However, for this Magda Erickson, Jonas Anderson And Jesira MusovicMore X-Blues Hedwig Lindahl And Sophie JacobsonIt’s a silver medal.
All but Sweden’s Musovic have won back-to-back second-place finishes at the Olympics, losing to Germany in Rio five years ago. However, there was joy for another future Blues player, with a gold medal around Leupolz’s neck after playing in the final.
In fact, our players didn’t win big in this tournament. Although Ogimi scored again in a major final, this time at Wembley in 2012, Japan lost to the United States. It was the same old story four years ago when the dominant nation in women’s football beat Brazil’s Esterin in China.
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