England penalty hero Chloe Kelly said Sunday she had been unable to hold back the tears after finishing a roller-coaster year in her career by scoring the spot-kick that allowed the Lionesses to beat Spain in the Women's Euro 2025 final.
The 27-year-old's penalty sealed a 3-1 shoot-out victory for England against Spain after the match in Basel had finished 1-1 at the end of extra time.
She had earlier come off the bench late in the first half in place of the injured Lauren James with England trailing 1-0, and crossed for Alessia Russo to head in her team's equaliser.
"I just came on the pitch and wanted to make something happen," said Kelly, who has made a habit of being a super-sub during the tournament.
The Arsenal player came on as a substitute against Sweden and helped England recover from 2-0 down in a quarter-final they eventually won on penalties -- Kelly scored in that shoot-out too.
Then she scored the winner late in extra time in the semi-final against Italy, following in to net after her penalty had been saved.
"I know Alessia's strengths and I just tried to put the ball on her head, and then taking the penalty," Kelly said.
"I actually missed three penalties in training yesterday but I think it's the belief in this squad, all 23 players and the people that you don't see behind the scenes, the staff members, to get us through this tournament.
"I am proud to be part of an amazing group of girls."
It is a familiar feeling for Kelly, who scored the extra-time winner when England beat Germany 2-1 in the Euro 2022 final in front of over 87,000 fans at Wembley.
In between she was unable to change the game from the bench in the 2023 World Cup final, which England lost 1-0 to Spain in Sydney.
