Cliff Notes – Euro 2025: England blocking out pressure ahead of final Toone
- Ella Toone emphasised that England is focusing on their own performance, blocking out external pressures ahead of the Euro 2025 final against Spain.
- Toone highlighted the importance of Sarina Wiegman’s motivational speeches in fostering team confidence and unity throughout the tournament.
Euro 2025: England blocking out pressure ahead of final – Toone
Ella Toone has said England are blocking out any talk of pressure ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2025 final against Spain, and revealed Sarina Wiegman’s motivational speeches have played a key role in getting them through the tournament in Switzerland.
Toone will play in her third major final for England on Sunday. In Euro 2022 she scored in their 2-1 win over Germany to take the trophy, and started in their 1-0 defeat to Spain in the 2023 World Cup final.
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And as they look to defend their Euros title against Spain on Sunday in Basel, Toone said the group are happy in their bubble where they’ve blocked out external noise.
“I think we have our own little bubble, and when we’re in camp we stay in that little bubble and we don’t know too much about what’s going on at home,” Toone said.
“I think we don’t have that pressure on ourselves. I think the only pressure that we have is the one that you put on yourself individually, and we’re all very competitive athletes who want to win and want to play well every single game.
Ella Toone (left) after Michelle Agyeman’s late equaliser against Italy
“So the pressure is just the stuff that we put on ourselves. But when we came into this tournament, we said that we wanted to make the nation proud, and I think we’ve done that already. We’ve reached a final for the third time in a row, and that’s something that we can hold our heads high [about] and we should be proud of that.
“We know that no matter what we do, we’re always inspiring the next generation of young girls and boys starting out in their journey. So yeah, no pressure from our side and we’re definitely blocking that out and we’ll make sure that we’ve prepared properly for the game on Sunday.”
Toone feels the midfield battle could go some way to deciding who edges the final.
“I think in football sometimes games are won and lost in the midfield,” Toone said. “We know that we have to be on our game. We have so much respect for all three of them players [Spain’s midfield], world class players who are very talented and they are tough to play against, but we know what we’re capable of.
“Whoever plays in the midfield, we know we’ll do a job and an important job as well, and yeah, no matter what, we’ll, we’ll go into that game, we’ll give 100% and we’ll fight like we always do. Hopefully we can come out on top.”
Toone also revealed that Wiegman’s pre-match speeches have been a strong motivational tool through the tournament.
“We know we’re in good hands,” Toone said. “We know she’s a manager who can take teams right to the final and yeah, I mean, she’s done a few good speeches to be fair this camp, I’ll give it to her. We’ve been talking about it.
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“She’s a great manager. She’s someone who we all have a lot of belief in and yeah, we know we’re in good hands and you know, when we go out onto the pitch, we fight for each other, but we fight for her and the staff too and all the fans watching as well.”
Toone knows full well how life can change with a historic win. While there are several of the Euro 2022 group in this squad, there are several players who are in their first major tournament. One of those is Michelle Agyemang, who was England’s saviour in their quarterfinal with Sweden and semifinal with Italy.
Toone was asked what life will be like for Agyemang when she leaves the England tournament bubble.
“She might get papped eating a pasty like I did,” Toone said. “I’ll have to warn her about that.
“Michelle, I would think she’s about 30 years old, she’s so mature, so humble. She’s come into this tournament with freedom, not a worry, not a care.
“She’s turned up in big moments when we’ve needed her and she’s got a lot of talent and she can do a lot of things that not many players can do. Even when she has scored in games, she’s been the same Michelle that she was when we started the tournament.
“I’m buzzing for her, it’s nice for good people to get things that they deserve. She’s definitely in the bubble now but when she gets out she’ll be recognised by a lot more people than she was before the tournament, and she definitely deserves that.”