Women’s football will never be the same again thanks to Lionesses’ extraordinary victory

LAST summer, when England’s men lost their Euros final, I was watching in a town square on a Croatian island. It was miserable.

Yesterday, I was in the same place watching our women win it. In the company of a load of Germans. Wunderbar.

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The Lionsses celebrate beating the Germans to win the Euros[/caption]

But it almost — almost — didn’t matter if the Lionesses won or lost, because they’d won the most important battle before a ball was kicked.

Women’s football in the UK would never be the same again.

The moment that changed everything was Alessia Russo’s backheeled goal against Sweden in the semi-finals.

Just as Gazza’s tears in Italia 90 somehow came to be seen as marking a massive turning point in the game, so it will be for Russo’s flash of inspiration.

And then, just when you thought that couldn’t be topped, came Chloe Kelly against Germany in the final.

If Russo’s goal will go down in history, super-sub Kelly’s dramatic winner will rewrite it.

She sold every single one of us a dream, winning over hearts and minds everywhere with one flick of the boot, and an iconic, devil-may-care celebration that no one watching will ever forget.

From beginning to end, from keeper to striker, from starting eleven to the bench, they have all been quite extraordinary.

Everything will be different now.

But please Lionesses, don’t go changing, we love you just the way you are.

Ray Collins

England football fans celebrate the Lionesses historic victory[/caption]