![]() Then along came Stanway, the space just opening up in front of her, the Spanish backline retreating. The scene was set in Brighton: Sarina Wiegman had only returned a negative Covid-19 test hours before kickoff, the Lionesses were 1-0 down and six minutes away from being eliminated at the quarter final stage.Įlla Toone scored a dramatic late equaliser. Lyon, battered 3-0 on their own patch in the quarter-finals - a game that cemented Craig Dawson's cult hero status at the club and saw David Moyes serenaded by the travelling faithful.Ī journey made all the more special because after 25+ years of going to West Ham with my dad, I was the one able to take him to nights both of us will never ever forget.Įngland won Euro 2022 / Naomi Baker/GettyImagesĮuro 2022 produced some of my favourite football memories: Chloe Kelly's winner against Germany, Three Lions blaring out and this outpouring of emotion as Wembley erupted on the final whistle, Jill Scott's spectacular swearing.īut my favourite is Georgia Stanway's stunning winner against Spain. The winning goal, fittingly, scored by an emotional Andriy Yarmolenko as 60,000+ showed their solidarity and support for Ukraine. Sevilla , serial winners of the Europa League, swatted aside at a thunderous London Stadium in what is one of mine, and surely the club's, greatest ever games. Group H, eased through with the calmness and serenity you'd expect from regulars in the competition, not a side whose last successful continental venture was back in the 1970s. What more is there to say? Little old West Ham, forever the underachievers, living every club outside the big six's dream on the European stage. West Ham reaching the Europa League semi-final. West Ham reached the Europa League semi-final / Eurasia Sport Images/GettyImages *For Scott's alternative pick, please see the following Slack message: "if you want one please replace mine with 'Leandro Paredes smashing ball at Dutch bench'." ![]() The day of qualification had to be the moment I picked, mind you, because we were absolutely sh*te in Qatar. I even got to ride on the team's coat-tails and get up close in the tournament itself. I wasn't able to make it to Cardiff but most that did will tell you that was one of the greatest days in the history of Welsh football - given the "it's been 64 years since our last one" narrative - and it had an incredible impact on me. ![]() But so much has changed and Welsh football's in a better place. Nobody expected this - my generation and those before me had become accustomed to failure and nobody would've thought this was possible a mere decade ago. Mad with celebration, excitement, emotion, tears. ![]() Wayne Hennessey turned into superman and somehow kept a clean sheet, Cymru held on and Cardiff went mad. Wales narrowly beat Ukraine to confirm their place in Qatar after a deflected Gareth Bale free kick edged them ahead. On a rainy day in June in Cardiff, it happened. Nothing is better in football than when your country succeeds.Īnd success, for Wales, in 2022, was qualifying for the World Cup*. Wales qualified for their first World Cup since 1958 / Athena Pictures/GettyImages Having followed the team through thick and very, very thin down the years, the 2022 FAI Cup triumph and the ensuing buzz around the club in the city has been really fantastic to see and will hopefully kickstart a wee golden era for the Candystripes. The most recent time was this year, when over 20,000 Derry natives made an eight-hour round trip to Dublin to watch Ruaidhri Higgins' side thump Shelbourne 4-0 in the final at the Aviva Stadium. While I still haven't seen the Candystripes win the League of Ireland (despite finishing second on four occasions in those two decades, missing out on goal difference during one particularly heartbreaking season), I have been lucky enough to see the boys lift the domestic cup - the FAI Cup - four times. It's fair to say that the League of Ireland isn't the best, biggest or richest league in the world, but it's the one that myself and my da have been going to watch my hometown club, Derry City, play in for over two decades. Derry City won the FAI Cup / Tim Clayton - Corbis/GettyImages
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