Spain were left bitterly disappointed by defeat to England in the final of Euro 2025, feeling they deserved more from a match they were the better team in.
The world champions took the lead in the first half through Mariona Caldentey but Alessia Russo equalised for the Lionesses just before the hour mark.
The match wound its way to extra time and remained 1-1 by the final whistle, set to be decided by a penalty shootout.
Spain really stumbled from the spot, with England running out 3-1 winners to defend their European Championship title.
The runners-up dominated possession (64.9 per cent), had 22 shots to England’s eight and will be ruing a number of missed opportunities as they clearly feel they were the superior side in Basel.
Manager Montserrat Tome said: ‘The players are in bad shape, as is the entire staff. This is what this profession entails; we deserved a different ending. We had it, and it slipped away.
‘This team deserved more; we’ve been working for this for a long time. I think the team did what it took to get more. This is sport, and you have to know how to lose. We had a good first half; in the second, when they tied the score, we were too far behind. We tried again in extra time.
We were the better team, but that’s football; the best team doesn’t always win.’
Tome did praise the Lionesses’ resilience, not just in the final, but having come through a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals against Sweden and extra time against Italy in the semis.
‘England is a great team, with a very high competitive level,’ continued the Spain boss.
‘They’ve been playing on the edge for quite a few games, they have tricky moments, but they always solve them. They’ve been better on penalties.’
Spain superstar Aitana Bonmati had similar feelings, finding it hard to believe her team were beaten, while apologising for missing her spot kick.
‘I’m in shock, I don’t have many emotions. I’ve emptied myself,’ she said.
‘It’s been a long time here, it’s cruel because it was our objective and everything is decided on penalties. I apologise for my mistake, I couldn’t score.
‘Congratulations to the opponent. I think we played a good game, I think we played well and at times we were superior, but sometimes in football it’s not enough. I’m really upset right now, I’ll come to terms with it in the next few days.
‘From the 70th minute onwards, the game was ours. Football is cruel. It seems like everything is bad right now, but I think we’re the team that played the best football in the tournament.’
England boss Sarina Wiegman admits the tournament has been a struggle for her team at times, but that only makes her more proud of her players.
‘I am pretty calm during the games. This tournament every single game has challenged us,’ said the winning manager.
‘We took those on board and how the team recovered from some setbacks, again today we went behind, but how we come back and how we kept working together and so hard and also then win. That’s the most important thing.’
