Michelle Agyemang is loving her ‘crazy’ experience at Euro 2025, becoming England’s hero just four years after being a ball girl at a Lionesses game.
The 19-year-old scored the 96th minute equaliser for England against Italy in the semi-finals on Tuesday before Chloe Kelly netted the winner in extra-time to send Sarina Wiegman’s team into the final.
It was Agyemang’s third goal in just four caps having also scored the equaliser in the quarter-finals against Sweden.
The Arsenal striker, who spent last season on loan at Brighton, has come a long way in a very short amount of time.
The teenager was a ball girl in Wiegman’s third game in charge of England four years ago and now she is a national hero, a wild journey although she remains incredibly humble about it.
‘It means the world to me, I’m so grateful, and as I always say I’m so grateful to God for where he’s brought me from,’ she told ITV.
‘Four years ago, I was just a kid throwing the ball to some of these girls, now I’m here playing with them! It’s a great opportunity and I’m so happy that I’m here.’
Three goals in four England games
On her superb scoring record so early in her international career, she joked: ‘It’s decent! To be doing this at this level and helping out this team is more than what I could have wished for, I’m so grateful to be here.’
She added on Sky Sports: ‘I’m buzzing, I might not look it but I am buzzing, It’s crazy to do that two games in a row in that kind of fashion. It shows the character of this team and I’m so grateful that we’re still here to see another week.’
Agyemang was only called up to the England squad for the first time in April this year and has felt welcomed by her teammates who have achieved so much beforehand.
‘I think being here for such a short amount of time, my teammates have been so supportive,’ she said.
‘It’s easy to come here and not really be connected to a team because of the short amount of time but the team have really taken me in and I’m so grateful for every single person on this team.’
Asked whether she expected tournament football to be quite as dramatic as it has been in Switzerland so far, she said: ‘Absolutely not! Oh my goodness! It’s a lot! But it’s a lot of learning and experience. I’m so grateful that I’m here.
‘I’m so happy to be here and bring on Basel! I’m excited for whoever we play against.’
Speaking of her ball girl experience during a World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland four years ago, Agyemang told BBC Sport: ‘It was crazy.
‘Seeing the girls so close to my face. Beth Mead got a hat-trick that day, so to be a part of that experience was invaluable and I’ll never forget it.’
‘She brings something different’
There is no romanticism in her selection, though, with Wiegman not surprised by her killer instincts in the penalty box.
Speaking after her heroics against Sweden, the manager said of the striker: ‘This is basically why we selected her.
‘We know she hasn’t been in our environment for a long period of time, but the moment she came in she did really well and she brings something different.
‘She has shown that in training, against Belgium, against France. She’s so strong and then she scores a goal too. She’s shown that she can do that.’
Wiegman added after the teenager’s goal against the Italians: ‘She has something special. She’s only 19 years old, she’s very mature, she knows exactly what she has to do.
‘When you talk about little things that she picks up straight away, because she’s not only in the 18-yard box very dangerous but when we have to go to her as a target player, she keeps the ball really well too.
‘Even when you saw her shot hit the crossbar, that was not just a shot, she was aiming for it. If she continues like this she has a very bright future.’
She’s just such an incredibly intelligent player
Agyemang is unlikely to start Sunday’s final against either Germany or Spain, likely sticking to her super sub role, but her teammates are well aware of what she brings to the table.
‘She feels inevitable right now,’ captain Leah Williamson said of the striker.
Lucy Bronze added: ‘You see it when she comes on. Defenders are petrified of her.’
Esme Morgan said: ‘She has such awareness of where she needs to be in the box. She’s just such an incredibly intelligent player to know what spaces to pick up and then such a composed finisher when she gets the opportunity. She’s an incredible person to be able to rely on.’
