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Even more omelette talk from Jordi:
“Just a quick message to point out that, contrary to the wishes of the lady holding a sign in the photo, Spanish omelettes don’t fold, neither fast nor slow.
“Here’s a fan of the Spanish team hoping England… gets soggy faster than beans on toast? I hope that works.”
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Jeremy Boyce has added to the omelette chat:
“Can I be the first of 1052 pedants to point out that the supporter in your photo holding the omelette placard is showing her ignorance of Spanish cooking, and of omelettes. Spanish omelette is a British construct, meaning an omelette with a bit of everything in it (onion, peas, carrots, potato…) as a way of eating up leftovers. They are not usually folded. THE Spanish omelette is of course the mighty Tortillas, usually 4 or 5 centimetres thick, and composed entirely of potato, onion, egg and olive oil, LOTS of olive oil. Many spanish households have a Tortillas pan, like the old British chip pan, which is only used for this purpose and in which the oil stays. It is not folded. You couldn’t fold it. Buen probecho!”
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Updated at 09.39 EDT
Andrew Crudgington has messaged in with regards to this sign…
“Can I relieve the pre-match tension with some pedantry? The sign she’s holding saying “Spain fold faster than a Spanish omelette” should really say “French Omelette” – she could have gone with Spain have a soft centre like a really good tortilla Espanola – but I guess that’s a bit wordy. Anyway off to the Tollington 5 mins from the Emirates to suffer with fellow AWFC fans now – though at least we get to cheer for Mariona if England lose.”
England fans with signs before the Euro 2025 final. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAShare
Updated at 09.39 EDT
Sean Ingle
Twice in the past week, England’s Lionesses have rolled the dice, ridden their luck, and performed sleight of hand worthy of the magic circle. The question now, as they prepare to face Spain in Sunday’s Women’s Euro 2025 final in Basel, is can they pull yet another rabbit out of the hat?
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It’s been a fantastic summer for English football regardless of the result tonight, says Des Brown:
“Spain are the favourites – but this has been an exceptional summer for English football: the Under 21s winning the Euros, Chelsea winning the Club World Cup, Arsenal winning the Women’s Champions League. The momentum appears to be with the English sides.”
ShareTom Garry
Inside the stadium, the national anthems have just been rehearsed and the mascots are practising their walkouts, while the announcer is rehearsing reading all of the players’ names. It is a compact, enclosed venue where the seats all are pretty close to the pitch, even those in the upper tiers, because the upper terraces overhang the lower tiers, which has the potential to create a cauldron of noise come kick-off.
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Happy Gilmore 2 may be the film taking this weekend’s headlines, but we now have another sporting sequel to look forward to…
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Deborah Smee is in Basel for the match:
“We are in Basel, brimming with anticipation. Holding fingers crossed for the weather and the England team. We are hoping for a definitive win, our nerves are on the edge.
Go Lionesses!”
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Roger just got back in touch with another fantastic tune:
“That mob you played earlier do a great version of the most played song of the tournament. You can’t not be up for the game after listening to this…”
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England fans are out and about in Basel!
England fans hold up a large flag in support of Lucy Bronze. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAEngland fans pose for photographs with flags. Photograph: Nick Potts/PAShare
Ingrid Kamstra will be watching all the way from New Zealand! She says:
“Watching on from New Zealand. Meanwhile, happily catching up on preview articles and listening to preview podcasts.The game will start here at 4am Monday NZT. Am tossing up whether to stay up and watch it live (ie not go to bed at all). Or watch it on demand later on without knowing the score beforehand (ie “pretend live”). Most likely, “live” will win out. Too excited (and nervous) to sleep anyway. Really hoping for an England win – and hoping they can do it without giving us all another bloody heart attack.”
I’d say definitely watch it live. Maybe have a nap though first!
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Nigeria staged a remarkable fightback from two goals down to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 and win the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations last night.
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Jeremy Boyce is hoping that England can defy the odds this evening:
“I’m in France too but I’ll be watching on my own this evening (6pm ko European time) unless my mate Simon joins me. I’ll be rooting for Leah’s XI, obviously, but I’ll be amazed if she gets to lift the trophy this time. Spain have moved on with their selections and if they play to their awesome best England will need to produce a performance that looks a little beyond them. I hope I’m wrong. In any event, France TV and the watching public would have found itself in a right pickle this evening, with the match kicking off at roughly the moment when Le Tour will be hitting the streets of Paris (quite possibly literally given the weather forecast) for the climax of its 3 weeks of physical torture. Good job France didn’t make it to the final or there would have been a right old conflict of interests.”
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Irene Paredes feels Spain have broken down barriers for women in their society since lifting the World Cup two years ago but the Euro 2025 finalists still have work to do.
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Jose has messaged in from Spain to say:
“These last years I have been living in England although currently I am in Spain where I was born in just wishing to return to England quite soon. So for me a final between England and Spain is a win because whoever wins I feel quite proud. If Spain wins I feel proud because I was born in Spain. And if England wins I feel proud because I chose England as the place I preferred to be.
“In any case, if I have to honest, when I watch both teams I feel quite familiar with them (I can speak Spanish from Spain, even Catalan as Aitana Bonmati and I also speak British English) but at the same time I feel distant from both. Because I am not the typical Spanish person that lives in Spain and follows his team and obviously not an Englishman following his team.
“Who do I want to win? I have the feeling I want Spain to win but rationally I want to win just the best one.
“If things go according to other matches I can imagine Spain having the ball most of the time and seeming to be the ones going to win. While England will have hold of the ball just not much but will be very smart and much more dangerous when keeping the ball! Let the best win!”
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Thanks Dominic! Right, Roger Kirkby’s question earlier got me thinking about songs associated with football/major tournaments.
So, what are your favourite football-related songs? Let me know!
I’m going to throw this belter out there…
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That’s my power hour in the chair done and dusted. We’re only four hours away from kickoff now and Emillia Hawkins is back to ramp up the anticipation levels.
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Sarina Wiegman has made her name as a ruthless decision-maker, but she may well let loose and get the party started if England do the business in Basel tonight.
Midfielder Keira Walsh has spoken effusively about her manager.
“She probably shows her excitement a little bit more after games than she used to do,” she said. “When you see on the side she’s dancing and singing and we didn’t see that so much when she first came in. But, in terms of how she delivers tactics and how she manages, I think she is very, very similar.”
ShareTom Garry
The view from our reporter in Basel:
The historic old town squares in the centre of Basel are all heaving with England fans enjoying beers, some lunch and even kicking a ball around in some cases, but the rain is now plummeting down on their party. It looks like the white and blue kits are in the majority over the red Spain kits.
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Updated at 07.53 EDT
The England fans are out in force in Basel today and the gentle ribbing of Spain has begun in earnest.
England fans descend on Basel. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAShare
Nobody asked, but here’s the XI that I’d pick if I was Sarina Wiegman this evening:
Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood, Carter; Walsh, Stanway, Toone; Kelly, Russo, Hemp.
Kelly starting, leave Agyemang as an impact sub, slight tweak to the back four. There you go.
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Just a gentle reminder of the other major sporting events we’re covering this afternoon. Get across them.
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Surely every single screen in the country needs to be showing the final at 5pm today? Apparently not, as William Lane reveals on email.
Uproar in Sheffield this morning as Tramlines festival aren’t showing the final (a no re-entry policy complicates matters further).
CMAT and leave for the footie, or watch the final and rush in for Kasabian assuming no extra time. Or bin off the whole thing and hunker down in a pub somewhere.
Some difficult decisions need to be made…
Do the right thing, William!
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Let’s have some England team selection debate then, shall we?
There’s been a lot of chat about whether super-subs Chloe Kelly and/or Michelle Agyemang should come into the starting lineup.
Should Lauren James retain her starting spot? We believe she is injury-free, so is fit enough to do so. Will (or should) Wiegman make any adjustments to her defence?
It’s a game of opinions, so let’s hear yours.
Agyemang and Kelly to start against Spain? Photograph: Jose Breton/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Uefa’s director of women’s football Nadine Kessler says the 16-team Euro 2025 has been a big success even without making a profit, and that there aren’t any plans to expand the tournament in the short-term.
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Let’s hear a bit from Sarina Wiegman on the pressure, or maybe lack thereof, involved in playing major finals. She’s been in a few as a manager, this her fifth in Euros and World Cups with England and the Netherlands, plus numerous others.
Every tournament of course you want to perform and there are expectations but you also have expectations from yourself.
I just know that going into a final is already very, very special. There are only two teams that can make the final so if you talk about pressure, that’s not really a pressure, that’s very special.
When you got to a final you really want to win it too. We’re happy that we’re in the final and we really want to win it and we’re going to do everything to make that happen.
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Thanks Emillia.
I enjoyed the name Douglas Bootle earlier. Sounds like a Pro Evolution Soccer version of my own name.
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I’m off for a break now so Dominic Booth will be with you for the next hour.
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England v Spain: last three meetings
Spain 2 England 1, 3 June 2025, Barcelona
England were knocked out of the Nations League after going ahead through Alessia Russo in the 21st minute. In the second half, Spain’s Clàudia Pina made an instant impact from the bench, scoring two minutes after coming on, then doubled her tally 10 minutes later as Spain secured victory in the 70th minute. The Lionesses would have qualified for the semi-finals at Spain’s expense with a win.
England 1 Spain 0, 26 Feb 2025, London
A Wembley crowd of 46,550 watched England defeat Spain in the teams’ first meeting since the World Cup final, in Nations League A Group 3. Jess Park’s 33rd-minute goal secured victory for the Lionesses. Lucía García’s first-half attempt that rattled the crossbar and second-half chances for the winger Salma Paralluelo were the highlights of Spain’s attacking play but England held on.
Spain 1 England 0, 20 August 2023, Sydney
Spain became world champions with a dominant performance. Lauren Hemp hit the bar from outside of the box early on but that was the pinnacle of England’s first-half chances and Olga Carmona ensured Spain went into the break ahead with a clinical finish past Mary Earps. Earps produced a fantastic 70th-minute penalty save from Jenni Hermoso and made further saves to keep England in the game but Spain deserved their win. Eze Obasi
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David Flood is at Latitude Festival this weekend but will be watching the football later. He says:
“Two years ago I wandered Latitude asking if they would be showing the final but no luck. This year they have listened and are showing it on 2 screens. Sadly I will miss Alison Moyer and Mika. And please no extra time or penalties otherwise there’ll be no Elbow!
“And Gareth Malone and the Latitude choir will be singing a special rendition of Its Coming Home!”
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