Published 01 August 2022 4 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Toone: 'The best feeling of my life!'
England ace re-lives the moment she scored at Wembley to set the Lionesses on their way to EURO 2022 victory
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Ella Toone described scoring at Wembley in the Lionesses’ EURO 2022 final victory over Germany as the “best feeling” of her life.
The forward came off the bench and broke the deadlock for England with a delightful chipped finish, before fellow substitute Chloe Kelly netted the winning goal in the second period of extra time.
Toone’s role in Sarina Wiegman’s squad has been key throughout the tournament, having previously scored against Spain to keep the Lionesses alive in the quarter-finals.
Discussing her crucial goal against Germany, she said: “I’ve seen her [Merle Frohms] coming out and I thought that would be the best shot to do.
“I started celebrating even before it had gone in the net, so I was confident that it was going in and then the whole stadium erupted, honestly [the] best feeling of my life.
“You can see that the subs have made a massive impact in every game that we’ve come on for.
The forward came off the bench and broke the deadlock for England with a delightful chipped finish, before fellow substitute Chloe Kelly netted the winning goal in the second period of extra time.
Toone’s role in Sarina Wiegman’s squad has been key throughout the tournament, having previously scored against Spain to keep the Lionesses alive in the quarter-finals.
Discussing her crucial goal against Germany, she said: “I’ve seen her [Merle Frohms] coming out and I thought that would be the best shot to do.
“I started celebrating even before it had gone in the net, so I was confident that it was going in and then the whole stadium erupted, honestly [the] best feeling of my life.
“You can see that the subs have made a massive impact in every game that we’ve come on for.
“Me and Chloe both scored tonight and both of us starting as subs, but Sarina has said that it’s a squad of 23, so we know our roles, we know that when we come on we have to change the game and that’s what we did tonight.”
The record for the highest attendance at a UEFA tournament match was smashed at the national stadium, with a crowd of over 87,000 recorded, including several members of Toone’s family.
“There was about 20 of them,” she said. “I had to tell a lot of people that there weren’t enough tickets, but I had my closest ones here with me tonight and I’m just so happy they were there.
“Honestly, I hope I’ve made them the proudest people in the world right now.”
Sunday’s victory saw the Lionesses lift a major international trophy for the first time, and Toone believes the women’s game is now in the best place it ever has been.
The record for the highest attendance at a UEFA tournament match was smashed at the national stadium, with a crowd of over 87,000 recorded, including several members of Toone’s family.
“There was about 20 of them,” she said. “I had to tell a lot of people that there weren’t enough tickets, but I had my closest ones here with me tonight and I’m just so happy they were there.
“Honestly, I hope I’ve made them the proudest people in the world right now.”
Sunday’s victory saw the Lionesses lift a major international trophy for the first time, and Toone believes the women’s game is now in the best place it ever has been.
She stated: “It’s massive now, it’s absolutely massive. We can’t forget everyone who came before us, but we’ve left the shirt in a better place for all the little girls growing up and we’re so proud.
“All we wanted to do was inspire the next generation and we have done, and women’s football is getting bigger and bigger.”
When asked if she thinks there could be a rise in Barclays Women’s Super League attendances following the tournament, the Manchester United ace said: “I would like to think so.
“I think a lot of people have fallen in love with women’s football this summer and that’s what we set out to do.
“Hopefully the crowds that we’ve had this summer we can get into our grounds at club level and some more fans at the stadium to be on the journey with us.”
“All we wanted to do was inspire the next generation and we have done, and women’s football is getting bigger and bigger.”
When asked if she thinks there could be a rise in Barclays Women’s Super League attendances following the tournament, the Manchester United ace said: “I would like to think so.
“I think a lot of people have fallen in love with women’s football this summer and that’s what we set out to do.
“Hopefully the crowds that we’ve had this summer we can get into our grounds at club level and some more fans at the stadium to be on the journey with us.”
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