Lionesses goalkeeper Hannah Hampton has revealed her hilarious tactic that helped England beat Spain to win Euro 2025 last month.
The Lionesses took the win after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over their rivals following a 1-1 draw in Basel.
Spain’s Mariona Caldentey opened the scoring in the final before Alessia Russo cancelled the opener out and forced extra-time. With nothing splitting the two teams in the additional 30 minutes, it all came down to Hampton’s efforts to secure the win for the Lionesses.
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Goalkeepers are known for keeping a record of where players are likely to take penalties, but a genius move from the Briton took that knowledge away from the Spanish keeper.
Hannah Hampton has revealed that she threw the Spanish goalkeeper's bottle into the stands
|Reuters
Hampton, speaking on talkSPORT, revealed: "The Spanish keeper had it on her bottle.
"So I thought when she was going in goal I’ll just pick it up and throw it into the English fans so she can’t have it.
"I never put it on a bottle because anyone can do that, so that’s why I put it on my arm,” she continued.
The 24-year-old then revealed how she went about throwing the bottle away: “It wasn’t hard, when she’s in the goal it’s on its own isn’t it? You just pick it up?
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"When she saw my bottle in there instead, mine’s blank but it has the same sponsors and stuff so I just put mine in there, chucked hers in with the fans and she had an empty bottle.
"She was walking back and I was walking the other way and she was so confused, I was trying so hard not to burst out laughing."
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Hannah Hampton made crucial stops during the Euros Final
|Reuters
The plan appeared to work for the keeper, as England went on to win the final 3-1 thanks to the penalty kicks from Alex Greenwood, Niamh Charles, and Chloe Kelly.
While those Lionesses scored, Hampton put in a shift in goal to save shots from Ballon d’Or contenders Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati.
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After the win, the keeper was overwhelmed with emotion, highlighting the resilience of the team.
“It's been unbelievable, incredible,” said Hampton. “We've shown during this tournament that we can come back when we go a goal down, we have that grit, we've got English blood in us.
“We never say die and we just keep going and we did that today.”
England won 3-1 in the penalty shootout to win the Euros final
|Reuters
The goalkeeper was named in the Team of the Tournamentlast week and was announced on the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or shortlist as well as the Yashin Trophy shortlist.
The 24-year-old is also inline for an MBE in the New Years Honours list.