Georgia Stanway: Anyone in this England team could be the Final hero

Georgia Stanway believes one of England’s biggest assets heading into Sunday’s EUROs final is how everyone in the squad is capable of being the match-winner.

Whether it is Beth Mead against Austria, Stanway in the quarter-final with Spain or Mary Earps in Tuesday’s semi, this summer’s UEFA Women’s EUROs has included a host of moments where different players have stepped up and delivered for their team.

The Lionesses have used 18 players during their five matches so far and reaching this Sunday’s Final against Germany at Wembley Stadium has been a real squad achievement.

When asked if England’s biggest strength going into the final is that anyone could be the hero, Stanway replied: “Yeah, massive. I feel like you could play any of our players and you know exactly what you are going to get. You know that they are going to do a massive job for the team and that is what you need: you need multiple players to be able to step up in those moments and take it. 

“It is almost like being a catalyst. I feel like Less has had an unbelievable tournament, Beth Mead can’t stop scoring and moments like that are so, so important because it puts us one goal ahead.”

It was Stanway who was the hero in the quarter-final win over Spain, as the Manchester City midfielder smashed in a 20-yard extra-time winner.

The 23-year-old’s impressive long-range strike meant that when she picked up the ball during Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Sweden, there were regular chants of ‘shooooooot’.

“I will probably never hear the end of it and I still don’t know why I shot in that quarter-final game. I tried one today – row Z,” Stanway joked.

“But it is unbelievable to be in the now and the fans have been unbelievable.”

And on whether she can hear the fans’ chants, Stanway added: “Yeah definitely. Even in mad moments when Kiera has the ball on the halfway line, everyone is saying ‘shoooooooot!’ And you are like ‘are you serious?’

“But no, the fans have been unbelievable since the very first game at Old Trafford until now. That is what makes it so special, being able to share it with friends, family and the fans. 

“Everybody going wild, everybody knows who we are now, so yeah, come on England!”