Football Daily - The Debrief: England beat Spain & light up Wembley

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Katie Smith is joined by Izzy Christiansen and Alistair Bruce-Ball as England beat World Champions Spain 1-0 in the Nations League at Wembley. Hear from goal scorer Jess Park, goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and manager Sarina Wiegman on that impressive display. It was the first time England have faced Spain since the World Cup final in 2023 and this was a Lionesses side that showed they are getting closer to their best. The result boosts their position in the Women's Nations League table and is a big step in the right direction in their preparations for the Euros this summer. 00:20 Intro 02:00 Hannah Hampton 07:10 Jess Park 09:30 Russo impressing 14:20 Spain England rivalry 18:00 Sarina Wiegman 22:15 Looking ahead to the Euros BBC Sounds / 5 Live commentaries this week: Fri 28 Feb 2000 Aston Villa v Cardiff in FA Cup Sat 1 Mar 1215 Crystal Palace v Millwall in FA Cup Sat 1 Mar 1215 Preston v Burnley in FA Cup on BBC Sport website Sat 1 Mar 1500 Bournemouth v Wolves in FA Cup Sat 1 Mar 1745 Man City v Plymouth in FA Cup Sun 2 Mar 1345 Newcastle v Brighton in FA Cup Mon 3 Mar 1930 Nottingham Forest v Ipswich in FA Cup

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. live and in real time, and enjoy all your favorite sports. Hockey, baseball, soccer, and more. Want to experience the thrill of betting on every play? Tap into Botano now and make every game day exciting. Ontario residents only. Must be 19 or older. Please play responsibly. Sounds music radio podcasts. So it was the world champions up against the European champions. It was a rematch of the World Cup final from 18 months ago. And this time it was England's lionesses coming out on top at

Wembley a 1-0 win for England against Spain, their first win of this Nations League campaign, their first win of 2025, and we know what a big year it's going to be with the Euros coming up. England looking to defend their title that they won three years ago on home soil. Joining me here at Wembley this evening to discuss this huge result, a huge game, a brilliant game in fact. We've got former England international Izzy Christensen and our commentator Ali Bruce Ball. And Ali, if we just run through the game quickly, it was the goal from Jess Park making all the difference. Yeah, that's right. That came late in the first half. England had to withstand a fair

bit of pressure early on. You'd obviously expect that up against the world champion Spain. Funnily enough, Katie, we were talking before the game about whether the result or the performance was the more important, which is a really difficult question to answer. In the end, Serena Wigman got both because I thought England dealt really well with the threats that Spain offered, particularly in that first half. They did have chances. They crashed a shot against the bar. Lucia Garcia early on. Hannah Hampton was in sparkling form, one fantastic reflex save in the first half as well but as the game went on England grew into the game and showed so much attacking threat. The goal was a real thing of beauty. Alessio Russo is in such fabulous form for Arsenal at the moment leading the line for them, doing the same for England. Found a ball back to goal, corner of the Spanish penalty area late in the first half, turned the defender beautifully, drove into the box, hit the shot, it caused chaos and Jess Park was able to stick it away in the back of the net. And then the question

was, I think second half, would England be able to adapt and cope with what Spain threw at them as they made the changes? They didn't do that so well against Portugal on Friday night. They did that much better. They did have to withstand a bit of pressure in the second half, but they still offered that threat on the counter-attack. Lauren James so nearly made it 2-0 to England, but in the end they got over the line. And I mean, it's an obvious thing to say, Katie, but that performance, that result will do them the world of good. You mentioned Hannah Hampton and the amazing saves she made throughout this evening. And you might have heard someone standing quite excited in the background there. I'm joined

here live by goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in the tunnel saying that this is his first time doing radio with us so very very welcome and Hannah what a result first, what a performance. Yeah it was tough we had to cry on out at the end but we know how good of a team Spain are and we knew we had to put in a good team performance and I think we did that today. We were defensively solid and we got the win that we rightly deserved. So it was just the single change coming into the starting 11. You in, of course, for Mary Earps,

you started in the draw against Portugal. Just describe that moment you found out you were starting today. How does that change preparations for you, if anything? I don't think it changes preparation. I think you've got to be prepared for every game. You don't know what's going to happen in warm-ups. So I think everyone has to prepare as if they're going to play.

I got the opportunity tonight. I was grateful for that when Sabrina told me. I think I had a smile for me to wear again because it's always special playing for your country. And for me to play against Spain, it always means that much more from starting my career out there and making my debut three years ago against them so three or two I don't really know now but no it's always special to play for England and I just wanted to go out there and prove what I can do what I can bring to this team and help the team win. Some astonishing saves from yourself this evening.

Just talk us through, you've got such a massive smile on your face, surely you know how great they were. I do think some were routine, I think some could be tidier but I'm so picky on my own performance, I'm a worst self critic as people keep telling me but no, I'll do whatever I can for the team. The team made it easy for me, the defence made it so simple in terms of letting me recognise their position in and only open half the goal so I had to defend half. They covered half with their angles and stuff. We worked together as a team. We did so well today with our defence performance.

I'm in the last line of defence. I'll do whatever I can to keep the ball out the back of the net and help us get that win. Izzy Christensen is part of our coverage this evening. Again, Izzy, you'd love to see the absolutely huge smile on Hannah's face right now. I can feel it coming through the microphone. Izzy says she can feel it. Sorry, Hannah doesn't have a candle, she can't hear.

But we were talking about the exquisite distribution that you offer and how that might be a really key thing in Serena's thinking. I don't think it was on show tonight. Do you know? No. No, I don't think, I think some of my decision-making was a bit scrappy I think, some of my execution was scrappy I

think. Yeah I'm a good ballplayer and we know that it brings different qualities to this team and it's something that I use as a strength. Teams know that I think Spain did well to, in the first half, to every single time the ball came back to me, use me as a pressing trigger. So they kind of stopped me using what I'm best at. So we had to figure out a different way to do that. But no, I think, yeah,

I do think I could help the team out a bit better with my distribution today. Probably look at finding players in the pockets a bit more and playing through the middle because they obviously had their pressing triggers when it went out to our left side or when it went to our full backs. Do you think that was your best game in an England shirt so far? Gosh I think I don't know I do always think my debut against Spain was always

special I think. I didn't put a lot of pressure on myself because obviously you've got that much excitement for your first game. I think I was finding a lot more players in the pocket in that game and feeding the ball through the lines a bit more. But look, every game's a learning game. I'll watch it all back and see what I can improve on

and use them, every scenario for the next game to come and hopefully improve on it. Congratulations, brilliant performance this the next game to come and hopefully improve on it. Congratulations, brilliant performance this evening. We hope to have you back on the radio soon. Oh, thanks. See you soon. Hannah Hampton there with us, England goalkeeper, starting this evening's 1-0 win against Spain in the Nations League. Is he in an alley listening along to that? I will get Serena Wiegman's perspective in a few minutes. I'm down in the tunnel in Wembley,

so we will hear from the manager. But lovely there, Izzy, to hear the character of a player like Hannah Hampton, who probably some listeners won't have heard too much from her. We've, as you've been saying, hearing Mary Erps in the limelight and seeing her, and she's become such a key part of this England side.

So it was a huge decision for Hannah Hampton to get that start tonight in such a big game. Yeah, and if that's her with shabby distribution, I think to quote her, then I'm quite worried about when she's playing with good distribution because she is her own worst critic. I can tell you that for free. And yeah, I thought she was brilliant tonight. I think her presence in goal meant a lot for the back four and the whole team, in fact, and her distribution was very good in the first half, I must admit. And I will say that. Izzy, I'm just going to put you there because we've got Jess Park with us this now, goal

scorer this evening. Jess, congratulations. What a game. Another goal for you for England coming a couple of years after that first one. But how special was that this evening to do it here at Wembley? Yeah, I mean there's no feeling quite like it, you know it's one I'll be proud of for a long time I think and another tap in, I tend to be quite good at those so yeah, but every goal counts and yeah I'm really proud of it. Talk us through Alessia Russo and what she did setting up that goal for you. Yeah, Alessia is absolutely incredible, beating a player, driving in, having a shot and then it comes across the goal and I have a clear tap in.

It felt like a full 90 minute performance from England tonight. I think a bit of criticism after the Portugal draw last week that there was a very definitive momentum shift between the two halves. Did you feel that on the pitch tonight, that difference? Yeah definitely, you know we took the learnings from the last game and we made them into positives this game. We stuck together, I thought everybody battled so well, you know we stuck to the game plan and I think everybody was so good tonight in terms of you know doing the game plan and being strong and winning the ball back for us. Do you think there's any worries that England turn up for these big, big occasions up against

the world champions, whereas other opponents, perhaps those perceived as slightly lower ranked, those have been climbing up the rankings, that England needs to be able to turn it on in both scenarios, both situations? I guess every team brings a different challenge and it's important for us to just learn in the moment and work it out quicker. We took the learnings like we did from the last game and we move forwards and we look forwards to the next game and we turned it around this game.

So that's all we can do. It felt like you were also prepared to suffer tonight as well. The work off the ball, as well as what you were doing in possession. Yeah, it's always important to, you know, make sure you do the work off the ball. That's how teams get in and, you know, Spain are brilliant on the ball so we needed to make sure that we were all clear on what we needed to do and make sure that we won the ball back in made it difficult for them to score you know they didn't score so we must have done that quite well. Jess congratulations what a performance goal

for you match winner. Thank you. See you soon. Thank you very much thank you. That's Jess Park with us scoring earlier to get that win for England. I'm down in the tunnel. It's very busy down here, Ali and Izzy, so we will bring Serena Vigman reaction as well when we get it. But just commenting on that performance then, Izzy, we've talked about the switch and goal. I think there was speculation leading into this game about what changes Serena Vigman would make, if any. She barely made any within the outfield players. Jess Park, I thought so industrious

this evening, but you picked up on Alessia Russo as well being such a key part of the performance. Yeah, I think Alessia Russo's performance epitomises the way that she's been performing in the WSL this season for Arsenal. She's taken her game up a notch and she's really refined her link up play, her ability to read the game and play on the last line and make those runs in behind. And I also think if finishing and her end product has improved a. I think it's a great decision because you know with players, sometimes they burst onto the scene a little bit like the Chloe Kelly

goal in the European final. And for a less you're so her progress has been more of a steadier trajectory, and I think the performance that she put on tonight was absolutely brilliant. Her decision making was exceptional. And I think she caused Spain the two Spanish centre backs a lot of issues when she dropped in. She played in behind and that just added so much to the team

because, you know, her movement was clear for others to see what she was doing and then England could play around her. So, yeah, I thought it was a really good performance from her. 60 minutes under the belt and, yeah, a massive tick next to her name, that's for sure. Interesting that the substitutions Ali brought in for Alessia Root and some of those other forward-thinking players. So we had Nikita Paras and Chloe Kelly brought on fairly early actually for a Serena Vigman substitution and it's interesting isn't it in terms of what that might mean around her thinking about backups

for Alessia Russo. Exactly I was really struck by what Izzy said during the second half of commentary when those changes were made. Because Nikita Paris obviously hasn't been in an England squad for a good couple of years. Playing really well for Brighton this season has been in good goalscoring form. But if you think back to when England were European champions and Ellen White would start games and Alessia Russo was so good during that tournament, sort of coming off the bench, got herself four goals during the tournament. That squad strength, if you're going to win a major championship, a major tournament, you have to have that squad strength. England do have a few players out at the moment. If they can all get back fit for the summer,

that will make a massive difference. But I mean, you could see it with this Spain squad tonight, the start of the night making five changes from their previous game. England only made the one, but they do have that strength in depth, real game changes coming off the bench. And I guess that is a slight area of concern. It seems a bit funny picking out areas of concern for England after a night like that. But Alessia Russo is, again, it's a wrap up in cotton wool jobs, so important for the way England play. And she's in such good form at the moment that yes I think finding those backups for the tournament so that so that players can get the rest at the right time or you have to deal with injuries it's gonna be

absolutely crucial. Women's Football Weekly on the Football Daily. I'm Ben Haynes. I'm Ellen White. And I'm Jen Beattie. And on Tuesdays on the Football Daily we bring you the Women's Football Weekly. As a manager I'm really proud of my players and the performance they had tonight in the game. As we dive headfirst into all things WSL and beyond in the women's game.

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["Title Card"] ["Title Card"] residents only, must be 19 or older, please play responsibly. So slightly fluid podcast this evening because we're in the tunnel at Wembley, so slightly at the whim of when players and managers want to come and speak to us. But what I am noticing, Izzy, is that there's a lot of shirt swapping going on down here. And I think a reminder of just how big this game is. England, the European champions, up against Spain, the world champions. There is that sense of revenge. It's a twisting of the scoreline, if you will, from 18 months ago.

But I think actually shows what could be the making as of a really brilliant rivalry. Yeah, I think so. We've seen England knocking Spain out in the European championships on their quest to winning it. And obviously Spain getting their revenge in the World Cup final, dominant've got a lot of good good good good

good good good good good good good good

good good good good good good good good

good good good good good good good to the intensity of that first half in particular said to Ali on commentary that it's such an honor to play at Wembley, whether you're English or whether you are from another nation, because this is a prestigious stadium. So that adds an extra, you know, bit of spice to the match as well. And, um, yeah, a lot of shirts swapping a lot of mutual respect between the two sets of players, a lot of club teammates out there tonight playing against each other, a lot of former teammates playing against each other and you'd like to think this this

rivalry is going to blossom because they are two nations with England, USA, Spain of course, Sweden always in and around it, Germany, France. We've got some top, top teams in and around the world and we saw a really beautiful display in that first half of where the game's at right now. But then picking up on that conversation we were just having with Jess Park around whether there is a difference to how England play and turn up in these massive games compared to perhaps when they go against opponents

which they are perceived to win. And an example would probably be Portugal last week where they came out with a 1-1 draw. Is that a concern for you and was that something you felt you saw a difference with this evening? I think it's people say like oh can you do it on a cold wet Tuesday night at Stoke is that famous saying and I suppose you generalize that and you can refer to those games, you know, the quieter games, the ones with the less magnitude about them, and that's always the case in sport, not just football, but there are bigger occasions

than others, and that's just the way it is. If they were all big occasions, then the big occasions would lose their spice. So tonight was a big occasion, and for England to turn up and to play the way they did and dominate in spells. They suffered in spells as well. But I think it shows a real sense of progress about this England team and probably the hurdle that they've needed to climb over in recent months in order to sustain that sort of status as being one of the world's best nations and they can turn up. But like you say, Serena Vigman is a perfectionist and she will want to see those

Portugal results, for example, flipping from draws to wins. Yeah. And she keeps reminding us in the press, Ali, that we are trying to win every game. She said then, though, we're not playing to prove critics wrong, we're playing to to win and we're playing to win the Euros. We're going to talk about that in a moment. I just thought we should talk about England's back line though this evening as well. Another clean sheet here at Wembley. We know how much added significance the players put on that. But a word on Charles Brons, Bright Williamson.

I thought particularly Millie Bright Allie had such a brilliant game. Yeah, I mean, she, whenever I watch her play, she stands out anyway, just because of the figure she is and the stature she holds in the game. I just think she's such an imposing defender anyway, but I thought in that second half when it really was all hands on deck and there were some desperate challenges going, the things that sort of flicked into my mind was a little Bon Matty run down the right, she fizzed in a low ball and Millie Bright was right there, right on the spot, stuck out her left leg and blocked it, really brave header late in the game as well. One fantastic interception as well when England had been under the pump, but again was happy to sort of step up, intercept a ball as Spain were trying to build an attack and

take it forward for England and continue the run forward for England. So I thought she was impressive and I just think it looked really solid and together Lucy bronze played the whole game For England which was a difference from Friday because I think England really lost something against Portugal when she went off I mean, that's an obvious thing again to say because Lucy bronze is such a world-class talent But yeah, I thought that I thought that you know every element of the team and early on in the game England were under quite a lot of pressure. So they stood firm and did well Right. We've got England manager Serena Vigman with me down in the Wembley Tunnel. Firstly, Serena, congratulations.

The question we've been asking a lot this evening here on 5 Live has been performance versus result tonight. You got both. I think it was a great game to watch, especially the first half I think. It went back and forth. Yeah, it was a great game to watch, especially the first half I think. I went back and forth. It was a very intense game. And I thought our performance, we had a proper performance. Of course it's really nice to score a goal and keep the nil. And the main thing besides that we want to play well and I think the team performance, how we worked

for each other, how we yeah how everything was so together and fight for this win that was so good. Yeah we've been talking about suffering for the win tonight and it felt like even out of possession the players were totally in tune with that message together. Yeah I think it starts, you know when you play Spain, they're so comfortable on the ball, that's their style. And I thought at moments we were really comfortable on the ball too, but you know, we'll have a little more more of the ball and then we'll make rotations.

Then you have to defend really well, you have to do that together with otherwise you give away too much space. And they created some space at moments, but we fought so hard that we could keep the ball out of the net. A word on Hannah Hampton in goal. You brought her in in the place of Mary Earps this evening. She's actually told us here that she thought she had a bit of a sloppy game

in terms of her distribution. I think we beg to differ, but a word on her performance then. Some brilliant saves. Yeah, she did really well. and as I say all the time, we have of course three goalkeepers in the squad and two are fighting for the number one position and they're both world-class goalkeepers, happy with both. And today I was happy with Hannah and the team performance was great too. Does her performance give you food for thought? Oh they give me food for thought all the time when they play. Jess Park

scoring again but Alessia Russo's build-up play to create that goal if you will. I thought Lauren James as well was a real spark in the England setup today almost creating from nothing and those set pieces as well so dangerous. Yeah they're in a good place and LJ is in a very good place too and it helps of course when the team is so aligned and play so well together then you see that individuals can show their super strengths too and we saw some of that today I think. I know no one wants to talk about revenge for the World Cup but I saw you do a little fist pump at the end

at the final whistle. Was there a sense of sweetness? To be honest, totally not. That's not the way I think. I thought, okay, this was a very, very tough game and that can go both sides and how the team performed and how hard we worked to get us over the line. That will make me most happy against a top, top opponent.

And just finally, a first win then of 2025. It's such a huge year coming up with the Euros defending that title. I just wondered, does it feel like the year is up and running now? Did you need a performance like that? Well, of course it helps. So Portugal was an intense game too and I think some people might have, we totally not, but some might have underestimated Portugal, but they have a proper team and we know where we want to go to. We know what we want to improve and

how we want to do that and now we have a great performance and a win that absolutely helps. The other day we tied. But we just want to keep going moving forward and taking steps forward and also from today the team performance was great but there are still lots of work to do to improve and to be in the best possible position. Thank you so much for your time Serena and congratulations on the win. Thank you very much. See you soon. Serena Vigman there with us, the England manager reflecting on that. Izzy, she said,

no feeling of sweet, sweet revenge. Do you think, do you know what, actually in fact, it's probably not that fair because we've not spoken to any players this evening who played in that final and could offer us another perspective. But Serena Vigman shutting that down straight away. Yeah, I think as expected,

I think when you ride on emotions such as revenge and things like that in sport, then it's not sustainable. But I'll take you inside a player's mind right now. And yes, of course you want revenge. But yeah, it's around the performance and they got the performance on the result. We spoke about that, you know, the you into places you don't want to go into trying to disrupt your shape and your rhythm. And England battled it. They rode their luck at times. Spain hit the bar early on, if you remember with Garcia rattling the crossbar in the first half. And I think overall a big tick next to England's name tonight, a huge win and psychologically one that's going to really put them into a good place for the next step of their preparation for the Euros. And it feels, Ali, like so many of the players are really enjoying their football again.

And we were just talking about Lauren James there with Serena Wiegmann back in the fold. A delight to watch this evening. I thought particularly from those set pieces, almost got that second goal as well, didn't she? In the dying stages or well, she was kind of a part of it. She's such a game changer, I feel. She's one of those that almost comes from nothing and then the whole game explodes open. Just offers something completely different, doesn't she? And I mean, just in terms of her shooting,

on Friday night, she didn't quite have the radar on but hits the ball so sweetly. That one late in the game tonight, the Spanish goalkeeper catacalled it really well to keep that out because was going the wrong way was hit with ferocious power pretty much straight at her but managed to grab that sort of rebound as the ball looked like it was going to spin behind her but I think yes she's a game changer Katie and again we were talking about the importance of Alessia Russo I mean difficult to pick out individuals after a game like that tonight, but you want those players that offer you something, you know,

the X factor. And Lauren James has that. I mean, saw some brilliant defensive work from her this evening, but when she's got the ball at her feet and she's running at defenders, you know, Serena Vigan will be delighted to have her fit at the moment as Chelsea are obviously. And, and I'm sure she'll think long, long may that continue because again, you know, if you're going to win the big tournaments, then you need the X Factor players and Lauren James is definitely one of those. And actually, Izzy, I can't believe we've taken this long

in the podcast and not talk about the players missing because that's usually our first topic, isn't it? Well, if Hemp was fit, if Greenwood was there, Beth Mead, Stanway. But actually, I think quite important tonight, perhaps, that England have shown that they can do it with some of those key figures missing, certainly for Serena Vigman in terms of looking at selection options if people like Stanway can't get fit in time. But also, you've been talking about depth, haven't you, and that importance.

Yeah, depth, very important in any squad, domestic or international team. Huge. And yeah, it's probably a good sign that we haven't mentioned those names yet because we're not looking for reasons why England might not be performing, but they performed tonight. The players that were put out there did an excellent job. And I think almost best case scenario is for the players that came into the team tonight, I'm looking at Grace Clinton, Ella Toon, Jess Park playing off that right hand side. If you send a message out to the players that aren't there and say, hang on a minute, if you're going to come back into the fray, you're going to have to fight for your shirt again. And ultimately that's where you want to be as a coach, as a manager, that you've got

that competition. So things are looking up. I'm not going to say they're going to win the Euros because I don't think they're there yet. But I think this performance level that they hit today at times during the game, definitely screamed at me at the semi-final of a major European competition standard. So if England can find that performance, refine it,

tweak it, make it last 90 plus minutes, they're in for a good ride. Yeah, and actually we should start looking forward then, Ali. I'll just take you through the Nations League table in England's group because it does make for quite interesting readings. So a win for Portugal this evening over Belgium actually puts them top of the table. Portugal on four points. England also on four points after that draw and the win against Spain. So Spain's sitting in third at the moment on three and

then we've got Belgium kind of rounding things off. Zero points for them so far. England play them back to back in April. So I suppose if I open up the discussion to both of you here it feels like, again, and I know we say this every time Izzy, but very crucial point this, because we're back to a team where I think the expectation is yes, England should go and England should win this one. Yeah, and I think Katie, it was interesting hearing Serena Vigman saying there, and that's what comes with being England manager

and this England team, is that she felt from the outside, people had underestimated Portugal. So everyone looks at England not beating Portugal. And you know, they got a goal ahead and they played well in the first half and they will have been disappointed, I think themselves, that they didn't put in a full 90-minute performance and put Portugal away. But interesting to hear Serena Wigman make that point, that she probably doesn't want the England fans thinking, right, Belgium up next, two games against

them, we'll wallop them and we'll keep on moving. But I think also when you see the quality of that performance that England can put in, and we really haven't seen that for 90 minutes for quite a while with that group of players and there is so much talent in there, it does remind you what England are capable of and what they're going to need to produce on a consistent basis. And I think the other point I'd make as well, Katie, is that, you know, in this group, you want to win the group to try and give yourself the chance of winning the Nations League as a competition in itself, but also actually the importance of finishing well in this group because, you know, these groups will determine the qualifying groups for World Cup 2027. So you're always playing for something. So

four months out from the Euros, yes, you're playing to prepare for that. But these games mean something and England need to keep playing well. Oh, the Nations League is EA. It's going quite well so far in terms of the games it's producing for us. Yeah, it's doing its job, which is, you know, increasing the competition in these in so-called friendlies. You know, now the non international these so-called friendlies. You know, now they're non-international friendlies. They're actually competitive fixtures and, you know, all affects the rankings.

Nobody can not take them seriously. And I think we've seen a really nice example of the Nations League tonight against Spain, the way that England have performed. And it's done a great job at producing a performance that the fans thoroughly enjoyed. You can feel inside Wembley the fans are starting to feel the momentum again picking up towards this England team. Oh it's all hotting up nicely then four and a half months out from the Euros in Switzerland where England will look to try and defend their title and they finish here at Wembley with a 1-0 win over Spain, the world champions.

That is it from us here at the home of football. My thanks to Alissa Bruce Ball and Izzy Christensen. And on the next episode of the Football Daily, Mark Chapman will be here with the debrief rounding up all of Wednesday's Premier League action.