One of my biggest disappointments of not having a functioning laptop the past few weeks has been my inability to watch the Women’s Euros.
But I’ve seen all the highlights, and just about every single time a highlight comes on of the Women’s Euros lately, England’s Chloe Kelly remains a prime fixture.
Chloe Kelly, for the second Euros in a row, has primarily been used as a sub. Beth Mead and Lauren Hemp have been given the starting births down the wings, and Kelly has had to bide her time from the bench.
But to her, that doesn’t seem to matter.
Kelly seems to thrive in her role as a super-sub, waiting for her moment to shine and always making it count. She clawed England back from a deficit that no team has ever done in the Women’s Euros knockouts before, when they found themselves down at halftime against Sweden in the quarter finals.
After assisting the first and basically assisting the second, Kelly stepped up to take a decisive penalty, as she so often does, and scored.
She then continued to write her own history with an insurmountable role to play against Italy, scoring the all-decisive penalty (albeit on the rebound).
The coolest customer in all of Women’s football, it was Kelly once more who stepped up as the hero on the final day against Spain. With ice in her veins and the game decided for England if only she scores, the Arsenal winger did what she does best, and buried the penalty in the top corner. Winning the Euros for England in the process.
The ability to handle pressure like this on the biggest stage in some of the biggest moments is incredible, and something we only tend to witness with the greatest athletes of a generation. Not players like Kelly, who aren’t even a first eleven choice.
This makes Kelly’s performance at the Euros all the more impressive.
She could have been bothered by being a sub, despite consistently delivering game-changing performances. She wasn’t.
She could have been bothered by missing her penalty against Italy and crumbled to her knees. Instead she chased after it, and scored the follow-up.
She could have been bothered by the occasion of the final, the hype around her, or the pressure of taking another winning kick when she’s already delivered so much. She challenged that pressure head-on and delivered each and every time.
She might not be one of the best in the world, but she certainly stakes her claim for being the coolest cucumber in town, and perhaps the most impactful player of the 2025 Women’s Euros.
TheMastermindSite 