“It was f**king crap” - Sweden women’s team goalkeeper Jennifer Falk reacts after her missed penalty saves England from Euro 2025 elimination

Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk rued her missed penalty against England in a penalty shootout loss in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 quarter-final on Thursday (July 17) at the Letzigrund in Zurch.

Sweden were two goals up inside 25 minutes, thanks to strikes from Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius. But the Three Lionesses hit back in the final quarter, with Lucy Brown pulling one back in the 79th minute and substitute Michelle Agmeyang equalising two minutes later.

In the ensuing shootout, a scrappy one that saw both sides miss nine combined efforts, Sarina Weigman's side were on the brink thrice. However, with Chloe Kelly scoring, Falk miscuing her effort for the Swedes and her English counterpart Hannah Hampton keeping out Sofia Jakobsson, the Three Lionesses lived to fight another day.

Reflecting on her poor effort from the spot, Falk told Expressen (via GOAL) that she was asked by the Sweden boss if she would take a penalty, to which she had responded affirmatively:

"Peter (Gerhardsson, Sweden manager) asked if I could do it and then I said ‘yes’. I just thought I would take a few deep breaths and put it to the left, which I didn't do. It was f*cking crap, and then it was just about focusing on saving the next penalty." "We had a meeting, and the players asked us to make a list: from one to eleven. But, of course, these are incredibly difficult decisions."

While Falk and Sweden wonder what might have been, England next head into a blockbuster Euro 2025 last-four showdown with two-time finalists Italy on Tuesday (July 22).

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England boss hails team's resilience ahead of Women's Euro 2025 semi-final with Italy

England women's head coach Sarina Weigman

England head coach Sarina Weigman hailed her team's ability to stay together and not give up despite flirting with elimiation against Sweden in the Women's Euro 2025 last-eight clash on Thursday.

The Three Lionesses - who beat record eight-time champions Germany 2-1 in extra time to win the previous edition in 2022 - are now two wins away from going back-to-back.

Ahead of another challenging clash against Italy - who saw off Norway 2-1 in the last-eight with a 90th-minute winner - Weigman said about her team (as per the BBC):

"That's a quality that is so strong in this team, that togetherness and fighting back. It shows so much resilience. We changed it and brought in other players. They brought different things to the game that really helped the team in that moment. "That is so powerful from this team. That luck as well, yes, at least three times I thought we were out."

While Falk kept out four penalties, two more than her England counterpart, her miss from the spot would prove decisive as Sweden failed to eliminate the defending champions at Euro 2025.

Edited by Bhargav