16 August 2023 , 14:54
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The England women's team are celebrating reaching the World Cup final after their 2019 disappointment and the scenes on and off the pitch in Sydney painted a picture of relief and euphoria.
Four years ago, the Lionesses were left licking their wounds after a final four defeat to the United States. This time, though, they're just one game from glory after goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo sent Sarina Wiegman's team beyond co-hosts Australia in Sydney.
England have already shown they're Europe's best after beating Germany at Wembley in 2022. Based on the celebrations this time around, though, victory over Spain on Sunday would mean the world to them.
"It feels unbelievable," Toone told The BBC. "I was speaking to the girls as we celebrated with the crowd and said 'Wow, we are in a World Cup final,' which is something you dream of as a little girl.
"For a lot of us it is our first World Cup, for a lot of them it is their third. We know how close the older players have been [to a final] in the past, and we have that little bit of wanting to do it for them, for all of the players that came before us, and for everyone back home too."
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The celebrations began on the field at full-time, with players embracing in the knowledge that the job was done. For a brief moment, Australia looked poised to turn things around after Sam Kerr's long-range equaliser, only for Hemp to restore the advantage before Russo eased nerves late on
Goalscorer Lauren Hemp joined in with the celebrations (The FA via Getty Images)It's a second final in as many years for England, with captain Millie Bright praising the team's attitude. "The mentality of this group is something I have never seen before," the centre-back said.
"That comes through Sarina and the belief she gives us. We can play so many ways - that is the beauty of this squad. Whatever an opponent throws at us we adapt and find a way to win. I'm really proud of the girls.
"To be saying we’re going to the final is crazy. Overwhelming, so many different emotions. I'm so happy that we could give the fans the dream back home and the fans here as well. To be leading them out will be absolutely incredible."
While England's players weren't in the final four years ago, manager Sarina Wiegman was. The manager led the Netherlands to Euros glory in 2017 and a World Cup final in 2019, and has now done the same with England.
She'll want to go one better than she did in 2019, though, when the Dutch side lost 2-0 to the United States. This time it's Spain standing in the way, and England will need to have their wits about them against a team who took them to extra-time last summer.
"We achieved the final!" Wiegman said after the victory. "Unbelievable, it feels like we won the whole thing. It's like I'm living a fairy tale or something?"
The celebrations continued in the dressing room
The Lionesses are one game from glory (AP)England haven't had everything their own way in this tournament. After two narrow group stage wins, they appeared to have found their groove with a demolition of China.
In the next round, though, they needed penalties to overcome Nigeria after Lauren James' red card. With James suspended against Colombia, they needed to dig deep to come from behind against the South Americans.
Even against Australia, Kerr's long-range effort could have knocked the stuffing out of the team. They remained unrattled, though, and now only have Spain standing in their way.
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Lauren James and Rachel Daly of England celebrate in the tunnel (Photo by Naomi Baker - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)"Incredible. We have speaking about how when we were little kids we were dreaming of playing at World Cups," Russo said after the win. "To take it to the final and have a chance to compete for the trophy is everything you dream about.
"I think that [cool headedness and calm] comes from us as a group and Sarina. We know what we expect from each other and the standards that we demand. We put in the work on the training pitch and hopefully when we go out on the pitch we play like we know we can.