It was a euro to remember for Hannah Hampton. He was led as an alternative to Mary Earps, so the pressure could have easily made Chelsea’s shot stopper better.
But in the spirit of the Lioness, Hampton faced the challenge and became one of England’s most trusted players. Her importance to the side was best shown in the final when she stayed cool and saved two spot kicks with a penalty shootout after a 120-minute test against world champion Spain.
He gave teammate Chloe Kelly the opportunity to seal back-to-back European Championship victories for the Lioness. The Arsenal star didn’t make any mistakes from 12 yards. But almost two weeks after her memorable victory at Basel, Hampton revealed that she had deployed a somewhat dirty tactic to make her Spanish counterpart better.
In an interview with Talksport, Shotstopper claims she threw a bottle of water belonging to the opposite number of Cata Colls into the crowd. The drinking container contained information about the English penalty taker, which instead forced him to leave his memory.
Explaining her tactics, Hampton states: “The Spanish Keeper had it in her bottle. So when she went to the finish line, I picked it up and threw it into the English fans and thought I couldn’t get it.”
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In contrast, Hampton chose to tie her notes to her arm. She continued: “I don’t put it in a bottle because everyone can do it, so that’s what put it in my arm. It wasn’t difficult.
“When she saw my bottle instead, mine is blank, but it has the same sponsor and it has, so I put mine there and stab her with the fans. She had an empty bottle.
Considering that England netted three of the five penalties, it was a treat. In the shootout itself, Hampton added: “I probably knew I had been practicing penalties since my first penalty, so I knew I would put a little more behind the net.
“The Swedes were traumatic for everyone. It was horrifying. We kept thinking every time we missed out, ‘I’m not going to save everything.’
