The players of England and Sweden rented each other despite the criticisms on penalties

Players from England and Sweden praised their bravery in a penalty shootout in the European women’s championship on Thursday, despite a record conversion rate and criticism from fans.

The victory in England 3-2 shoots against Sweden, which obtained the champions in title a place in the semi-final Euro 2025, presented missed efforts and stops by the two goalkeepers.

However, with England by missing four and Sweden by missing five of their seven efforts, the players aroused many online reviews.

“For anyone intensifying, it takes a lot, so credit to all those who undergo a penalty in these moments”, “ England striker Alessia Russo said.

After what was described on the BBC website as the “largest and worse shooting of all time”, Swedish defender Smilla Holmberg received comfort, not criticism, players on both sides after missing the decisive kick.

“(We told her) that she should be proud of herself, that she is courageous, that she has played a big championship and that she is great,” An emotional Sweden goalkeeper Jennifer Falk told journalists.

The meager conversion rate of 36% was the worst rate of combined penalty shootout in the history of the Euro of UEFA women, according to ESPN, the only one less than 50% was the 2017 semi-final between Denmark and Austria (43%).

However, the former Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, who underwent a similar defeat of 3-2 in the 2021 Olympic final against Canada, told Reuters on Friday that Falk and England Hannah Hampton deserved praise during the shooting.

“We have to give credit to goalkeepers who really owned this moment last night … with each safeguard that Falk made, she grew up in the eyes of penalties, and also Hampton,” She said that after Falk made four stops for the two of Hampton.

“Take the penalty of Magda Eriksson – this is not a bad penalty just because it struck the woodwork. It happened because it wanted a big margin against Hampton in the goal that it aimed to bring it closer to the position that it would normally have done it. It is a good goalkeeper,” said Lindahl.

The shooting has aroused scathing criticism from fans on social networks, many of which use it as a argument against the female game.

However, studies have shown that conversion rates in penalty shootings are similar between women and men, both reaching success rates between 75 and 80%.

Lucy Bronze has converted her very first penalty for England – and the decisive shot of her team – although he was hindered by the waterproofing of the hamstrings, with a rocket which was measuring 102.51 km / h, the fastest third goal of the tournament so far.