When she was a ball lady at an England match at Wembley simply 4 years in the past, Michelle Agyemang says she was “by no means that near the motion”.
The 19-year-old actually is now, having scored the objective that in the end stored the Lionesses’ Euro 2025 goals alive in Switzerland.
Her 81st-minute close-range end despatched their quarter-final towards Sweden to additional time after which penalties, the place England triumphed in a chaotic shootout.
Agyemang got here by way of the academies with England however her first actual encounter with the senior staff got here when she was a ball lady in Sarina Wiegman’s third match in cost – a World Cup qualifying match towards Northern Eire in 2021.
“It was loopy,” she instructed BBC Sport. “Seeing the women so near my face. Beth Mead bought a hat-trick that day, so to be part of that have was invaluable and I will always remember it.”
Wiegman is aware of about Agyemang’s evolution from ball lady to first-team participant, however the Arsenal ahead doesn’t assume her England team-mates learn about her historical past. However that is OK.
They know her because the quiet, unassuming teenager who comes alive on the pitch.
Towards France in England’s opening match, Agyemang supplied a style of what she is able to.
Her four-minute cameo virtually led England to tug off an unlikely comeback, with no person within the staff having extra touches within the opposition field than Agyemang’s 5.
However whereas she couldn’t save the Lionesses from defeat then, her objective towards Sweden within the quarter-final stored them within the match and, in the end, on observe to retain their title.
“It means the world to me to lastly be right here,” she stated.
“I do not assume I might have anticipated that possibly a yr in the past however the whole lot occurs for a motive and to be right here is nice. To step on the pitch, even simply to put on the equipment is a good privilege for me and I take pleasure in it – each single second of it.”
