Leah Williamson: ‘None of us wanted to go home’ as Euros hopes revived | OneFootball

England captain Leah Williamson was full of pride for her team for bouncing back with a 4-0 victory over the Netherlands after their place in Euro 2025 was on the line.

After a 2-1 defeat to France on matchday one in a performance lacking the free-flowing football Lionesses fans have grown to love, England faced early elimination from the tournament.

But the Lionesses found their form again as Lauren James, Ella Toone and Georgia Stanway filled the scoresheet in an emphatic victory. Lionesses captain Williamson praised the togetherness of the Lionesses on such an important night.

“The result you just saw is what we are capable of,” Williamson said. “I don’t think it was about proving anybody wrong.I think we lost to a top team [France], which is not what we wanted. We wanted to win.

“We knew we were capable of more. We came out today and we were so together, so supportive of each other.

“We’ve had one bad day at the office, one good day at the office, but none of us wanted to go home”

Williamson also praised the team for bringing the best out of each other against a Netherlands side that beat Wales 3-0 and are battling to escape Group D.

“We are such a tight-knit group,” she added. “The whole group hasn’t been together for that long, but there’s big chunks of girls that have come all the way through the system together.

“We know each other so well, and we feel like we can push each other, but I think the other night we took it to a point of loneliness rather than coming together.

“But today we wanted to come together, we wanted to show the best of each other and get the best out of each other and I think that’s what you just saw.

“We’ve never been in this situation – even playing such a hard first game, everything has been different I suppose.

“I don’t think it’s a test as a captain, it’s just more a test of us as humans. I’d say today that was probably one of the highest pressure games we’ve played and our place in the tournament was on the line and we played like that.

“Which makes me really proud and think that’s what you get when you come together.”