Beth Mead knows she will have to produce the goods once again in Sunday’s Euro 2022 final against Germany if she is to win the golden boot.
The Arsenal winger has been one of the stars of the tournament for England, hitting six goals en route to Wembley.
After a nervy start against Sweden in Tuesday’s semi-final, Mead’s well-taken strike settled the nerves and set the Lionesses on their way towards another dominant victory.
But after Alexandra Popp hit a brace in Germany’s 2-1 semi-final win against France on Wednesday, the two are tied in the golden boot race on six.
Following the 4-0 win at Bramall Lane, Mead spoke to Sky Sports about her hopes of finishing as the competition’s top scorer, saying: “There are some good competitors still out there so I’ll just keep trying to do me and hopefully it will be enough in the end.”
The importance of the opening goal was not lost on Mead, as Sweden were looking extremely dangerous on the break before the deadlock was broken.
She added: “It was cagey, Sweden did what we thought they would do and they were doing it well, they had a couple of opportunities. It was a good time to get the goal I think, I’m just glad it went in the back of the net, it settled us a little bit and I think bar a couple of chances we dominated from there.”
The 27-year-old was also quick to pay tribute to her teammates and the crowd following the victory, and she will be hoping for a similarly electric atmosphere at the home of English football on Sunday.
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Mead said: “The team are over the moon. I’m so proud of us right now and I hope we made the nation proud as well. We always want to say that the crowd were amazing again, they’ve been our 12th man throughout the tournament, they’ve brought an insane atmosphere for us to play in.”
“All the girls were exceptional tonight, from the girls that came on to the girls that were on the bench. It was an incredible win for us. We’ve been going a little bit wild and these moments are ones that you need to cherish. We deserve to celebrate and we’ve been celebrating a lot so far.”
Tickets are on sale now for fans to experience a history-making tournament that aims to unite football and communities and amplify the growth of the women’s game. www.uefa.com/womenseuro/ticketing
