Hannah Hampton produced more penalty saving heroics to inspire England’s historic win over Spain.
After her dramatic and decisive contributions in the quarter final win over Sweden, the Chelsea No.1 was back in the spotlight after the Lionesses battled over the course of 120 minutes to hold favourites Spain to a 1-1 draw in Basel.
The 24-year-old, who usurped Mary Earps prior to the tournament, saved two more spot kicks in a dramatic shootout that was finally settled by Chloe Kelly’s typically emphatic effort from the spot.
Hampton will now be catapulted to national fame as a result of her astonishing agility and composure under pressure, but her story is a far from straightforward one.
The former Aston Villa and Birmingham star suffers with an eye condition called strabismus which she was diagnosed with since birth that could have ended her involvement in the sport before it even started.
‘I was told from a young age that I couldn’t play football, that it wouldn’t be a profession I could pursue. But here I am,’ she told the BBC prior to the win over Sweden.
Back in 2021 she told ex-England goalkeeper Ben Foster’s Fozcast podcast: ‘When pouring a glass of water, I’ll miss the glass if I’m not holding it.
‘The girls do it to me all the time at training: ‘Can you make me a cup of tea?’ And hold the cup, saying, ‘Can I have some milk, please?’.
‘I’ll just spill it on their shoes and then they moan at me. ‘Well, it’s your own fault, isn’t it?’’
Hampton’s lack of depth perception represents an issue she has clearly overcome, although she revealed the shrewd advice of Sarina Wiegman played a part in boosting her confidence against Spain prior to penalties.
‘This is England!’ Hampton revealed Wiegman said. ‘I think this is our moment.
‘We’ve dug in for the 120 minutes, done what we’ve needed to do to keep Spain out. It was just one kick and that was it, we did that this time.
‘Better pens than the last time, let’s be honest!’
She added: ‘This team’s just unbelievable, incredible. We’ve shown throughout this tournament we can come back when we go a goal down.
‘We’ve got that grit, we’ve got English blood in us, we never say die and we just keep going and we did that again today.’