Coll's heroics keep Spain alive to send semi-final to wire

The identity of England's opponents in the Euro 2025 final remained in the balance after the second semi-final, between Germany and the favourites Spain, entered extra time.

- Nick Ames

Neither team could break through in an engaging 90 minutes whose nearest miss was a header against the woodwork by the Spain captain, Irene Paredes. Germany could also thank their keeper, Ann-Katrin Berger, for another inspired display.

For all their wealth of talent Spain had neither reached a European Championship final nor defeated Germany in their history before this well-matched tussle in Zurich. They would require an extra half-hour if those ducks were to be broken.

It has taken a colossal stretch, down the years, for Germany to be cast as plucky underdogs but they could make that case here. Christian Wück's weakened team spluttered through the group stage but located staggering depths of resolve in edging past France despite being a player short for 107 minutes.

They would be required to "suffer" to stand any chance of going one better, according to Wück. That was hardly rocket science: Spain's football has been several levels above the rest in a tournament high on drama but variable on technical quality. The world champions had barely been scratched in progressing this far, a shade of doubt perhaps offering itself in the time it took to puncture a resilient Switzerland in their quarter-final on Friday.