Bitter Spanish press slam Chloe Kelly’s ‘cocky’ celebration as stars moan they were much BETTER than ‘lucky’ England

THE Spanish media have blasted England Women and labelled Chloe Kelly as “cocky” in a bitter attack on the Euro 2025 winners.

The Lionesses were crowned European champions for the second time in a row on Sunday, defeating Spain 3-1 on penalties after it ended 1-1 after extra time.

The Spanish media has hit out at the LionessesGETTY

They lost on penalties to EnglandAP

The Lionesses became back-to-back European champions on SundayEPA

Hero Kelly has triggered the Spanish pressGetty

But despite Sarina Wiegman‘s side’s impressive performance that saw them battle from being 1-0 down in the first half to fighting back through an Alessia Russo equaliser and much-improved penalties, Spain‘s media think England “robbed” La Roja in Basel.

And there are reports of Spain players allegedly labeling England as “time wasters”.

Spanish outlet Diario AS fired a shot atwinning penalty taker Chloe Kelly and her “cocky” gesture after her spot kick, which saw her coolly point a finger at the crowd.

The Spanish outlet wrote: “This is unnecessary, my friend: Kelly’s cocky gesture to [goalkeeper] Cata Coll after scoring the decisive penalty.

“The England specialist changed her run during her penalty celebration to get past the goalkeeper she had just beaten.”

In their match report, the outlet said: “The dream ends in a nightmare.

“Spain lost the European Championship on penalties. England tied a match that Spain largely dominated.

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“History is made by victories, and also by defeats. Spain fell in the Euro Cup final but left its name sealed in gold.

“England robbed them of their dream; the world champions couldn’t close the circle they began to write two years ago in Sydney.

“They couldn’t have been crueler in the penalty shootout, tossing a few dice in the air.”

2023 World Cup winners Spain’s players labelled England as “lucky” in their post-match interviews.

Captain Irene Paredes told Spanish TV RTVE: “I don’t really know what to say. It’s a very hard moment.

“We tried everything, all the different ways, and then the penalties didn’t go our way. I thought we deserved it more but in the end it is not about who deserves it.

“It is about having that bit of luck and England had that throughout the whole tournament. We thought we could overcome that but we weren’t able to.

“I think we had more control of the game than they did, we created more clear chances, we had more possession… But yeah, nothing else.”

Meanwhile, two-time reigning Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati thought her side were “far superior”.

Bonmati, who missed her penalty in the shoot out, told Spainsh outlet El Pais: “I think we’ve all given up. It’s been a long time here, and it’s been very cruel.

“In terms of play, we were far superior to our opponents, but in football, that’s not enough.“

She added: “To be a winning team in a tournament like this, you have to have some luck, and they had plenty of luck.

“We know how to do it better when it comes to penalties.”

El Pais claim that Paredes later labelled England as “time-wasters” and “players on the ground” in comments to reporters in the mixed zone of the St Jakob-Park in Basel.

England were leading in just four minutes of all of their knockout games but defied all odds to go back-to-back.

Mariona Caldentey’s first half header was cancelled out by Alessia Russo in the 57th minute, with the score locked all the way to the end of extra time.

England’s Hannah Hampton – who has done a remarkable job of stepping into ex-Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earp’s shoes following her retirement – saved two of Spain’s penalties, including Bonmati’s.

Euro 2022 winning goalscorer Kelly hammered her spot kick into the top left hand corner to avenge her side’s World Cup 2023 defeat to Spain and seal victory for her country.

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