Soccer
Aggie Beever-Jones said it was a “dream come true” after scoring her first England goal in their 5-0 thrashing of Belgium in their Nations League clash on Friday.
Beever-Jones, along with Chelsea team-mate Kiera Walsh, were on target for the first time for their country, capping a special game at Ashton Gate for Sarina Wiegman’s team.
England hit the front in the 21st minute when Lucy Bronze, on her 130th cap for her country, glanced a header that squirmed beyond the grasp of Nicky Evrard following Lauren James’ delightful ball into the box.
Millie Bright then doubled the Lionesses’ advantage on the stroke of half-time, bundling the ball home on the line after Beth Mead’s teasing delivery from a corner was flicked to the back post by Bronze.
The result was put beyond doubt in the 67th minute when Beever-Jones, on to replace James for the second half, turned home Mead’s cross into the box from close range.
It got even better for England soon after when Jess Park capitalised on a mistake by Belgium captain Janice Cayman, racing towards goal and placing the ball past Evrard.
The icing on top of the cake was provided by Keira Walsh, who, on her 83rd England appearance, found the back of the net for the first time for the Lionesses.
The Chelsea midfielder collected the ball on the edge of the box and saw her shot deflect into the bottom-left corner.
A moment to remember forever!
Both netting their first senior England goals tonight pic.twitter.com/t1B6E7AoFR
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 4, 2025
Beever-Jones received her first call-up in May of last year and has played four games for England, but said this moment was the best of her playing career to date.
“I was on loan at Bristol. I played at this stadium before and scored before, so I had a good feeling coming into it,” Beever-Jones said.
“For me, I pride myself on keeping my feet on the ground and working hard and for hard work you get moments like this.
“I’m so happy that I took it well and I had people around me, I had Niamh [Charles] behind me who helped me so much over the last however many years.
“It is so surreal and a dream come true.”
The Lionesses are now unbeaten in their last six games and building real momentum ahead of their title defence at the European Championships in the summer.
Speaking after the game, Wiegman conceded her side had dropped the speed of their play after making several changes, but said that her team were getting closer to being at their best.
“I think the second half we dropped a little bit in tempo and then the subs came in, and they brought the energy again, but also quality,” Wiegman said.
“And what I really like too, is that we kept it simple, so we didn’t stop playing our own game. We kept playing our game, our England game, and it looked easy, but it is pretty hard, and I really enjoyed that.
“I basically said to the team a bit what I just said, like keeping it simple and staying together and everyone who came on the pitch was really ready to go and showed up. Tuesday’s going to be a different game, so now we win 5-0, we don’t all of a sudden think that we are in the best possible place.
“We know we have to improve things. Belgium is a totally different opponent and Spain was and then Portugal is.
“We know where we’re at and what we want to improve, and we’re working on it every day, and we need to keep having these connections because I do feel something’s happening, and we’re getting closer.”
What a performance. pic.twitter.com/HsJSB5Lwrn
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 4, 2025
In the other game in Group A3, defending champions Spain picked up their second win of their group campaign with a 4-2 victory over Portugal at the Estadio da Capital do Movel.
Catarina Amado had put Portugal ahead in the 27th minute, but Spain hit back with three quickfire goals from Patri Guijarro, Laia Aleixandri and Claudia Pina before the break.
Carole Costa reduced the deficit 11 minutes after the restart from the penalty spot, but Spain substitute Esther Gonzalez made sure of the win in the closing stages.
England lead the way in the group on seven points, one more than Spain. Portugal drop down to third, while Belgium remain winless and bottom of the four-team standings.
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