“I’ve got no idea who crossed it,” said Tottenham Hotspur’s Martha Thomas. “I remember Luana (Buhler) jumping and thinking, ‘She’s going to head this and flick it on’. I just saw the defender looking at it and thought, ‘I’ve got to get in front of that defender’.”
Thomas rose highest, her header looping over the Leicester goalkeeper. She sprinted away, knee-sliding in front of 18,000 fans and Daniel Levy at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Her 118th-minute winner had sent Spurs through to their first Wembley FA Cup final in the club’s history. “She is what Tottenham represents,” said Spurs manager Robert Vilahamn. “To dare is to do.”
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“I just couldn’t believe it,” Thomas, who will play her former club Manchester United in the final after they beat Chelsea 2-1, said. “I was just chuffed, honestly so happy. I feel so proud of everybody in the group. It means the world for us to get to Wembley and make history for this club, the girls, the staff, the whole team, the fans, everyone. We’re just over the moon.”
Thomas celebrates her winner (Paul Harding/Getty Images)
It is another milestone and “evidence”, in Vilahamn’s words, of this team’s journey, which had to rebuild its foundations following the sacking of Rehanne Skinner last March, when they found themselves in a relegation battle in the Women’s Super League.
Vilahamn has established a clear identity. He admitted he did not expect to get so far in this competition but the penalty-shootout quarter-final win against Manchester City and Sunday’s victory is proof of progress.
The Swedish manager, who has in the past shown clips of the film Gladiator to reach players in different ways, kept preparations largely the same ahead of the weekend’s cup tie, especially as time was tight. Like other clubs, he only had a full squad of players on Friday because of those returning from international break. The only difference was playing a midweek game against the under-21 team, who set up tactically like Leicester. For goalkeeper Becky Spencer it was “one of the best training weeks”, “really hard work” and “good preparation”. The manager also had some of his own down time: playing football with his 13-year-old twins, dining with his wife at the Shard before watching James Blunt’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
Tottenham were the favourites going into this game but the visitors made Spurs work for it, going ahead after 12 minutes with a Jutta Rantala goal and almost doubling their lead when captain Sam Tierney was denied by Spencer’s outstretched feet.
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“It was horrible to watch,” said Ellie Brazil, who was available but not selected. “You feel every nerve and you could see they were a little bit nervous in the first 20 minutes.”
Spurs wasted their chances. Grace Clinton, who will have to miss the cup final against her parent club, worked tirelessly in midfield to set up Celin Bizet, only for her best friend to fire over the bar. Under-23s England international Jessica Naz also drove forward on occasions but lacked composure in the final third.
Naz fires in the leveller (Paul Harding/Getty Images)
The message to Naz remained the same: keep using your pace to get in behind the defence. When Leicester defender Josie Green missed a clearance in the 83rd minute, Naz, with three defenders in her wake and the crowd screaming, took her opportunity.
“I was trying to get myself as central to the goal and then slot it,” Naz, 23, told The Athletic. “I thought if I can just put it in the corners, then I’ve got a good chance of scoring.” “She was so calm in her finishing,” said Vilahamn after the game. “That was a big step for her because in pre-season she would have missed those chances.” Asked how she stayed mentally strong despite her previous misses, Naz said: “I just believe in myself, everyone on the team has given me the confidence to keep going.”
Spurs were pushing for a winner in normal time but Leicester could have snatched victory in extra time had it not been for Spencer’s finger-tip save from Rantala’s free kick. Spurs team-mate Olga Ahtinen said to Spencer moments before the set piece: “Be careful because she likes to go up and over the wall”.
“I just wanted to keep us alive, I was just doing my job and the girls did the rest for me,” said Spencer.
At half-time of extra time, captain Bethany England told her team in the huddle to remain calm, not to rush, keep controlling the game and the moment will come. And 13 minutes later, it did, the stadium erupting when Thomas headed home.
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“I’ve lost my voice because I’ve been screaming so much on the pitch,” said Thomas. She is “shining”, according to Vilahamn, and has now made back-to-back FA Cup finals with two different teams. “It feels a bit different being here with the impact I have on this team, it’s maybe much greater than I would have had at United,” she said. “That was history last year for United but it just feels a bit more special with this group, to be honest.”
That team bond is demonstrated by Brazil, who didn’t even play, describing the post-match celebrations in the dressing room “as the best dressing room (she has) ever been part of”. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment in my career,” she said. As John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ blared out of the speakers, England in the centre, rallied her team, pointing to the camera, as the players clapped and danced.
Nothing but vibes 🎶 pic.twitter.com/pOrX45VYm1
— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen) April 14, 2024
“That was a classic, we got all the staff and players in,” continued Brazil. “Charli Grant takes the best dancer… limbs everywhere.”
Naz, who said making the final is “a dream come true”, will be “chilling” this evening, “feet up and relaxing” as her legs “are literally knackered”, while Thomas had, before the game, booked dinner at the pub with her family. Tottenham are very aware they have not won anything yet and attention quickly turns to their WSL game against United next Sunday.
“We need to make sure we get back to the training ground and work really hard,” said Vilahamn. “Then when we go to the final, we’re going to go for the win. Of course we want to win a title for the fans and this club, so we’ll do everything we can, but we won’t be favourites in that game and that’s fine.”
(Top image: Paul Harding/Getty Images)
