8 August 2025, 17:38
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Alamy
Hannah Hampton threw the water bottle of Spanish rival Cata Coll into the stands – ditching its tactical notes – during dramatic penalty shoot-out in the European Championship final.
Hampton had England’s own insider information on Spain’s team written on a piece of paper taped to her arm.
The information proved crucial with stops from Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati before Chloe Kelly scored the decisive kick as the Lionesses retained the trophy.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper admitted she took the opportunity to try to negate any impact Spain’s penalty research might have but getting rid of the bottle with the information on.
“The Spanish keeper had it on her bottle,” Hampton said. “So I thought when she was going in goal I’ll just pick it up and throw it into the English fans so she can’t have it.”
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Hampton added: “I never put it on a bottle because anyone can do that, so that is why I put it on my arm, and the TV caught that.
“It wasn’t hard – when she has gone in the goal it (the bottle) is on its own isn’t it? It is in a towel, you just pick it up.
“Mine is blank, but it has the same sponsors and stuff so I just put mine in there, chucked her one into the fans and she had an empty bottle, she was looking for where it is.
“She was walking back and I was walking the other way. She was so confused.
“I was trying so hard not to burst out laughing (because) I was like ‘oh, I don’t know where it has gone’…. but you have got to do something haven’t you?”
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England had also come through a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Sweden, where both sides failed to convert spot-kicks at crucial moments – which Hampton described as “traumatic” and “horrendous”.
However, the Chelsea keeper, who was named in UEFA’s team of the tournament, felt much more relaxed ahead of the final showdown with Spain, which had ended 1-1 after extra-time in Basel.
“I was probably more comfortable in the fact that I knew we had practised penalties since that first one, so I knew we would put a few more in the back of the net,” Hampton told talkSPORT.
“Before the games we as a keeper group have meetings and we analyse every penalty that each individual from the opposing team has had – I think Alexia (Putellas) had 46 penalties we had to sit there and watch.
“You will watch it and pick out little things they do, whether they go one side or the other or have little subtleties in their run up or even their arm position.
“Then pressure penalties, where they tend to put them, you see all of that and then you see their run up and adapt in the moment to it.”
