Lionesses superstar Chloe Kelly has explained why she whipped her England shirt off in celebration after scoring the Euro 2022 winner against Germany... revealing it was not an ode to Brandi Chastain.
The Manchester City star had only scored for her country once before Sunday evening's showpiece event, but picked her moment to perfection to ensure the Lionesses lifted the first major trophy in their history and the first major tournament success for England since the men's 1966 World Cup success.
A Queens Park Rangers fan as a child, Kelly confessed it was actually former Loftus Roaf fan favourite Bobby Zamora that inspired her to celebrate in such style after prodding the ball hime from close range in the 110th minute.
Kelly was a fan inside Wembley in 2014, when Zamora's strike clinched promotion to the Premier League for her beloved R's in a similar fashion to her own strike eight years later in that it was late, dramatic and the winner - they were even scored at the same end of the stadium.
"I said to my family, the one moment that I’ve been to Wembley and it’s been brilliant – it’s the Bobby Zamora moment with QPR," Kelly told talkSPORT. "I said to my family this morning, imagine we get a Bobby Zamora moment and it’s me… and now it’s happened! Bloody hell! Unbelievable! This is what dreams are made of!"
Kelly went on to explain what the goal means to her and her teammates, who have forever etched their names into the fabric of English football. "It’s about every minute in this tournament, the hard work the girls have put in in the pre-camps, every bit of work everyone in the background has done to get us here today, it doesn’t go unnoticed," she continued.
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"And the fans as well, they were unbelievable. And yeah I took my shirt off, I enjoyed every moment of being out there at Wembley, I embraced it all! You live for these moments as a little girl, and that little girl today enjoyed every moment of that."
Kelly's celebration will live long in the memory of all who witnessed it and provided one of the most iconic images of the entire tournament - and looked incredibly similar to the memorable celebration by American soccer legend Chastain.
The ex-United States international notched the winner in the 1999 World Cup final before tearing her shirt off in elation. Chastain addressed the similarities, tweeting Kelly to say: “I see you, well done. Enjoy the free rounds of pints and dinners for the rest of your life from all of England. Cheers!"
