{"id":19264,"date":"2025-07-24T02:16:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/19264\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T02:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T02:16:15","slug":"who-is-michelle-agyemang-meet-englands-piano-playing-supersub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/19264\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Michelle Agyemang? Meet England\u2019s piano-playing supersub"},"content":{"rendered":"

During her three extraordinary performances in Switzerland, the Lionesses\u2019 breakout star Michelle Agyemang has earned a reputation as England\u2019s rescue act.<\/p>\n

It is fitting, then, that the 19-year-old supersub\u2019s surname means \u201csaviour of the nation\u201d in Akan, a language in her parent\u2019s native Ghana.<\/p>\n

Only four years ago, Agyemang was a ball girl at Wembley during Sarina Wiegman\u2019s third game in charge of the team. Today, she is a hero to her Essex hometown and hailed as an \u201cunbelievable\u201d player by her team-mate Chloe Kelly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"England's<\/p>\n

Michelle Agyemang showed composure to finish in the dying moments of the semi-final<\/p>\n

SALVATORE DI NOLFI\/EPA<\/p>\n

The teenager was included in England\u2019s squad because of one extraordinary goal. A mere 41 seconds into her international debut in Belgium last April, she scored a brilliant volley with her first touch. She did not play for England again before the Euros squad announcement, but that strike sealed her place as the team\u2019s wildcard. <\/p>\n

Her three performances in Switzerland, all of which have come off the bench, have been similarly remarkable. In their Euros opener against France<\/a>, she contributed to a late rally that nearly allowed England to snatch an undeserved draw<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2018She flattened me\u2019: how Michelle Agyemang said hello to England captain<\/a><\/p>\n

Agyemang\u2019s rescue act was not required in the convincing group-stage wins over the Netherlands and Wales, but she returned to action in style against Sweden in the quarter-finals<\/a>. Sent on with England 2-0 down and heading out, Agyemang poked home the equaliser to complete a dramatic comeback.<\/p>\n

And in Tuesday\u2019s semi-final against Italy<\/a>, she repeated the trick. Having been brought on with England 1-0 down, Agyemang scored from close range with two minutes of second-half stoppage time left to keep her team alive. In extra time she hit the crossbar with a smart lob and England won a penalty soon after. Kelly, who scored on the rebound from the penalty to secure a 2-1 victory, credited Agyemang\u2019s near-miss for giving England the momentum to find a winner.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

CHARLOTTE WILSON\/UEFA\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Her footballing journey began at Brandon Groves Football Club, a grassroots club in South Ockendon, Thurrock. It was there, as the only girl in the team, that her prodigious talent first caught attention. At five years old she was described as \u201coutstanding\u201d, playing two full seasons before being scouted by Arsenal\u2019s academy at six years old.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Penalty expert on how Lionesses can dominate another shoot-out<\/a><\/p>\n

In June, Brandon Groves expressed its excitement at Agyemang\u2019s selection for the Euros squad, sharing archive photographs from her time there. Following her crucial contribution in yesterday\u2019s semi-final, the club said: \u201cMichelle did it again and she came on as a sub and scored an equalising goal which saw the match go into extra time \u2026 Massive well done to Michelle and all the Lionesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/p>\n

Michelle Agyemang was scouted as a child by Arsenal<\/p>\n

INSTAGRAM<\/p>\n

As part of an FA initiative celebrating the grassroots origins of England players, Brandon Grove\u2019s Emeralds Girls\u2019 team was invited to meet Agyemang and the Lionesses in person.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in South Ockendon, preparations are under way for Sunday\u2019s final: the Knight of Aveley pub which is decorated with red and white balloons and adorned with posters urging locals to \u201cget down and cheer on Michelle\u201d, their \u201cvery own South Ockendon girl\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Darts, Love Island and spikeball: inside hotel helping England relax<\/a><\/p>\n

Off the pitch, Agyemang plays piano and listens to gospel music to help prepare herself for a match. She even has a piano with her in Switzerland to play during the tournament.<\/p>\n

She is studying for a degree in Business Management at King\u2019s College London<\/a>, where staff and students will be cheering her on this weekend.<\/p>\n

England will play Spain in the Women\u2019s Euros final on Sunday \u2014 a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final. It comes after the Spanish side saw off Germany 1-0 during extra time on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Professor Shitij Kapur, the university\u2019s vice-chancellor and president, said the university was \u201cimmensely proud\u201d to count her among their students, and said the campus would be cheering loudly enough \u201cthat she can hear us from London\u201d during the final in Basel this Sunday.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cHer incredible performance is an inspiration to the entire King\u2019s community and should encourage every student that you can excel in the classroom and score goals beyond the university at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During her three extraordinary performances in Switzerland, the Lionesses\u2019 breakout star Michelle Agyemang has earned a reputation as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-19264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}