When Spanish media recently approached Hannah Hampton for a post-match interview during these Euros, they were stunned by the England goalkeeper’s fluent response – in Spanish.
Curiously, it was against Spain that she then grabbed the headlines again, as England finally got revenge for their defeat in the World Cup final in 2023, with Hampton saving two penalties in the Lionesses stunning victory to retain their Euros crown.
But her flair for languages (she also learned sign language to communicate with her deaf cousin, Ethan) is just one of the many hidden layers beneath England’s No 1.