Eniola Aluko Shines In European Championships

Saint Louis Athletica forward Eniola Aluko completed a sterling performance in the European Championships on Thursday September 10 when her England squad faced off against Germany in the finals. The result was not what she was looking for, a 6-2 loss, but the tournament as a whole served as a coming out party for Aluko on the world stage.

““It was a good tournament for me and for England,” said Aluko from London on September 14. “Coming back from St. Louis after the season in the WPS I knew I needed to impress. Now that I have been through a European Championship I feel like I have that confidence on the international level.”

Aluko scored an impressive three goals for England while in Finland playing in the tournament. England had a tricky group stage draw that included matches against Italy, Russia, and Sweden.

England began the tournament with a loss to Italy, which Aluko described as kind of a weird game since England had a player sent off after just 15 minutes. Aluko’s England side followed up that loss by posting a 3-2 win over Russia in a game that would see them down 2-0. Aluko scored the equalizer, her first goal of the tournament, to tie the game at 2-2. England wrapped up their group stage matches with a 1-1 tie against Sweden.

“Looking back it was kind of disappointing how we did in the group stage,” said Aluko. “We were actually playing very well.”

The quarterfinal against the host nation Finland is where Aluko would shine scoring two goals, the second being a Maradona like run to set up a clean finish. The goal was certainly one for the highlight reels.

“It was the best goal I have ever scored because of the manner in which it was scored. It was a quarterfinal in a major tournament, we had just conceded, but I tell you I was not trying to do that,” said Aluko. “I just started my run off the kick-off and then I found my way into the box and just hit it and it went in. Only when I looked back at it on tape did I realize what I had done and how memorable it would be.”

England prevailed over Finland 3-2 and then won in extra time against Holland in the semifinals. Aluko would assist on Kelly Smith’s opener in that match. The 2-1 win put England through to a final against Germany where they would fall.

“ It was a great experience and all but Germany are far stronger and just a better team,” said Aluko. “We would have liked to won but Germany are a five time Euro Champion for a reason.”

Next up for Aluko is a two week break followed by a trip to Egypt to watch her brother, Sone Aluko, play in the U-20 World Championships. When she returns to England she will begin her legal career working for the law firm of SC Andrew LLP in London until it is time to return to training with Athletica in 2010.