The 19-year-old made a noticeable impact from the bench on Saturday, having also marked her debut earlier this year with a sensational strike

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From

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For the majority of England's 2-1 defeat to France on Saturday, there were very few positives for the Lionesses to pick out. Defensively, the reigning champions were awful, with the scoreline flattering them in that sense, and it took until the 87th minute, when Keira Walsh found the back of the net, for them to register a shot on target. This was not the sort of performance that Sarina Wiegman and her side wanted to start their European Championship title defence with.

England's first 20 minutes or so were good, with that period including an Alessia Russo goal which was disallowed for the narrowest of offsides, and the way they ended the match was positive, after some late substitutes started to make an impact. One of those was Grace Clinton, who entered the fray with 13 minutes to go, and another was Michelle Agyemang, brought on in the 86th minute.

With so little time remaining, the 19-year-old hardly had much to work with in terms of making her mark – and yet, on just her second senior international appearance, she brought qualities to the table that troubled France plenty and showed why, moving forward, she deserves to be used much more, especially if the Lionesses want to avoid becoming the first holders in competition history to go out in the group stage.

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  Rising star

  Those tuning into England's Euros opener could be forgiven if Agyemang's name was not familiar to them as she appeared off the bench to try and turn things around. After all, her journey to playing at a senior major tournament while still only a teenager has been quite remarkable.

  It was just three months ago that the Arsenal academy product made her Lionesses debut, and that itself only came about due to injuries in the squad. Indeed, all of Chloe Kelly, Lauren James and Alessia Russo had pulled out after the first of two games against Belgium in the April international window, forcing Wiegman to call upon an entirely new option.

  Agyemang certainly made the most of her opportunity. Entering the game with England trailing 3-1 at Den Dreef, it took her 41 seconds to halve the deficit with a stunning volley that played a huge role in her muscling her way into the Lionesses' Euro 2025 squad at the last minute.

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  Waiting patiently

  But despite that goal and her somewhat surprising involvement in this summer's tournament, having been picked ahead of the experienced Nikita Parris, who had been involved in every England camp in 2025 until Wiegman confirmed her list for the trip to Switzerland, Agyemang didn't add to her sole cap in any of the three games that followed that defeat in Belgium.

  When the Lionesses comfortably beat Portugal at Wembley at the end of May, some might've expected the teenager to get a runout in the second half, given the scoreline read 5-0 at the break. She didn't. When they travelled to Spain a few days later to take on the world champions, it was a little more understandable than Agyemang was an unused sub again. But her lack of involvement in England's send-off friendly, another comfortable rout against Jamaica, raised eyebrows, especially given the striker was going to Euro 2025 instead of playing a key role at the Under-19 Euros.

  So was she actually going to play?

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  Taking her chance

  On Saturday, though, Agyemang finally got her long-awaited second cap. It came in similar circumstances to her debut, with England trailing and in desperate need of something else in attack, and while it seemed like four minutes of normal time was hardly going to be enough for her to make an impact, she had a noticeable influence.

  Thrown into an impromptu front two with Russo, Agyemang made her presence felt in the box, offering an aerial option when the long ball was necessary and had a shot blocked in a promising situation. She was never going to change the game at that point, with so little time to do so, but she showed – once again – how she can be effective and why, perhaps, Wiegman should've turned to her much sooner than she did.

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  Incredible talent

  For those who have tracked Agyemang's progress over the years, her rise might be a slight surprise given the sudden nature of it, but not because she doesn't deserve to be where she is. A prolific goal-scorer in the England youth teams, the striker enjoyed a fruitful loan spell with Watford in the second-tier until injuries hampered her, and she spent last season experiencing regular Women's Super League football for the first time, in a temporary stint at Brighton.

  Dario Vidosic, the Seagulls' boss, initially used Agyemang more as a substitute than a starter, but that was more to do with her being an 18-year-old who was still getting to grips with one of the best leagues in the world. He was under no illusions when it came to her talent, saying after she made her England bow: "She's got a beautiful strike, she knows how to hit a ball, she's dangerous, she possesses a lot of weapons and she'll be, no doubt, a household name sooner rather than later. I'm sure there'll be a lot of kids wearing her jerseys in the not too distant future."