Nahikari García: Experience key in Sub-19 semi-final victory

Nahikari García is one of the most experienced footballers in the Sub-19 team. In the semi-final against France, her experience was crucial. She scored the last and vital penalty that led them to the final of the Sub-19 European Championship, which will be played on Monday against Sweden in the coastal town of Netanya, Israel, starting at 18:40 (live on Eurosport): "Having played a few finals helps. I felt much calmer. We are very united, we believe that this has to be our year, and this helped us in the penalties."

Hours after defeating France, Nahikari summed up what happened at the Lod stadium in Israel: "It was an incredible high, a very exciting victory because, to be honest, we suffered a lot."

For Nahikari and some of the Sub-19 players, this will be their fourth final, after playing two as Sub-17 (in the European Championship and the World Cup) and the Sub-19 European Championship final in 2014: "It is never easy to lose three finals, and we want to win this one. We have been fighting for this for a long time, and the team deserves it. Penalties are a lottery, and we have had experiences, like in the Sub-17 European Championship final against Germany, of losing. Against France, luck was on our side, and we hope that this luck will be repeated in the final against Sweden. We cannot let it slip away. We will give everything we've got."

The forward from Real Sociedad scored the second goal against Norway in this European Championship and is one of the top scorers in the Sub-19 team and the txuri-urdin team. She made her debut in the Primera division with Real Sociedad at just 16 years old, after playing for Añorga, and she dreams of seeing all the hard work rewarded in the final of this European Championship in Israel, against Sweden.