Beattie: "We gave it absolutely everything"

Jen Beattie couldn’t have been any prouder of her teammates after the final whistle on Monday night. 

We dug deep for 120 minutes in front of a sell-out crowd at Emirates Stadium and fought tooth and nail for a spot in the final, but it just wasn’t to be as Wolfsburg scored deep into extra-time to win the tie 5-4 on aggregate. 

We spoke to Beattie after the game and this is what she had to say: 

on how she would summarise the last 120 minutes… 

We gave it everything. I thought we had some really good spells, I’m just so proud of everyone. We genuinely gave it everything and we were so positive until the very end. It was really unfortunate to concede a goal so late in the game, it’s gut-wrenching and it’s never the way you want to end, but I think we can all look back in the game and say that we gave it absolutely everything. 

on whether pride is the overriding emotion…

100 per cent, I think it’s been pride throughout this whole season and this little spell has summed us up as a squad with the way we’ve come together, even with the injured players all being here and on the pitch and supporting us after the game. Everyone is just rallying around each other and it’s a really difficult spell, but I think performances like these last two games when we’ve tried to go above and beyond to get through it and to get to a final, we all wanted it and we all believed that we could do it, but we just fell short at the last last hurdle, but immensely proud of everyone. 

on having to solve so many problems across both legs… 

It’s just the mentality that everyone has, that team first mentality. They’d sacrifice their own strengths in order for the team to progress and I think you’d do anything to be on the pitch and you’d play in whatever position as long as you’re giving your absolute best in whatever roles the gaffer wants to give you and we’re all doing it to our ultimate best of our ability. That’s the mindset, that’s the mentality and that’s unreal from everyone. 

on having more than 60,000 fans in attendance… 

It’s hard to put into words, to be honest. From minute one to the final whistle, they were just on our side the whole time and we heard them every minute of the game. It was unreal. It was probably, okay beside the result, it’s a historic moment for the club and I’m so proud of everyone working behind the scenes of what we’ve done and the product that we’re trying to do on the pitch as well. Okay, we didn’t get the result, but it’s a really, really proud day for the club I think, breaking records and making history as a club to sell out the Emirates at such a big game.