Alessia Russo has expressed confidence in England's chances at the Women's Euro 2025 after the team rediscovered their "DNA" in a dominant 4-0 victory against the Netherlands. This emphatic win followed a disappointing 2-1 defeat to France in their opening Group D match, putting the Lionesses under pressure to perform.

The victory against the Netherlands was a "complete reversal of fortunes" for England. Watched by Prince William, the Lionesses knew they needed all three points to keep their hopes of defending their title alive. Lauren James led the charge with two goals, while Russo provided three assists. Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone also contributed to the scoreline.

Russo emphasized the importance of playing with freedom and rediscovering the team's core identity. "We want everyone to be as free as possible out on the pitch and going forward," Russo stated. "It's a big part of what we are as a team. We have players who can create something out of nothing, and making sure everyone is in a good head-space is important". She believes the team has players who can produce moments of magic, and it's crucial to ensure everyone is in the right mindset.

Following the game against France, Russo said the team looked inward to assess how they could improve both individually and collectively. She highlighted the importance of setting high standards, both on and off the field, and felt they achieved that against the Netherlands. "I think that going into this game we wanted to start with that, setting our own standards high on and off the ball and we definitely did that," Russo said. "I think when that's our standard as a team, then the sky's the limit".

Russo praised her teammates for rediscovering their "DNA" in the match against the Netherlands, describing it as a "proper England" performance. "Returning to that, that's our standard, and that's our DNA as a team, and we definitely saw that today, from the first minute right until the end. Everyone was working so hard," Russo said. "We were really dominant on first and second balls, and clinical with our chances. We probably could have scored even more as well. It was definitely something that we wanted, to return to our roots, and we know we're capable of performances like that".

The England team displayed resilience and determination to bounce back from the defeat against France. Russo acknowledged the disappointment after the first game but emphasized the need to focus on the upcoming matches. "It's tournament football, you go through lots of highs and lows to get where you want to be in tournaments," Russo said. "So ultimately, we were disappointed after that game, more so with ourselves".

The victory over the Netherlands demonstrated England's potential and reminded them of their capabilities as defending champions. Russo's confidence reflects the team's belief that they can achieve great things in the tournament if they maintain their rediscovered "DNA" and continue to set high standards.