France, July 17 -- England striker Alessia Russo paid tribute to the squad's response to losing their opening match against France at the women's European championships in Switzerland.

During the final preparations for Thursday night's quarter-final clash against Sweden in Zurich, Russo said the 2-1 defeat to Laurent Bonadei's France side in Zurich on 5 July had added fuel to the fire to defend their crown.

"I'm massively proud of the team," added the 26-year-old. "We needed a reaction."

England beat the Netherlands 4-0 on 9 July to relaunch their campaign and walloped Wales 6-1 four days later to finish second with six points behind France in Group D.

"We knew that if we didn't beat the Netherlands we would've been going home," Russo...