Alessia Russo sends 'no limit' warning to Lionesses Euro 2025 rivals after Netherlands thrashing

Alessia Russo insists there is no limit on England’s potential after the Lionesses turned their Euro 2025 campaign around with a resounding 4-0 victory over the Netherlands.

Russo bagged three assists in a dominant England display at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich as they provided a statement response to their opening defeat to France.

While the Lionesses had come under scrutiny for their below-par performance against Les Bleues, they answered the critics on Wednesday with a superb display under pressure.

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It left Russo adamant that England have no ceiling at Euro 2025 as they look to defend their European crown.

“After the France game we looked at ourselves as individuals, and as a team, of how we can all be better,” she said.

“Going into this game we wanted to start by setting the standards high and we did that. When that’s our standard as a team then the sky’s the limit.

“We’re at our best as a team when we stick together, we’re good on the ball, we create chances and we’re dominant at the back and we did all of that.”

England had become the first-ever defending champions to lose their opening group stage game at a European Championships in their 2-1 defeat to France, in what also marked their first loss at that round of the tournament since 2015.

It left critics doubting whether the Lionesses could turn their form around against a Dutch team that boasts world-class talent in the likes of Vivianne Miedema and Daphne van Domselaar.

But Russo says her side never once doubted their capability despite the unfamiliar territory they found themselves in.

“I knew that we were capable of performances like that and I know that we still are. That’s what we want. We’ve set the standards now,” she said.

“We were obviously really disappointed after the result against France but we knew we needed to bounce back and we knew we needed to win at least two of the group games so the job didn’t change.

“We definitely put on a performance today that we were all proud of and that we want to continue with as well.”

While Russo picked up the Player of the Match award for her hat-trick of assists, it was Lauren James who truly stole the show in Zurich.

Starting just her second match since April, the Chelsea forward delivered the opening goal of the match in breathtaking fashion.

Receiving the ball from Russo on the edge of the box, she drove inside before firing a shot from her weaker foot into the top right corner under pressure from two defenders.

“We see her do that in training all the time. When you see her in those areas you know she can hit it off both feet as well,” said Russo.

“I want to find LJ in those areas as much as I can and as soon as she hit it I think we all knew it was going in. She’s a special talent.”

James made it a brace in the second half as she was well-positioned to turn home Ella Toone’s rebounded shot from the centre of the box.

Goals from Georgia Stanway and Toone rounded off the victory, while Russo also put the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside in the build-up.

It was a dominant performance for England who made Andries Jonker’s side look feeble in their efforts to gain three points, and Russo felt the scoreline could have been even worse for the Dutch.

“We were really working hard, we were really dominant on first and second balls, picking up the balls in the right areas and really clinical with our chances that we had as well and probably could have scored more,” she said.

“That’s our standard and our DNA as a team. We definitely saw that today from the first minute to the last.

“We wanted to return to our roots and we know that we’re capable of performances like that.”