PHILADELPHIA — In most of the big games Emily Fox plays these days, she plays for the favorite.

It’s as true with the U.S. national team as it is with her club, Arsenal, one of the biggest in England and all of Europe. But there are some matchups where the Gunners are the underdogs, and last Saturday’s Champions League final was one of them.

Arsenal was up against Barcelona: the two-time reigning European champion, winner of three of the last four, and producer of much of Spain’s 2023 World Cup-winning national team. Barcelona had beaten England’s top team, Chelsea, 8-2, on aggregate in the two-game semifinals, a bigger feat than Arsenal’s 5-3 topping of French power Lyon.

So it was really quite an upset when Arsenal prevailed, 1-0, to win the tournament for the first time in 18 years. Fox had a huge game at right back, with three interceptions, three clearances, two blocks and eight defensive recoveries.

The saying goes in soccer that to win championships, you have to know how to suffer. Fox knew from experience, but not just in England.

In the seven-plus years since she debuted for the national team, the now-26-year-old has played a lot of games against teams that have made the U.S. suffer. The Americans won most of those games, but that doesn’t mean they were easy — especially against teams like Brazil and Japan that keep the ball as much as Barcelona likes to.

So when Fox arrived at U.S. camp to prepare for an upcoming slate of friendlies and sat down for a news conference online, it was natural to ask: did those games help prepare her for what the Champions League final might bring?

“Yeah, absolutely,” she said. “I think, too, when you look at the Brazil game at the Olympics [the gold-medal game], the last game of a tough tournament — with Barcelona, [it was] the last game of the long season. So I definitely think I leaned on that experience and that grind.”

A ‘surreal’ title celebration

It took 100 minutes, counting stoppage time, with eight minutes tacked on in the second half. When the final whistle blew, Fox and backup defender Jenna Nighswonger became the sixth and seventh Americans to win the women’s Champions League, and the first to do so with an English club.

“We did talk about, before the game, being able to suffer and being OK with it because of the talent that Barça has,” Fox said. “And being OK with not having the ball, which normally as a team we don’t do.”

She didn’t look at the clock for most of the game. In fact, she said, “I tried to avoid it at all costs” until Stina Blackstenius’ goal in the 74th minute. That was one of only three Arsenal shots on target in a game where Barcelona had a 20-8 overall shots advantage and 68% of the possession.

To top it off, when the referee called a foul late in stoppage time, players initially thought it was the final whistle before quickly realizing it wasn’t. The end came a few seconds later, sparking a celebration among the players and the fans who traveled to Lisbon, Portugal, for the occasion.

“I think you don’t realize how well the team is playing, and you’re playing, especially in a game like that where no matter who you’re up against, they’re the best of the best,” Fox said. “So you just have to stay in the moment and stay present because the minute you switch off, they create an amazing opportunity.”

The rewards for winning the Champions League weren’t just the trophy, a medal and a piece of the prize money Arsenal earned throughout the tournament. The Gunners held a title celebration in their North London neighborhood on Monday, and thousands of fans filled the streets.

That big crowd was part of a trend this past season. Arsenal’s average attendance of 18,189 easily was the biggest in Europe, helped by playing 13 games at the 60,000-plus-seat Emirates Stadium where the club’s men play. (The rest were at a smaller venue in the suburbs.) It also surpasses all the averages in the NWSL so far this year.

Just counting games in the FA Women’s Super League, England’s domestic league, Arsenal averaged 28,808, more than triple the other 11 teams in the circuit.

“I’d use the word ‘surreal,’ and just honored,” Fox said. “I think when you’re in it, it’s hard to appreciate it, because you’re always used to just go-go-going and what’s the next thing? But then again, when you have that time to connect with the fans, and the entire season being able to play at the Emirates … I just think it’s been an unreal experience.”

Fox traveled from London to the U.S. team’s camp in the Minneapolis area on Tuesday, and was greeted by a silly string shower from her teammates. Then she got right back to work at Wednesday’s practice.

©2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.