England 2-2 Japan
It was disappointing in the end for us to draw 2-2 with Japan, but it was an entertaining game.
We’d clawed it back to 2-1, before they got a free kick in the fifth minute of injury time.
To be honest, I have to watch clips of the game, I’ve not seen the second goal, but I’m pretty sure there was nothing I could have done with that.
The first I saw on the big screen in the stadium, and I’m possibly a bit disappointed with that one. I couldn’t see the ball, and I was trying to get sight of it, and shifted my weight one way, and whether it took a deflection or fishtailed the other way, I’m not sure, but you don’t want to concede from set pieces.
You’re not going to be happy conceding from two free kicks, but we can’t afford to put hands on anyone or give away silly free kicks in vulnerable areas.
We have got to be clever, especially around our own goal.
We have high standards and we showed that, in that we’re disappointed to only draw with Japan, who are above us in the world rankings.
They maybe created one or two chances in open play, but we created so many more.
I’m sure I’m slightly biased, but I thought we were the better team against a team who have been in the previous five World Cups.
But we have taken a lot of positives from the game.
There were some nerves and excitement, and I think the excitement outweighed the nerves, although it’s a similar feeling.
You have to channel that into positive energy. Nerves and excitement can both put you off your game, and you just have to make sure it’s not deficient to your performance.
But the World Cup is everywhere over here, on billboards, on television, and we have interviews and watch the highlights at the hotel - the whole experience has been fantastic so far.
It really is a massive deal, and I’ve enjoyed every minute.
It’s been a new experience for most of us, there was a great atmosphere at the game, and even though we’re immersed in the whole thing, you have to make sure your mind is on your job, and there is no negative effect on how you play.
Now we play Germany on Friday, and they are going to be a test for anyone, anywhere, any time, no more so than when they’re on the back of an 11-0 win.
They will be super confident, and will be thinking if they can get the three points they will qualify for the next stage.
But we are preparing as dilligently as we can. We started on Wednesday morning in training, and we have had meetings in between to look at tactics, different formations, set pieces, every little detail on every player, so we will be 100% prepared.
We already know a lot about them because we have played them several times, but we’re raring to go and believe we can get a result.
It was great to see so many England fans in the stadium on Tuesday though, and it can give you a big boost..
But whether we get a lot of support or not, it doesn’t faze the girls. We’re just concentrating on the game.
It’s nice if you have a lot of support, but we have done well when we have played in hostile atmospheres, like in France when we drew to qualify for the World Cup.
There was a big crowd there, most supporting France, but we coped with that and it is great preparation.
Published Date:
12/09/2007
Modified Date:
12/09/2007
50 days to go!
There are less than 50 days to go to the World Cup in China now, and the buck stops now.
We have been training every day, at least one session a day, with two or three sessions three times a week.
I didn’t really have much of an off-season – I only really had one week off before an intense training programme.
It has certainly been hard going, and it hasn’t subsided.
It has been more aerobic endurance-based, with some sessions based more on speed and power.
The professional male footballers will train as hard, but not including a full time job!
I’m at work at 7-45 a.m. to 4-30 p.m., and weight training then starts at 5-30 p.m.!
And we don’t get paid as much!
We have had thorough training, with a sports science background, for a number of years, but it has never been as intense.
We have met regionally for specific strength and conditioning training, with people coming in to monitor you, so there is no hiding place!
I would like to think I’m as fit as I’ve ever been.
I don’t think my knee will ever be back to what it was before my injury - it will probably always hamper me - but it feels good
I feel sharp and hopefully I will continue to improve.
We have been doing speed and power training more specific to goalkeepers than endurance stuff, and we are hoping to peak at the right time.
It will hopefully help us out there, where it will be roasting hot.
It will be in the nineties I would have thought, hot, humid and smoggy, especially where we are in Shanghai, which is a massive city.
The carbon monoxide emissions won’t be particularly favourable as it takes the oxygen out of the atmosphere.
But being out in America for five years at Alabama, where it was hot and humid, will help.
You do get used to it, although it takes a while, and hopefully a camp in Macaw before the finals will help us, and we should be fit enough to cope.
We travel out to Macaw on August 19th for a 10-day camp to acclimatise, before a holding camp in China.
The finals start on September 11th, with the final on the 30th, and we want to be there as long as possible, we are hoping to be away for the full six weeks.
My boyfriend and family are coming out, and most players have similar support, and hopefully we will get to see them all out there.
But we’re just concentrating on training at the moment, and you can’t even think about the tournament until the final squad selection.
The squad is named on August 7th, and Hope Powell sends the list in to FIFA on the 8th.
She hasn’t let out any vibes to anyone – she has to keep it fair across the board, but having started for the last few years, I would hope to be there – I would be a little bit shocked to say the least if I wasn’t in the squad, but you don’t want to say for certain.
I would still be as excited as anyone else if I am named in the squad though.
I should be well prepared anyway, Everton have their first-ever European games in August.
Between the 9th and the 14th we are in a round-robin group in Lithuania in the UEFA Cup, where we play Gintra Universiteas, FFC Zuchwil 05 of Switzerland and Glentoran from Belfast for a place in the second qualifying round.
It’s a first for Everton, and we’re only the second English team after Arsenal to be in Europe.
It’s a recent introduction to women’s football, and it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity for us.
We’re excited, and it’s a break from the arduous training, although I will be keeping it up!
The football never stops though, once the World Cup is over, the European Championship qualifiers begin in earnest.
We won our first Euro 2009 qualifier 4-0 against Northern Ireland at Gillingham in May, and beat Iceland by the same score in a friendly at Southend four days later, which was good preparation for the World Cup.
“The Northern Ireland game was obviously important, it was a competitive match with points at stake, and although we were not taking a win for granted, we felt we could get a performance out of it, and we did.
Published Date:
23/07/2007
Modified Date:
23/07/2007
China Review
| Playing for the FIFA Women's World Stars against China on Saturday was amazing, it was a massive spectacle, with lots of media there.
There were 31,000 fans in the stadium, and they were all pretty much cheering for China. They made a lot of noise!
Everyone wanted it to be a good avert for the women’s World Cup, and the game had everything – goals, and for the home fans, China won.
It was very exciting, and there was a lot of showboating, with it being an exhibition, particularly from the flair players.
It was a great atmosphere, and I remember it being hard to communicate with my defenders out there, on top of the fact we had never played together before, and the language barrier!
Everyone involved enjoyed it though, and it was a really positive experience. |
I got the shirt I played in, lots of free Adidas stuff, memorabilia signed by the players, pennants, loads of stuff with the World Cup mascots on, just plenty to remember the occasion by, including a copy of the China Daily, which I obviously can’t read yet! |
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It’s still sinking in, but now I think about it, it is pretty unbelievable.
I feel very lucky and it means a lot, it is a big honour.
I came on at half-time with the score a 2-2, and we lost 3-2 to a late goal. I was gutted to concede the goal in the last five minutes, but our team was looking slightly tired. The maximum the girls had to adapt to the conditions was four days, and it is difficult to be well organised in that space of time, but China probably deserved to win.
They showed they are a really good team.
I don’t like letting in goals though, but fortunately this one wasn’t very significant, with it being an exhibition match.
But I maximised the opportunity of being out there with one of the world’s best keepers in Bente Nordby.
She’s won everything, and she is definitely someone you look to.
It is a massive achievement getting to the World Cup, but the next level is to start winning things, and you can only learn from people like that.
We trained together, and from the start I asked her if there was anything she saw in my game she could help me with.
I was quite aware of what she’s done in the game, her experience and technical ability, and she was very gracious.
But meeting all the girls was amazing.
Then we had the draw for the World Cup the day after, and we came up with the one obviously everyone wanted to avoid, Germany.
Germany are a difficult team, but with two teams going through to the next round, we could have been drawn against another much-higher ranked team, like Group B, which is the Group of Death!
We’ve never played Argentina, but the England Under 19s coach has already been sent out to see them, so the preparations have begun.
We won’t take any team lightly, and people might think the Argentina game will be our easiest, but if we approach it like that, we could have problems.
But our first game against Japan could be pivotal.
If we beat them, it would give us a massive boost, and hopefully we could get something out of the Germany game, and we could more than likely be through.
There were hundreds of people at the draw, and when we pulled up outside, there was a red carpet to greet us.
We weren’t in posh frocks though, we had to wear our World Allstars tracksuits, and we were paraded after the draw, and marched off to the mixed zone for interviews.
It was an incredible spectacle, and I really can’t wait now for September!
First though, we now have to play Northern Ireland on May 13th, in a European Championships qualifier at Gillingham, and competitive football will be good for our preparations.
We need the points, and we need the killer attitude. |
Published Date:
26/04/2007
Modified Date:
26/04/2007
FIFA World Stars in China
My achievements with England are certainly the ones I am most proud of, and there is nothing better than getting to the World Cup, but it’s nice to have the individual recognition of being selected for the FIFA World Stars to play China on Saturday in Wuhan ahead of the World Cup draw.
It has been highlighted to me, and I’m very proud of it, but it’s a team game, and we achieve as a team.
But, personally, it’s nice to have been selected.
I flew out with my boyfriend today (Wednesday) from Manchester, before meeting up with the squad on Thursday afternoon for our first training session.
We fly to Frankfurt, then to Beijing, and then Wuhan, where the game and World Cup draw is.
The flight isn’t ideal, but I had some sleeping pills up my sleeve, so I was well prepared!
It’s a long way, but I’m looking forward to the game and the draw.
It’s a great honour to be out there. There has only ever been three of these Allstar games, and I didn’t know there was one until I was selected, but my England team-mate Sue Smith from Leeds was in the team eight years ago, and I am only the second-ever English player to be named, and the first goalkeeper, so that is a nice achievement.
But, to be honest, I feel I’m quite fortunate to be in the squad.
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We qualified for the World Cup, and I played my part, just as everyone in the squad did, but there is a lot more to come from me.
My knee is still giving me a bit of a problem, and that was something that was addressed last week.
I am getting major joy from the training programme I have been on, and hopefully by the time the World Cup comes around, I will be fully, fully fit, without any nagging pain, and I can get to the level of the Norway keeper.
It’s a long way, but I’m looking forward to the game and the draw. |
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Bente Nordby is arguably the best in the world, and she is someone I can look to and talk to about training habits and what she does on and off the pitch, so it is a great opportunity for me.
I would imagine, with it being an exhibition game, both keepers will get a half each, and that all 16 players in the squad will be used.
But it will be fantastic meeting all the other players from the other countries at the World Cup, and I’m really looking forward to it.
I aim to take as much out of it as I can.
Hope Powell is one of the coaches, and the other is Tina Theune-Meyer, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2003 and has won the Olympics and European Championship, so she will certainly be someone you are going to learn from.
She obviously has that winning mentality, and it will be a great experience.
The draw is something to look forward to as well, it’s exciting finding out which teams will be in our group at the World Cup.
Every team that has qualified deserves to be there, and once you get to this level, there is no team which will cause you less of a threat than another.
But obviously we would like to avoid Germany, as they are the number one team in the world. |
Published Date:
18/04/2007
Modified Date:
18/04/2007
You have to be mad to be a goalkeeper!
After the awful weather of last week, it's been gorgeous so far as we prepare to play Holland at Swindon on Wednesday.
The only thing is, the training pitches have dried up and are horrendous, the ball is bobbling about everywhere, which is a nightmare for a goalkeeper!
But preparations have been good so far. We've had two wins, beating Russia 6-0 on Thursday at MK Dons, and then we dug in to get a 1-0 win over Scotland at Wycombe on Sunday.
I played the full 90 minutes against Russia, and I was twiddling my thumbs a little bit - it was pretty one-sided and I didn't have a lot to do.
These are the games where you're susceptible to making mistakes though, because you're out of the games for long periods and you need to stay concentrated - it only takes a second to score a goal.
The last thing we wanted to do was concede after playing so well, but I didn't really have any saves to make.
We were quite pleased with our performance, but it was a little disappointing that Russia didn't provide us with a more challenging game.
Onto Sunday, and the Scotland game was a poor spectacle.
We made nine changes to the side, with Siobhan Chamberlain coming in for me.
It was a difficult game, despite the rankings gap between us, because it has that derby feel, but we deservedly ground out a 1-0 win.
The squad proved it's worth, and we've shown all 30 of us can do a job, so we will take something from that.
I got an idea I wasn't starting in the first training session ahead of the game, as we line up with one 11 mimicing the opposition's formation, and the other 11 in ours, and I was in the one lining up as Russia.
But it looks like I will be starting against Holland, so fingers crossed.
But all three of us have had a chance, with Carly Telford coming on for her first cap at half-time against Scotland, and she did well.
We take three keepers to the World Cup, and we all need to make sure we're on the plane for China.
All three of us get on great, obviously we are competitive and want to start games, but we are quite close.
Goalkeepers tend to stick together, and it makes for healthy competition.
To be fair, that has always been the atmosphere among keepers in the England squad in the 10 years I've been involved, the others were always welcoming with me.
You are isolated a little from the rest of the squad, as keepers, and it is a funny dynamic, but we all stick up for each other.
They say you have to be mad to be a goalkeeper, and we start training an hour before the rest of the squad.
Ten days of throwing yourself around on the floor can take it's toll too!
But I love it, and the relationship I have with the other girls, and the goalkeeping coach helps you enjoy it even more.
Next up is Holland, and we are looking to build on the run we have put together after losing to China on their own patch.
We obviously drew with the USA and Germany, before these two last wins, and we hope to maintain the momentum.
The two games with Holland in qualifying for the World Cup saw us put in two great performances, battling for a 1-0 win over there, before a convincing 4-0 win at home, which was a real boost to our confidence.
More of the same would be very nice!
Published Date:
13/03/2007
Modified Date:
13/03/2007
Preparation for the Russians
| Training has been going really well, although the weather has been awful.
It’s been throwing it down all the time we’ve been down here, so conditions are not the greatest.
We’ve trained at Arsenal’s training ground, and we’re at Watford’s at the moment, and the pitches have been great when we’ve started, but they’ve cut up later on, and all the goalkeepers are coming off filthy from head to toe, which is nice – I’m told mud is good for the skin!
But the Russia game tonight (Thursday) is going to be tough.
They beat us the last time we played, and are only two places below us in the FIFA World rankings.
They’ve consistently qualified for the European Championships, and they will come at us full strength.
They have something to prove, having not qualified for the World Cup, but they did have Germany in their group, which is unfortunate!
But they are a strong team and we have to be careful.
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We’re looking forward to playing though, everyone at Milton Keynes has been very welcoming and nice.
We’re just praying for dryer weather, which is supposed to come sooner or later!
Then we move on to Wycombe to play Scotland on Sunday, and although that is a good venue for us, it’s a shame that we aren’t able to play the game to open the new Wembley.
That was supposed to be one of the rewards for us qualifying for the World Cup, but obviously it’s out of the FA’s hands, as regards the stadium being ready.
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That would have been pretty special to play the first game there, but c’est la vie!
It will be another tough game though, any England-Scotland encounter usually is well-fought.
I’m sure they will want to come down and give a good account of themselves, and they have some very good players, most of who play in England.
We know all about them, but they have some quality, and their captain Julie Fleeting, who plays for Arsenal, is something special.
They also have a couple of younger players coming through.
But even though it will be a typically British game, we will prepare exactly the same as we will for Russia, and Holland on Wednesday.
We will move hotel straight after the game on Sunday, further west towards Swindon, and the girls have enjoyed being together this week.
It’s been great for team bonding, and it’s the first time we’ve had a squad of 30 players for some while.
Hope Powell has brought in a few players we haven’t seen for a while, and some coming through, and everyone knows, give or take a few players, this could be the final squad for the World Cup in China.
But you can now see the competition face to face, and now is the first step in staking a claim for the World Cup.
The spirit is always good with the girls, and the competition for places doesn’t affect that, but it’s time to stamp your authority on your position and make a claim.
We have these three sets of 90 minutes, and I’m sure certain players will be tried out in different positions, and others given their chance, and we have as good a chance as each other.
Obviously, being a goalkeeper, I can only play in one position – I can’t see myself being thrown up front! – but if you are an outfield player and can play in more than one position, it’s beneficial.
But I’m looking forward to all three games, and hopefully I can get as much game time as possible.
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Published Date:
06/03/2007
Modified Date:
06/03/2007