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Ella Toone says she couldn’t have achieved extra to earn a beginning spot in Sunday’s World Cup remaining, with Lauren James now obtainable having served her two-match ban for he sending off towards Nigeria.
Toone lashed in a thunderous strike to get England’s semi-final win over Australia up and operating and has impressed since changing James within the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia.
However with the Chelsea participant up for choice once more, having come off the naughty step following her stamp on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie within the round-of-16 penalty shootout win, Sarina Wiegman faces a dilemma — whether or not to stay with Toone or begin James, who was the Lionesses most spectacular participant earlier than her purple card, within the remaining towards Spain.
Toone, nevertheless, is in little question she couldn’t have achieved rather more to state her case to start out in Sunday’s much-anticipated showpiece.
“When huge moments fall to me in tournaments, I’ve taken them,” Toone, who additionally scored the opener in final summer season’s Euro 2022 remaining triumph, mentioned.
“It fell straight to me within the field and I simply thought ‘why not simply smack it?’ Actually, that’s the very best shot I’ve hit in my life.
“Generally whenever you hit a ball, you simply know I’ve caught that completely and I used to be like ‘wow, that was alright’. I believe I knew as quickly because it left my boot that it was going to finish up behind the online.
“It appears to be I like the large stage in tournaments, however in event soccer it’s usually about taking these moments and it was my flip to take action tonight.
“I had my second, it fell to me and I put it behind the online. Even when I hadn’t scored, I might nonetheless have achieved my job for this workforce, labored arduous and did what I wanted to do.”
Who’s within the England squad?
Goalkeepers
Mary Earps, 30 (Manchester United, 34 caps)
Squad No: 1
Having firmly established herself as England’s No 1 shot-stopper ever since head coach Sarina Wiegman took over in September 2021, Earps is within the type of her life and received the Fifa Greatest Goalkeeper of the Yr award in February. Her 14 clear sheets within the Girls’s Tremendous League final time period was a brand new document for a single WSL season. In January she additionally grew to become the primary keeper to go 50 profession clear sheets in WSL fixtures.
Hannah Hampton, 22 (Chelsea, 2 caps)
Squad No: 13
Hampton is seen as one in all England’s most technically-gifted younger goalkeepers and made her senior Lionesses debut in 2022’s Arnold Clark Cup’s goalless draw with Spain.
An unused substitute all through final summer season’s Euros, she was then dropped by each her membership and nation within the autumn of 2022, however her robust type for Aston Villa within the second half of the season noticed her earn a recall to Wiegman’s squad in time for this World Cup.
Ellie Roebuck, 23 (Manchester Metropolis, 11 caps)
Squad No: 21
Manchester Metropolis’s first-choice keeper and a participant with a comparatively great amount of WSL expertise for her age, Roebuck is a more-than-able deputy to Earps and would likely be first in line to be referred to as upon, ought to Earps be unable to play a World Cup match for any purpose. She excels in one-on-one conditions and shot-stopping is the very best a part of her sport.
Defenders
Millie Shiny, 29 (Chelsea, 66 caps, 5 targets)
Squad No: 6
Captaining her nation this summer season within the absence of injured skipper Leah Williamson, Shiny might be within the highlight this summer season greater than ever earlier than however seems comfortable with these obligations. She is heading to her fourth main worldwide event and England have reached at the least the semi-finals in all of her earlier three.
Sturdy in her physique, highly effective within the air and expert in her lengthy diagonal balls too, she is going to begin at centre-back – offered, after all, that she is handed slot in time. Shiny has not performed since March due to a knee harm however is “assured” she might be prepared for the event, and her rehab is alleged to be forward of schedule.
Lucy Bronze, 31 (Barcelona, 105 caps, 12 targets)
Squad No: 2
In June, Bronze received the Girls’s Champions League for the fourth time in her profession – probably the most of any English participant – and in doing so with Barcelona, the previous Lyon star grew to become the primary English participant to win Europe’s high girls’s membership competitors with two completely different groups.
She is likely one of the gamers within the England squad who can unquestionably be positioned within the ‘world-class’ bracket and was named because the Fifa Greatest girls’s participant in 2020.
Jess Carter, 25 (Chelsea, 18 caps, 1 objective)
Squad No: 16
Notably adept at enjoying at left-back or centre-back, Carter’s versatility is an effective asset for Wiegman and she or he performed in all 5 of England’s matches throughout February and April’s worldwide home windows. That implies she is going to play a sizeable function this summer season, after enjoying simply 16 minutes of England’s triumphant Euros marketing campaign a yr in the past.
Niamh Charles, 24 (Chelsea, 7 caps)
Squad No: 3
After narrowly lacking out on the ultimate squad of 23 for final summer season’s Euros and being chosen on standby for Crew GB’s Olympic girls’s soccer squad in Tokyo, Charles’ major-tournament debut has lastly arrived.
Already a three-time WSL champion with Chelsea having helped them win three consecutive home doubles, Charles is a flexible, attacking full-back who has usually been deployed as a wing-back for her membership and even as a winger.
Alex Greenwood, 29 (Manchester Metropolis, 75 caps, 5 targets)
Squad No: 5
A technically-gifted, ball-playing centre-half, who accomplished extra passes than every other WSL participant final season, Greenwood can also be proficient at left-back and will begin in both place for the Lionesses at this World Cup.
She was utilised as one in all England’s impression substitutes throughout final summer season’s Euros, when Rachel Daly was beginning at left-back, however with Daly being extra more likely to be deployed as a striker and with skipper Williamson injured, Greenwood will now type an integral a part of England’s back-line and her incisive passing will type a key a part of the Lionesses’ ways.
Esme Morgan, 22 (Manchester Metropolis, 5 caps)
Squad No: 15
Making her senior worldwide debut final October, Morgan is amongst the brand new, younger faces on this squad that might be unfamiliar to any spectators who haven’t tuned in since final yr’s Euros triumph, however she is a gentle defender who’s displaying maturity past her years. That was epitomised when she wore the captain’s armband for Manchester Metropolis in January on the age of twenty-two, for the membership that she first went to look at with a season ticket when she was three years outdated.
She was dominated out of 2022’s Euros after a damaged leg noticed her miss practically a yr’s price of soccer, however she has been tipped to be a mainstay for the Lionesses sooner or later.
Lotte Wubben-Moy, 24 (Arsenal, 10 caps)
Squad No: 14
Regardless of being an unused substitute all through 2022’s Euros, Wubben-Moy nonetheless made an indelible contribution to the game that summer season as she was the brainchild of the workforce’s open letter to the prime ministerial candidates on the time, calling for all women to be given equal entry to soccer in faculties throughout PE classes and after-school golf equipment.
London-born and a lifelong Arsenal fan, she helped her membership attain the Girls’s Champions League semi-finals final season however is the one member of Arsenal’s squad included for England this summer season, amidst accidents to team-mates Williamson and Beth Mead.
Midfielders
Laura Coombs, 32 (Manchester Metropolis, 5 caps)
Squad No: 17
The oldest participant on this England squad, Coombs’ worldwide profession goes by means of one thing of a renaissance after she made her first appearances for the Lionesses since 2015 in February’s Arnold Clark Cup. She helped England win the Below-19 Euros method again in 2009 as a part of a workforce that additionally featured Bronze and Jordan Nobbs, however Coombs has needed to wait till this yr to actually see a metamorphosis in her fortunes at senior worldwide stage.
Her in depth membership profession is a rarity in that she has performed for all three of the WSL’s most profitable sides, in Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester Metropolis, in addition to Liverpool, and beforehand frolicked enjoying in america.
Jordan Nobbs, 30 (Aston Villa, 71 caps, 8 targets)
Squad No: 12
Misfortune has plagued Nobbs’ goals of success at main worldwide tournaments after accidents dominated her out of final summer season’s Euros, the final World Cup in 2019 and restricted her to only one look on the 2015 World Cup, however this summer season she is raring to go after a stellar second half of the WSL marketing campaign together with her new membership, Aston Villa.
Searching for to ensure she earned a spot on this World Cup squad, she determined to finish her 13-year keep at Arsenal in January to hitch Carla Ward’s facet, particularly with England in thoughts.
Georgia Stanway, 24 (Bayern Munich, 50 caps, 15 targets)
Squad No: 8
Who might neglect Stanway’s scorching strike from vary that received England’s quarter-final towards Spain final summer season? Since then, this tough-tackling, box-to-box midfielder from Cumbria has received the Frauen Bundesliga title in Germany with Bayern Munich and is ready to star for her nation once more in Australia.
She is predicted to be the workforce’s main penalty taker once more, so might effectively get herself on the scoresheet a number of occasions, however in regular play her function inside England’s midfield might be very important to their progress.
Ella Toone, 23 (Manchester United, 32 caps, 16 targets)
Squad No: 10
As one of many ‘tremendous subs’ for England final summer season, Toone’s function has now switched from second-half game-changer to enjoying from the beginning, amidst the continued absence of Chelsea playmaker Fran Kirby.
Along with her identify already assured to be eternally stamped into the England historical past books due to her opening objective towards Germany in final summer season’s remaining at Wembley, 2023 is her likelihood to point out her potential on a worldwide stage in her first World Cup.
Keira Walsh, 26 (Barcelona, 59 caps)
Squad No: 4
The world’s costliest signing in girls’s soccer, after her switch to Barcelona from Manchester Metropolis final summer season for a payment of simply over £400,000, Walsh has greater than confirmed her price by serving to the Catalan membership win the Champions League in June and she or he goes into this World Cup as one in all England’s most necessary gamers.
Amongst the robust contenders for the unofficial title of ‘greatest midfielder on the planet’, and undoubtedly one of many main holding midfielders of her technology, she is a linchpin of this Wiegman facet.
Katie Zelem, 27 (Manchester United, 8 caps)
Squad No: 20
A set-piece-taking specialist and the captain of a Manchester United facet which have simply loved their best-ever season, Zelem was mightily relieved to be referred to as up for this World Cup after surprisingly being omitted of the squad for April’s fixtures towards Brazil and Australia.
Previous to that, she has been often included by Wiegman and, though she is unlikely to start out video games at this event when all people is match, she is going to provide a powerful choice from the bench.
Forwards
Rachel Daly, 31 (Aston Villa, 69 caps, 13 targets)
Squad No: 9
Daly arrives at this World Cup as one of the vital in-form strikers on the planet, having received the WSL’s Golden Boot award with 22 targets in 22 league video games final season for Aston Villa.
Viewers of final summer season’s Euros will know her because the Celine Dion song-singing left-back who began each sport of that event as England’s quantity three, however whereas her versatility is massively priceless to Wiegman, this summer season the excessive expectation is that Daly might be used as a central striker, the place she has thrived for her membership since signing from Houston Sprint final August.
Bethany England, 29 (Tottenham Hotspur, 21 caps, 11 targets)
Squad No: 19
Along with her worldwide profession seemingly within the doldrums when she had not performed for her nation since September, Barnsley-born England sought to revive her probabilities of a World Cup call-up when she left Chelsea in January and joined Tottenham. She feels the “huge threat” she took in leaving Chelsea has totally paid off after she notched up a powerful 12 targets in 12 WSL video games for Tottenham and that goal-scoring streak meant Wiegman couldn’t ignore her performances.
She was additionally a part of final summer season’s Euros squad, although, but didn’t get on the pitch in any of the Lionesses’ six matches at that event, so it stays to be seen whether or not she might be given her likelihood in a significant finals.
Lauren Hemp, 23 (Manchester Metropolis, 38 caps, 10 targets)
Squad No: 11
Solely Earps, Walsh and new captain Shiny have performed extra minutes in an England shirt since Wiegman took cost in 2021 than Manchester Metropolis winger Hemp, who – regardless of nonetheless solely being 22 years outdated – is now the eighth-most-capped participant on this squad.
She accomplished 35 dribbles within the WSL final season, second within the division behind solely Lauren James, and she or he might be one in all England’s most harmful attacking weapons at this event. With a mixed 13 targets and assists within the final WSL season, maybe the one actual criticism that might be thrown her method is that she shouldn’t be but changing sufficient of her probabilities into targets, however together with her tempo, talent and pure skill, this might be her event to shine.
Lauren James, 21 (Chelsea, 11 caps, 1 objective)
Squad No: 7
The breakthrough star for England at 2023’s Arnold Clark Cup, James has rapidly grow to be one of many Lionesses’ most necessary attacking gamers, after a title-winning season with Chelsea. Extraordinarily snug and assured with the ball at her toes, James continuously glides previous defenders with ease and her trickery will assist unlock defences.
She is constructing a great mixture with right-back Bronze down England’s proper flank, however James may also play centrally as a quantity 10. Her brother Reece performs for Chelsea and England.
Chloe Kelly, 25 (Manchester Metropolis, 26 caps, 6 targets)
Squad No: 18
The scorer of the profitable objective in final summer season’s historic remaining at Wembley, Kelly will eternally be an England heroine and the picture of her wheeling away and swirling her shirt over her head in celebration is one no Lionesses fan will neglect.
Now, after a powerful yr for Manchester Metropolis which noticed her end the WSL season joint-second on the division’s assists chart, behind solely Chelsea and Norway’s Guro Reiten, pacey Kelly seems set to go away one other huge mark on this event together with her acceleration, fast toes and highly effective ending.
Katie Robinson, 20 (Brighton & Hove Albion, 5 caps)
Squad No: 22
The youngest member of England’s World Cup squad, Robinson has impressed Wiegman throughout her handful of senior appearances since making her debut final November and she or he beat off competitors from established stars resembling Manchester United winger Nikita Parris to say a seat on the flight to Australia.
Cornwall-born Robinson helped her membership Brighton & Hove Albion attain the semi-finals of the Girls’s FA Cup final time period and her low centre of gravity, shut ball-control and agility will make her a helpful weapon in assault this summer season.
Alessia Russo, 24 (Unattached, 22 caps, 11 targets)
Squad No: 23
With a objective in each two video games that she has performed for her nation, Russo has a great monitor document internationally and has been an everyday starter in Wiegman’s facet throughout the 2022-23 marketing campaign, since getting used as a ‘tremendous sub’ alongside Toone throughout final summer season’s Euros.
She catapulted to fame by scoring a intelligent back-heel objective in England’s Euros semi-final victory over Sweden and now might be battling with Daly for the possibility to start out up entrance.
Standby gamers
Two outfield gamers had been named on standby for the Lionesses, and they’ll fly to Australia with England on Wednesday, July 5 to acclimatise to Australia and proceed coaching with the squad till England’s opening sport towards Haiti on July 22. At this level, in the event that they haven’t been required as an harm alternative, they may journey again residence to England. The 2 outfield gamers are:
Defender – Maya Le Tissier, 21 (Manchester United, 2 caps)
The younger centre-back was arguably probably the most unlucky of all of the gamers who missed out on the 23-player squad, having loved a extremely spectacular season in her first marketing campaign at Manchester United to assist them end second within the WSL with the very best defensive document within the division.
Guernsey-born Le Tissier, who is not any relation to Southampton males’s workforce legend Matt, signed for United from Brighton in 2022 for a payment understood to be within the area of £50,000-£60,000, and she or he performed in all 22 of her new workforce’s league fixtures and helped them preserve 14 clear sheets, conceding solely 12 targets in these 22.
Midfielder – Lucy Staniforth, 30 (Aston Villa, 17 caps, 2 targets)
The Aston Villa participant joined the England camp later than Le Tissier, as a result of initially Manchester Metropolis midfielder Jess Park was named on standby, however Park needed to withdraw due to a shoulder harm.
Staniforth made her England debut 5 years in the past underneath former head coach Phil Neville however she has not performed for her nation since October 2021 in a house qualifier towards Northern Eire at Wembley, which was her solely look underneath Wiegman thus far.
Head coach
Sarina Wiegman, 53 (born in The Netherlands)
A back-to-back winner of the European Championship after profitable the 2017 title with the Netherlands earlier than guiding England to glory in 2022, each on residence soil for the respective sides, Wiegman has remodeled the Lionesses’ fortunes and helped them take that elusive step of lifting their first main piece of silverware.
In her 32 matches accountable for the workforce previous to the beginning of the World Cup, she has overseen only one defeat, in a pleasant towards Australia in April, and throughout these 32 fixtures her workforce averaged 4.31 goals-per-game, whereas conceding at a fee of near only one objective in each three fixtures. She reached the ultimate on the final World Cup with the Netherlands, shedding to america in Lyon, and this time might be hoping to go one additional.
What does the England equipment seem like?
The workforce will put on gymnasium blue shorts with the house shirt (the away equipment is “coast blue with a gymnasium blue trim”). Gamers had expressed considerations about white shorts whereas on their durations.
“I actually like the brand new kits,” Keira Walsh mentioned. “The house equipment is simply traditional, very England. That’s what we love about it. It actually represents us as a nation.”
The FA says that it pays homage to the 1984 Lionesses.
