• last year
It leaves the Lionesses on the edge of qualifying for the knock out stages. Both of our Kent players, Alessia Russo and Lauren Coombs added minutes to their world cup campaign today.
Transcript
00:00 Well, Becky, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us today. First of
00:04 all, what did you make of the match this morning against Denmark?
00:06 Yeah, thank you for having me. Yeah, I mean, definite improvement from the first game,
00:12 but it's nice to see that there's definitely relationships being formed and obviously it's
00:16 a slightly different squad to what we started with with the Euros. So I think they hit the
00:19 nail on the head after the first game and that we probably just need to be a bit patient
00:22 with them. And all the while, we're not conceding goals. We can't lose games. So positive.
00:26 No, that's absolutely right. I mean, two from two now, but both games one nil. I mean, is
00:31 that the type of results that are going to take them very far into the tournament? I
00:34 mean, is that what they need to win or do they still need to find something else?
00:39 Yeah, listen, I think we place a lot of emphasis on results, but at the end of the day, three
00:44 points is three points. I think the way the results are going all the while you're winning,
00:49 it's never going to come down to goal difference anyway. But people, teams like Haiti, people
00:54 that maybe criticise the end result, should we have scored more possibly, were we as clinical
00:58 as we needed to be? Maybe not. But if you watch the game against China, it was a similar
01:04 story. They beat them one nil from a penalty. So some teams are turning up, it's competition
01:09 football, it's tournament football and no one wants to go home. So I think you've got
01:13 to face what's in front of you. And there's a lot of clubs and a lot of teams that we
01:16 haven't played before. So yeah, different problems to face, but not worried yet.
01:21 Absolutely. And I mean, we have to talk about that goal from Lauren James from outside the
01:25 box, a brilliant smash in. What did you make of it?
01:28 Yeah, unreal finish. I think no one ever questioned Lauren James' technical ability and I don't
01:33 think anybody was surprised to see her in the squad.
01:36 And it's great to hear some of these new names coming up. But on the sort of backdrop of
01:39 that is there's a few injuries, few missing names from the squad this time around. And
01:44 also today, Kiera Walsh obviously being taken out of the pitch from a stretcher. Is that
01:49 a concern? I mean, as a development manager as well, officer yourself, how often is it
01:54 we see that injuries for some players, it means that others get their chance to come
01:58 onto the pitch. I mean, we saw one of our locals here from Kent, Laura Coombs, she made
02:02 her debut at this World Cup so far.
02:04 Yeah, exactly. I mean, football is a beautiful game, but it's one that comes with harsh realities
02:10 and part of that is injuries. Unfortunately, players like Kiera are pivotal. But when you
02:16 play every minute for your club and then you go into a little respite, you go into national
02:20 competitions, international competitions, you're going to pick up niggles along the
02:24 way. I mean, it doesn't look good for her. And the first thing that I think it was caught
02:28 on camera was she said that she's done her knee and let's just hope it's nothing serious,
02:32 but it doesn't look good at the minute. But as you say, it's a team sport. It definitely
02:38 changed the dynamics of the game, I won't lie. But it just means that England needs
02:41 to rebalance, reshuffle. We came out in the second half much better. So to see Laura come
02:44 in and get her opportunity is fantastic. You know, every player's got to start somewhere.
02:48 And obviously, Laura's got a special story and she's now 31, 32 and been out of the game
02:53 from an international perspective for about eight years and then comes back in on the
02:58 biggest stage. So it's credit to her and it's a great opportunity for her.
03:01 Brilliant. And then, of course, also, Alicia Russo, another one of our local heroes here
03:05 in Kent. What does it mean then for yourself as part of the Kent FA to see some of these
03:09 local heroes making it to the world stage?
03:12 Yeah, I mean, Kent is a unique area in terms of opportunities and clubs. I mean, it's not
03:18 like a London that's overly saturated with huge Premier League, WSL clubs. So when you
03:24 see these local heroes, as you say, are performing on the biggest stage and you've got so many
03:28 girls that are aspiring to follow in those footsteps, it's pivotal. I mean, it's the
03:33 whole you can see it, you can be it stuff. And particularly with obviously Kent having
03:37 its first emerging talent centre, it's got just over 100 girls now that have been recruited
03:41 across it. It just really gives them a taste of actually I can get there and this is what
03:45 my pathway could look like. So, yeah, it's huge for local representation, but obviously
03:50 huge for the players as well.
03:52 Absolutely. And I suppose another part of that is that we're seeing this World Cup in
03:57 sort of more prominence than other women's World Cups before on the sort of primetime
04:02 channels, if you like. I mean, how important is that then for showing the next generation
04:07 of lionesses?
04:08 Yeah, I mean, there's been so much controversy over obviously the journey it took to get
04:15 here. Obviously, there was similarly with the men's, but not to the same extent. There
04:19 was arguments over who was going to show it, was it going to be shown, was it going to
04:22 be televised? So I think the figures speak for themselves. And there's been an awful
04:26 lot of engagement. I think back to the Canada World Cup, obviously, we got knocked out in
04:30 the third, fourth playoffs, through all own goal. We won't relive that moment. But obviously
04:36 with the time difference, it was still an awkward time. But I think the figures were
04:40 nowhere near close to even what opening games are now. So it just shows you the journey
04:45 and the evaluation that the game's on to get to where we are now. So, yeah, massive.
04:49 Well, Becky, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. Hopefully, we'll
04:53 speak to you again throughout the tournament, as long as England carry on getting the wins.
04:57 Yeah, thank you so much.

Recommended