Chelsea ace Sophie Ingle admits that she was shocked to receive the call to represent Team GB at the Olympic Games.
The midfielder was the only Welsh player to be named in head coach Hege Riise’s 18-player squad for Tokyo 2020. Ingle joins club teammates Millie Bright and Fran Kirby in the squad while Niamh Charles has been named as a reserve.
Discussing her call up after the squad announcement, Ingle admitted that she was shocked to receive confirmation of her inclusion in the squad and said that she wasn’t expecting to be picked.
“No, definitely not,” said Ingle when asked whether she had imaged herself representing Team GB. “I’m still shocked to be honest that I’m in the squad. There are so many good players to choose from.
“I don’t know, maybe I should back myself more but I honestly didn’t think I’d be in this squad. I’m going to grab this opportunity with both hands and give it everything I can for the team and hopefully we go on to win gold.”
Ingle’s call-up comes less than a fortnight after she represented Chelsea in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Gothenburg. The midfielder played the full 90 minutes of that tie and she said that the big game experience from that occasion could help her prepare for Olympic action with Team GB.
“I think big games like that can only help you as an individual and as a team,” she said. “Obviously, everyone wants to win and it’s hard when you lose but I think we would have gained a lot of experience from that looking back now – even just reviewing the game and the whole build-up to the final was obviously really intense for us and something that we’re maybe not used to.
“Now I’ve got that experience under my belt, it’s kind of going to be similar for the Olympics. Like today, there’s so much media which is amazing. There’s so much publicity around the Team GB women’s team and it’s really exciting that there’s so many of you that are supporting this as well as we’re trying to push for change and bigger things.”
Ingle has arguably been an unsung hero for her club this season and she revealed that manager Emma Hayes believed that she was worthy of inclusion in the Team GB squad.
The midfielder said “It was the week of our build-up to the Champions League final so obviously we had a lot going on with club football and media so it was just a quick chat. She rang me after training to say that she was really proud and that I deserved to go and I should be on that teamsheet as the squad of 22.
“She was just really happy for me that I’ve put all the hard work in and tried to be as consistent as I can for Chelsea and she said the rewards are showing now.”
Ingle is one of just three non-English players who made the final 18, Arsenal’s Kim Little and Manchester City’s Caroline Weir being the others.
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