England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that she was pleased by Everton centre-back Gabby George’s eagerness to link-up with her squad.
The 25-year-old hasn’t been capped by the Lionesses for well over three years but she has been recalled into the senior squad this week with fellow defenders Alex Greenwood and Lotte Wubben-Moy out injured.
News of George’s call-up was delivered whilst the player was away on international duty with the Under-23s in Spain. Wiegman said that the defender was delighted to learn of her call-up and was eager to link-up with the senior squad in Skopje ahead of tomorrow night’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 qualifier against North Macedonia.
“Mo Marley first informed her of her call-up and then I gave her a call, she was very excited,” Wiegman told FAWSL Full-Time when speaking in her pre-match press conference. “Perhaps she was a little surprised but she couldn’t wait to come over and join this team.
“That’s good to hear that players really want to join this team, that they are excited and that they are really ambitious to play for the national team.”
North Macedonia’s Philip II Arena is a venue where an athletics track separates the pitch and the stands. Wiegman said that her side must look to keep the ball in-play as much as possible to enable them to build momentum.
She said “We will concentrate on ourselves and if we keep possession of the ball, we will have a high ball tempo. If we keep in-possession then they can’t kick it out so that’s what we are trying to achieve. We expect to be on the ball a lot as we did in September and we will be trying to do the best on the pitch that we can. Hopefully, we can speed up the game and not give them the opportunity to slow it down.
“For them, it is a great opportunity to play at the stadium in a great match so hopefully, we can make it a nice evening tomorrow night.”
England’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 qualifier against North Macedonia kicks-off at 7pm on Friday evening.