She was the unlikely heroine of the EUROs last summer as she prodded England home to their first piece of major silverware in front of a record crowd at Wembley and now, Chloe Kelly enters uncharted territory at a FIFA Women’s World Cup ‘Down Under’.
With her minutes limited at the EUROs as she gradually made her way back to fitness from long-term injury, the Manchester City winger had to wait until the last game of the tournament before making her indelible mark on the competition.
Now at full match fitness and entering her first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 25-year-old will be hoping to put some smiles on England faces once again. With the tournament in Australia and New Zealand inching closer to its commencement, it’s the local faces who are happy at the sight of the Lionesses winger.
“We’ve had a warm welcome from everyone we’ve met so far, and we’re really feeling the love from the Australians,” Kelly said when speaking on Lionesses Down Under. “Our last place was on the Sunshine Coast, which was amazing and it’s great to now experience city life in Brisbane.”
Given the distance between Australia and home, England are more detached from their fans than last summer but Kelly still feels the nation’s strong support.
She said “We wear the shirt with pride over here and we know with the support back home, everyone is backing us and they’re wearing their shirts with pride too.
“It’s really important that we get the support back home, but it’s also so important in the stadiums here. We really embrace that and are so appreciative of our fans that are out here and have travelled so far to support us. We’re also so appreciative of the locals that are supporting as well.”
There will certainly be plenty of eyes on Kelly and her Lionesses teammates over the next month with many expecting the European champions do well at the tournament. They undoubtedly enter the competition as one of the favourites and with expectations never higher for this team, they will be hoping to make a flying start against Haiti on Saturday.