Goalkeeper Mary Earps says that there is much more to come from the England team after a challenging FIFA Women’s World Cup so far.
The Lionesses are into the quarter-finals but they have struggled to shine in three of their four matches at the tournament to date, a 6-1 win against China being the exception.
England face Colombia in their quarter-final tie in Sydney tomorrow. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, goalkeeper Earps said that there is much more to come from the current Lionesses side.
“I really believe that the best is yet to come,” Earps said. “There’s so much talent in the group and I really do believe that there are so many more levels where we can go.
“There’s an incredible amount of talent and experience from what we have already been through both together as an international team and as individuals at club. Over the last 12 to 24 months, we have experienced lots of different fixtures; when you look at the Champions Leagues, the titles and the cups and what has been won individually by the players.
“It’s an exciting time to be an England player but we have to earn that right every day. We are constantly looking to improve, drive performance and drive our standards and I think that is the best thing about it; we are not satisfied, we are not done and there are more levels where we want to go.”
England have found playing against teams with distinct identities challenging but Earps believes that the Lionesses feel empowered to do more.
She said “The most important thing to note is that we have been winning games. We are in a results business and we have earned the right to be in the position we are in today.
“I experience training every day, I know the players personally, I’ve had the privilege of working with them for some time and I can see the talent in the team.
“I don’t think we have been bad by any means but I think you’ve seen glimpses of what we are capable of; we as a team know the standard that we want to get to and we know that we can give more. In terms of how we would like to dominate games and go about our business, we are excited by the challenge of thinking and knowing that we can do more.”
England’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 quarter-final against Colombia kicks-off at 11.30am tomorrow morning.
About The Author
