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Hello everyone I am back home now from a rather dismal Cyprus to a cold but sunny Britain. I think the trip was well worth going as it was great preparation for our up and coming European qualifying fixtures.
 Playing teams ranked in the top 5 in the world was always going to be difficult and although we performed well against Sweden we got beat 2-0. They just showed more quality going forward and this is something that we can learn from the top nations. It is great having all the play but its as simple as putting the ball in the back of the net when the chances arise. So against Norway we knew we had to have more quality going forward and that’s exactly what we did, we created a lot and won the game 2-1. Like I told you in my last column that I hurt my knee against Sweden in a tackle (I know its hard for some of you to believe but I was actually tackling, our manager Rick couldn’t believe it. maybe that’s why I don’t do it too much).
This meant that Coach Smith took over. Hope (Powell, England manager) asked me to go up in the stands and watch the game and analyse all parts of the game. I had a microphone so I could talk to Hope and the rest of the staff if I saw anything that needed changing. I really enjoyed it and you can really see and learn a lot from observing. Obviously I would much rather be playing but it was nice for them to keep me involved, and I do actually think it was my input that made us win the game. Just kidding!! I am now in a race to be fit for our quarter final against Cardiff on Sunday. I have been following my rehab programme and praying every night that it will be ok, so lets hope it works. I desperately want to help Leeds get to the Final this year. It is such a great occasion and honour to play in any sort of Final but the FA Cup is always a bit special. It’s the League Cup Final next Thursday at Leyton Orient, Arsenal against Everton 745 K.O if you cant go to the game make sure you watch it on Sky. I am doing the punditry at pitch side so make sure you don’t laugh at firstly the amount of makeup that I have on and secondly the fact that I will be freezing unless we have a spring heat wave... I’m looking forward to it actually but would rather be playing in the Final than sat on the side. It will be nice to see the Women’s game back on the TV again. TV companies have missed a trick not following up with the success of the World Cup coverage with comprehensive coverage of the England Women’s team. Apparently at the end of this season the rights move over to another top TV company so we will see how this develops the game. I would personally like to see a programme every Sunday or Monday night that covers that weekend’s games – sort of like a magazine show – I’m sure that football fans would watch it and it would go far to help the women’s game in this country. I hope you have all been and bought your masquerade tickets this week. The hard part then is to get your outfits. I haven’t a clue so if you can help answers on a postcard would be great. I don’t think jeans would be quite right. |
