Lionesses captain Leah Williamson says it was "amazing" to feature in Nike's latest legendary World Cup advert.
Just days before the 2022 men’s tournament in Qatar, Nike released a brand new commercial titled ‘The Football Verse’ that sees a host of players turn up for a memorable and hilarious kickabout. Arsenal defender and England legend Williamson features alongside footballing greats from past and present, including Ronaldo, Sam Kerr, Alex Morgan, Kevin De Bruyne, Ronaldinho and Kylian Mbappe.
Essentially, the advertisement poses the question of what would happen if Nike brought the greatest footballers ever - all in their primes - onto one pitch to go head-to-head. And Williamson makes a big impact when first seen on screen, dropping her shoulder to leave Brazilian World Cup legend Ronaldo for dust.
Williamson has had a memorable year, the highlight coming at Wembley when she captained England to a 2-1 win over Germany in the final of Euro 2022, the Lionesses' first-ever major tournament triumph. The only living English person to have lifted an major international trophy, is also one of the bookmakers' favourites to land Sports Personality of the Year
Williamson is the only Lioness to feature, although from the men’s side, Phil Foden is another English player to pop-up. The Arsenal star said she was thrilled to be involved in Nike's World Cup spectacle, that this year combined stars of the men’s and women’s games for the first time.
“It was amazing to feature in such a cool concept,” said Williamson. “Obviously there are so many legends of the game in there, the finished product looks incredible.
“The people that come up with these things are a lot cleverer than I am, I’m not sure how they even thought of it. It was really fun to be part of and I think that comes across when you watch it.
“I think it looks really good and it was great to see Alex (Morgan) and Sam Kerr in there as well.” On her standout moment in the video, where Williamson uses her skill to floor World Cup and Brazil icon Ronaldo, she was typically jovial.
“I’m going to tell you that it took only one take for that little sequence but if you believe [me], that’s your choice,” she laughed.
Williamson, who has spent her entire career with Arsenal, is recovering from an injury she first picked up in October. The centre-half missed England’s victory over USA at Wembley and the international break this month that saw the Lionesses beat Japan and draw with Norway to end 2022 undefeated.
But photos from recent training sessions have shown Williamson stepping up her recovery and she confirmed last week that she was nearing "the light at the end of the tunnel".
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