When Katie Zelem was left out of the last England camp before Sarina Wiegman named her World Cup squad she mourned her chance of making the trip to Australia. Four months on and the Manchester United midfielder has picked up her first start for the Lionesses at the World Cup and is now a vital part of the Lionesses back-up plan after the injury to Keira Walsh. She will probably play an important role in England’s last-16 tie with Nigeria on Monday.
“When I found out I wasn’t picked for the April camp I thought that was my World Cup dream over,” she says. “That was one of the hardest moments to take, especially following the Euros last year when I wasn’t selected.
“For a couple of days I really thought that I’d worked so hard all season and it’s just not meant to be. We had some really important games at Manchester United, fighting for the league title and the FA Cup final, and that helped shift my focus to just being the best I could for the club and whatever I did was enough.”
The 27-year-old found out she was in the starting XI the night before England’s 6-1 defeat of China, with Laura Coombs having come on in place of Walsh and Stanway shifting deeper to compensate in the 1-0 win over Denmark. “It’s pretty routine since Sarina has come in. We have time to prepare whether we’re in the starting XI or not so that’s consistent.
“As soon as I found out I was starting I was over the moon. Before the game it was a mixture of excitement and nerves. When I got out on the pitch I couldn’t wait to get going.
“We forget that the reason we’re here is because we perform well for our club every single week. That was the mindset I tried to have.
“I was so excited afterwards with six goals and some unbelievable ones, too. Really proud for myself and my family that we had that moment.”
Walsh is virtually irreplaceable but Zelem is a different type of defensive midfielder; being herself and not trying to swap like for like is important. “We all have different strengths and I just tried to do what I do every week for Manchester United,” she says. “I wanted to contribute as much to the team as I could on and off the ball.”
Zelem adds that “you never want to be playing because of someone else’s misfortune” but that it is important to remember that the door can open at any moment.
“That is the beauty and craziness of football, that things change so quickly,” she says. “You can never predict what’s going to happen. And for me it’s always about staying ready, just like all the other girls that are eagerly awaiting [their chance] and everyone trains to 100% every single day.”
Zelem played alongside Stanway in a deeper role in the middle of a 3-5-2 against China. “The scoreline showed it was pretty successful,” she says.
“We’re really open to trying new things and are always ready to adapt. So when we first tried out the formation in training, everyone was really receptive to it and excited. It allowed players to be higher up and also so many different goalscorers, that’ll be another huge strength.”
Away from the matches, Zelem is the team DJ in the absence of injured Leah Williamson. “No wonder I wasn’t nervous the other day, it’s harder being on the bus, picking the songs,” she says, with a laugh. “There’s a lot of people to keep happy and the honest answer is that I probably don’t.”
The music doesn’t stop there. Zelem has formed a band with Millie Bright, Rachel Daly and Walsh. “It’s embarrassing. We’re called the Meringue-tangs. I’m not sure why. I think we had meringue for dessert one night. You don’t want to hear us because we are a little tone-deaf.”
Bright says: “We’ve opened the auditions up to the bus but we’re yet to receive any more. We’re trying to get Georgia in there but we’re not Beyoncés, we can’t really sing, but we have a laugh. Every day, on the way to training, we always put a sing-song on. We like to think we hit a few good decent notes.”
