England’s Lionesses opened their Arnold Clark Cup with a convincing 4-0 win over Korea Republic on Thursday evening, putting the host nation at the top of the table.
Manchester City star Laura Coombs stepped onto the field in the number 25 shirt after years of being left out of the England squad. She said: “It was great, when they said I was coming on I was so excited and it was a great game to come into as well. The girls had put in a great performance so far and it was good.”
The occasion marked her third cap for her country when Sarina Wiegman swapped the 32-year-old for Georgia Stanway in the second half to see out the win at Stadium MK. Coombs held up play in the middle of the park well and gave an energetic performance from box to box. Although it took a while to get into the game with a couple of mistakes turning over possession, she fought back hard beside Katie Zelem.
“They [Korea Republic] were more direct than what I thought they were going to be, and they sat off quite deep and quite defensive, added Coombs. “We were prepared for that but I was still not thinking that they were going to play that way, so there was a lot of space in front of them for us and it was about making clever runs and getting in those spaces and yeah there were some good goals.”
Coombs has delivered stellar performances for Manchester City so far this season and despite being ‘shocked’ with the call-up to Wiegman’s 26-player squad, City manager Gareth Taylor believes it’s very well deserved.
England’s next test is against Italy on Sunday at Coventry Stadium after the Italians suffered a last-minute 2-1 loss against Belgium hours before England’s kick-off on Thursday night.
Looking ahead to the weekend’s clash, Coombs said: “I’ll take whatever I can get [on Sunday]. If it means coming on again and just playing a part then I'll be happy with it because it’s such a great group to be a part of and I'm just so grateful.”
England vs Italy is on Sunday February 19 at the CBS Arena kicking off at 3.15pm and followed by Belgium vs Korea Republic at 6.15pm. Available to watch via ITV1/ ITVX - coverage starts from 4.25pm.
NEW! Our Year: European Champions 2022 - The Official England Winners Book with a foreword by England manager Sarina Wiegman, this is the only official book of the historic triumph, reliving every kick of a thrilling tournament and telling the stories of the players who made it all happen.
Order now from reachsportshop.com/https://reachsportshop.com/book/our-year-european-champion-2022/
