Mary Earps believes the Lionesses will benefit from exposure to European football’s finest as they look to land the biggest prize of all.
The keeper, voted the world’s best by FIFA at a glittering awards ceremony four months ago, says the fact that Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway are now competing strongly for the Champions League will add the X-factor ahead of next month’s World Cup.
In fact, Bronze and Walsh are fresh from winning the competition following a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg and Stanway’s Bayern Munich were knocked out in the last eight by Arsenal.
While Earps accepts that the loss of skipper Leah Williamson and striker Beth Mead will be difficult to cover, she says that comparison to the team that won the European Championships last year isn’t fair.
She said: “The team looks a lot different to the Euros. Yes, there are the injuries to Beth and Leah but we’ve also lost some big players from the squad, the likes of Ellen (White) and Jill. (Scott)
“So, I think it’s a different team, it’s an exciting team - I whole-heartedly believe that.
“You can see that through the Women’s Super League and with players out in Europe - such as Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze at Barcelona and Georgia with Bayern Munich - they are doing fantastically well and winning trophies.
“I think you saw the benefit of that in the Euros."
Mary continued: “We’ve all gone off to do different things, gone off to different clubs. Your experiences shape you to be who you are and shape you into the athlete you are.
“We’ve got a real wide variety of players in that group. They are competing in different competitions at a very high level - and winning them, too.
“That kind of experience is invaluable when you are at a tournament.”
Earps, 30, might have been recognised as the world’s best herself, but her journey has been stop-start.
She was taken to France four years ago as Phil Neville’s team finished fourth but wasn’t used and later found herself in exile before head coach Sarina Wiegman confirmed her as the country’s first-choice keeper.
A move to Manchester United followed and the Lionesses triumph last July at Wembley completed a roller-coaster few seasons.
Earps remains a member of the squad who has benefited from the backing of core sponsors and well remembers the days when she had to self-fund before the likes of the National Lottery and others helped fund the sport’s growth.
She said: “My dad likes to dispute it but one summer, I had six jobs. I worked in kids’ toy shop, I worked at the cinema, a couple of coaching jobs - one for Notts County in the community, the other for a smaller company, I did telesales for my dad - which I was horrific at - and there’s one more which escapes my mind at the moment.
“At the cinema, I was an usher. I thought it was going to be very cool - but it was ripping up people’s ticket stubs, checking the screen was working.
“I got to watch the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes of every single film that summer. I got to see Harry Potter VII - part two about 65,000 times. Good job I love Harry Potter!
“But, I’ve experienced the old guard, I’ve had to pay to play, fund myself and figure out my travel.
“It was called ‘professional,’ but it really wasn’t. It was more semi-professional.
“You were being paid per game and there were only 14 games per season. It was a time where it was starting to scratch the surface. Now, people do it full-time.
“They don’t live luxurious lifestyles by any means - unless you’re in the top few per cent. But now young girls can see it as more sustainable. That’s a good space to get to, without sacrificing education.”
And so to the tournament itself. England are among the teams from Europe expected to go deep but Brazil, Canada and holders America are all expected to feature, as well.
She added: I think you could see at the Euros how hot the competition was - and still is.
“Spain, Germany especially were terrific. But I think it will be the usual suspects. France have a new head coach, Australia, as one of the hosts, will be difficult to play against.
“The USA will be up there. It’ll be competitive. The standard is through the roof, you saw it in the CL as well. At the World Cup, it’s the creme de la creme.”
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