Tottenham Women star Beth England earns Lionesses call-up for Women’s World Cup
Beth England has been rewarded for her fine form for Tottenham Women by being named in the Lionesses squad for the Women’s World Cup.
The striker was part of the squad that earned Women’s Euros glory last year but has not been involved with the England set-up since September.
However, a return of 12 goals from as many Women’s Super League matches since joining for a British-record fee of £250,000 from rivals Chelsea has seen her included in Sarina Wiegman’s party.
It has been a week to remember for England, who was named Tottenham Women Players’ Player of the Year on Tuesday (30 May) and she will now prepare to board the plane for the tournament being held in Australia and New Zealand.
England play their first game against Haiti on 22 July.
England deserves her shot
Wiegman was asked why England had earned a recall to her squad at a news conference explaining her selections.
“Because of her performances. Of course she was at Chelsea, she didn’t get the minutes, we always say if you are really competing for a position – she didn’t build up much credits with us because we hardly saw her play, then she made the move, she played in a hard situation,” she replied.
“Tottenham were having a hard time, but how she did, how she performed, also the resilience she showed I think that’s what made us make the decision to get her in the squad.”
It is that resiliency that made England so deserving of her spot. Moreover, only two players in the form of Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly (22) and Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw (20) could boast more WSL goals than England this season.
Indeed, she had a better return per 90 minutes (1.07) than both Daly (1.01) and Shaw (0.97).
With Euros top scorer Beth Mead ruled out of the tournament through injury, England’s inclusion was a no brainer. She deserves her shot.
In other Spurs news, Paul Robinson has predicted big things from Pedro Porro in the Premier League next season.