BRISBANE, Australia — After the blinding spotlight and rock ‘n’ roll stardom of last summer when the Lionesses were the most recognisable faces in the country, England are building ahead of their Women’s World Cup campaign in the comparative quiet in Brisbane.
The reigning European champions flew into Australia the start of July and trained on the Sunshine Coast, a haven 60 miles of Brisbane, with their hotel just 30 seconds from the beach. It was calm, with the serenity having a profound effect on one of last summer’s stars. Ella Toone ditched lie-ins to watch sunrises, took up reading (Jamie Vardy’s autobiography) and swam in the Coral Sea.
All the while they trained, hacked through the jet lag and continued with the same meticulous preparation that served them so well when they won the Euros at home last summer. Upon relocating to Brisbane, their hotel is in the middle of the city, yet they can still head out and enjoy near-total anonymity, only occasionally getting stopped for autographs as they try out the local coffee scene.
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But life as Lionesses is far from quiet. The build-up to the tournament has been as much about getting fit for Saturday’s opener against Haiti as it has been trying to sort off-field matters. It took until Tuesday for the Lionesses to call a halt to discussions with the English Football Association (FA) over bonuses and commercial structures. All this after there was a risk of a club-vs.-country row over when players would be released for international duty after a hectic domestic schedule.
It’s all part of being a Lioness in 2023. This is a group bringing together the crux of last summer’s winning side, but they are missing key personnel through injury and retirement. They haven’t scored in their last three matches. There are fresh faces, and combinations still gelling. But there’s still this steely resolve all pinned on the winning mantra installed by coach Sarina Wiegman.
Each of the 23 Lionesses who won the Euros have been on their own journey since. Ellen White and Jill Scott have retired, both players who featured in each of the matches last summer. Some found it easier to reset after the Euros than others. The likes of Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway moved overseas — Walsh and Bronze went to Barcelona, Stanway to Bayern Munich. That upheaval helped.
But others, like goalkeeper Mary Earps and forward Chloe Kelly — who scored the winning goal against Germany in the Wembley final — admit it was tough to start again post-Euros.
“I struggled to hit a bit of form in the first half of the season and I was probably a little bit harsh on myself in doing so,” Kelly said. “It took people around me to really push me on. You need to stay level-headed all the time when it is a high and it is a low, be able to just ride the journey and the waves.”
Earps has gone from third-choice keeper in the 2019 squad to No. 1 last summer and here in Australia, and she was named the best goalkeeper in the world at the FIFA Best awards in February. She loved the experience of picking up the award, the discussions she had at the ceremony with Arsene Wenger and Emi Martinez and being chaperoned by a security guard named Johnny. But the experience was just another mental hurdle to overcome.
